PS&L Blog

I recently conducted a workshop at eduWeb in Chicago.  I was somewhat surprised when the topic of social networking was discussed to find out that although most were using some kind of social networking, how few in the room had goals or were measuring their success.

One participant called it a “guerrilla” attempt at social networking for the college, and I have to say now (and did then) that I applaud the ambition and courage to get it going.  Having worked in higher ed for more than 20 years I can attest to the fact that it can take months of committee discussion before any decision can be made. As one Provost said to me, sometime in higher education, we move at the pace of glaciers.  So, unless you expect another ice age anytime soon, “good for you” for just jumping in.

So now that you have the ‘ata boy’ how about applying some good measurement to your sites.  Start with goals and outcomes – what are your expectations for the site?  What are your goals? After establishing the goals, how do you plan to measure your success?

The theme of my talk was  “if you are ready to jump in then be ready to jump off.”  Sustainability in a website means it has to

• Anticipate
• Adapt

Even if you have already put your sites up, it is not too late to discuss outcomes, goals, and measurement.  After all, once the measurements start, you will be in a good position to test how well it is working and make adjustments accordingly.   Like a web site, your social sites have to be adaptable if you intend them to be  sustainable.  There is no cruise control in delivering a website or in delivering your social sites. It is imperative that you know when to jump off, if you chose to jump on.