schools Archives - Danielle Sewell, M.F.A.

The past few years have seen a lot of disparaging commentary about “hashtag activism.” After all, critics say, what good does a tweet do for a starving person? What does a great Instagram shot provide for the homeless? Tragedy doesn’t wait for somebody to hit the “share” button.

That’s all true. Social media can’t do much to serve a cause all on its own. However, in a time when our society is increasingly apathetic and jaded, we are also hungrier than ever for change. We want to make an impact. We just don’t know where to start. Social media can be the catalyst so many of us are looking for.

The key is that titular adjective, “social.” Social media. Meaning, interactive. Person-to-person. An appeal to another’s humanity. People use these platforms to feel connected — to friends, family, peers, colleagues. Even celebrities. We are desperate to feel that we have a place in the world alongside the people we love and admire. Social media is, therefore, the perfect space in which to educate, motivate, inspire, and recruit people for a cause. Where many organizations go wrong, when the result is truly just the sharing of a hashtag and nothing else, is in that first initial step. They contact, when they should instead take the opportunity to connect.

Feeding America, for example, could easily send out messages requesting donations: “Hey, people are hungry and we want to feed them. Send some money? Drop some canned corn in a box for us?” A noble initiative — but that’s not the kind of call to action that will convert an overtired, overwhelmed, cynical citizen of the modern world into an ambassador for change. It probably won’t even get them to hand over that can of corn. It’s just a contact. A hard ask with very little humanity attached. So what does Feeding America do instead?

66% of people we serve choose between food and medical care — @FeedingAmerica

They post images like this. The reasoning behind the post is the same: People are hungry. We want to feed them. But the presentation drives home a point to the audience: How would you feel if you couldn’t get medicine because you can’t afford both health care and groceries? It shows the real day-to-day effects that food insecurity and poverty have on real people. It tells a story. And even better, it uses a strong, simple visual to convey its message. It connects.

Here’s a solid rule of thumb: If it doesn’t provide value to your audience, you shouldn’t post it. Spamming viewers with unwanted “look at me!” content is the quickest way to get unfollowed. So when people are kind enough to invite you onto their news feeds, be sure you don’t take the responsibility lightly. Give them something worth looking at. Think about why they chose to follow you in the first place, and provide materials that feed that interest. The Trevor Project is a great example:

Facebook post from the Trevor Project reads Thanks for these facts, Trans Student Educational Resources! It's great to know we can always learn more, whether it's about ourselves or others. Image of a TSER flier entitled 5 things you should know about trans people with a link — The Trevor Project

They don’t just publicize the efforts of their organization. They know that their audience signed up because they care about LGBTQ rights. Therefore, the Facebook page serves up content like “5 Things You Should Know About Trans People” — a quick, shareable infographic that addresses personal experiences. It informs and garners support for their cause without being demanding. It directs people to the Trevor Project’s website and social channels, thereby encouraging deeper involvement.

Social media has a major role to play in the future of activism. It is, after all, primarily a forum for sharing ideas and stories. What could be a better starting point for the social movements of our time?

In the ‘60s, Martin Luther King, Jr. told stories through the mediums available to him. (Think about his tale of fatherly hope, delivered to an audience from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Or the autobiographical account of his own arrest and imprisonment, told in a letter from Birmingham Jail.) These narratives inspired action that led to huge reforms across the nation. The changes that resulted were not simply products of their time. The civil rights movement of the ‘60s was sustained by its storytellers — skilled storytellers, who knew that contacting potential supporters was not enough. They connected.

The audience in attendance at the Lincoln Memorial for Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was comprised of approximately 250,000 people. Today, Facebook has over a billion active users. The opportunity to connect is greater than ever.

So tell your story, and tell it well. The response might surprise you.

This post originally appeared on www.studentaffairscollective.org, on October 15, 2014.

Recently, the Student Affairs Collective’s Twitter #SAChat held a discussion about issues with bureaucracy in higher education — and wow, do people ever have issues with bureaucracy! Student affairs pros nationwide hashtagged their grievances about hierarchy, institutional distrust, and office politics. As a newcomer to the college-as-workplace, I have fewer years of cynicism to overcome than many of my colleagues. Still, you don’t have to work for a school to understand that educational institutions in this country are tangled up in red tape. It’s hardly surprising that so many of our professionals are frustrated.

Now, I should mention that I’m in the somewhat uncommon position of not having a background in student affairs. My prior experience and education are rooted in communications, specifically writing and marketing, so my natural inclination is to see these kinds of challenges in terms of a communication problem. And it seems clear to me that the higher ed field is the victim of its own communication breakdown. On a fundamental level, we have not only failed to keep up with the times; we have failed to keep up with our students’ expectations. Even worse, we have failed to keep up with their needs.

Over the past ten or twenty years, the world has changed in unprecedented ways. Personal technology usage has skyrocketed, transforming the way we interact and the methods we use to acquire information. Today’s students and prospective students — the notoriously techy Millennials, and their even more digitally advanced younger siblings, Gen Z — have been brought up in a culture of immediacy. For them, knowledge has always been literally at their fingertips, available with the click of a mouse or tap of a tablet. They’ve spent their whole lives updating Facebook statuses, writing blog posts, buying music from the iTunes store, and texting.

Imagine, then, how they must feel when faced with a university website that’s practically impossible to navigate. Put yourselves in the shoes of an individual who has been tweeting since middle school, and think about how they would react when someone says, “Sorry, we don’t have that information. You need to visit [insert name of cross-campus office here].” And why would anyone who downloads entire software programs onto their telephone in a matter of seconds ever find it acceptable to hear “we’ll get back to you in a couple weeks?”

I know what you’re thinking. Spoiled. Lazy. Self-centered. But here’s the thing: They’re not the ones who are trying to sell something. And make no mistake — higher education is trying to sell something. It is not a student’s job to adapt to our needs; it’s our job to anticipate theirs, and to create an environment in which they can thrive. In a time when the world’s greatest minds are writing articles for the Huffington Post, chronicling their formidable thoughts on Blogger, teaching MOOCs, and recording speeches for YouTube, it is becoming increasingly important for colleges and universities to improve the sales pitch for our services. Academia doesn’t have a monopoly on knowledge these days. Our business model has to change accordingly, and while that’s a topic for another blog post, it begins with developing effective, efficient communications strategies. Like any other business, we need to meet our customers where they are. Our message is only relevant if it is heard.

I won’t pretend that I have all the answers, and certainly every campus has a different set of needs to match their unique student populations. But I do know that it is essential for various divisions, departments, and offices to communicate with each other, as well as students. Campus websites need to be user-friendly, with easy access to information. Social media accounts must be implemented, not only eagerly, but strategically. We need to stop the constant back-and-forth, the long wait times, the sluggish response rates. We have to evaluate our structures and processes, particularly those that are most time consuming from a student services perspective, and ask ourselves: Why do we do this? Is there a better way? We should be our students’ best advocates when they come to us with complaints, not voices of dissent telling them, “This is how it is,” and making excuses for institutional inefficiencies. We need to be proactive, instead of reactive when it comes to emerging technologies — after all, there’s no use hopping on the bandwagon for the latest trend if, by the time we get on board, our audience has already moved onto the next big thing.

Students need to be able to work effectively in the fast-paced digital age, and the people preparing them for future careers are responsible for setting a good example. It’s long past time for us to start.

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