I found some compelling evidence for incorporating social media into higher education in an unlikely source: a book about politics. The book, Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, & the Future of American Politics, puts forth the argument that, roughly, ever four decades we undergo a major political makeover. Incumbents are overwhelming ushered out and a new majority party is placed in charge. Naturally, this grassroots uprising is driven by a new generation coming of age. And interestingly enough, each generation leverages the new technology of its time to drive the change. For example, Generation Xers leveraged television as a primary source of information in a way that their Baby Boomer parents used radio.
The authors, Morley Winograd & Michael Hais, lay out in great detail how the current generation, the millennials, leveraged internet-based communication technology to drive the latest major political shift culminating with the election of Barack Obama.
But what does this have to do with higher education? The answer to this lies in where Millennials are going for information and how they make decisions and act upon that information. For example, in their report of the 2006 election the Pew Internet and American Life Project reported that Millennials are twice as likely to use the net to get political information. The report goes on to suggest that within the next several election cycles the net will become the source of political news. (Rainie & Horrigan 2007). Even when they turn to traditional broadcast sites, such as television programs, they are accessing them online whenever possible. The authors point out how Barack Obama's appearance on ESPN Monday Night Football became a YouTube sensation.
Millennials also rely heavily upon each other to find out what's happening. Of particular note are the "Influentials", those individuals whose opinions matter to a lot of others. Winograd & Hais detail how the Democratic Party leveraged the opinions of the Influentials to spur the Millennials into action. This was done through friending in MySpace and Facebook, which had an exponential effect on membership growth. Participants were invited to check out interactive web spaces where you could help shape the platform or get a widget that you could drop into your own web space. Participants were encouraged to create multimedia testimonials and place them on YouTube. And offered other ways to get involved with the campaign. The result was an energized block of voters that generated a lot of buzz around the candidates. Additionally, record amounts of campaign contributions were received via internet participation, not through large donations but through the contributions of a large amount of people.
The increase in access to broadband is going to further enhance the ability of Millinnials to seek out their preferences via the internet. It is incumbent upon us to make sure that we are available where they are from recruitment through graduation.
The authors, Morley Winograd & Michael Hais, lay out in great detail how the current generation, the millennials, leveraged internet-based communication technology to drive the latest major political shift culminating with the election of Barack Obama.
But what does this have to do with higher education? The answer to this lies in where Millennials are going for information and how they make decisions and act upon that information. For example, in their report of the 2006 election the Pew Internet and American Life Project reported that Millennials are twice as likely to use the net to get political information. The report goes on to suggest that within the next several election cycles the net will become the source of political news. (Rainie & Horrigan 2007). Even when they turn to traditional broadcast sites, such as television programs, they are accessing them online whenever possible. The authors point out how Barack Obama's appearance on ESPN Monday Night Football became a YouTube sensation.
Millennials also rely heavily upon each other to find out what's happening. Of particular note are the "Influentials", those individuals whose opinions matter to a lot of others. Winograd & Hais detail how the Democratic Party leveraged the opinions of the Influentials to spur the Millennials into action. This was done through friending in MySpace and Facebook, which had an exponential effect on membership growth. Participants were invited to check out interactive web spaces where you could help shape the platform or get a widget that you could drop into your own web space. Participants were encouraged to create multimedia testimonials and place them on YouTube. And offered other ways to get involved with the campaign. The result was an energized block of voters that generated a lot of buzz around the candidates. Additionally, record amounts of campaign contributions were received via internet participation, not through large donations but through the contributions of a large amount of people.
The increase in access to broadband is going to further enhance the ability of Millinnials to seek out their preferences via the internet. It is incumbent upon us to make sure that we are available where they are from recruitment through graduation.
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