The social media reticence of university vice-chancellors

Patrick McGhee’s appointment as the new chair of Million+ provided a modest smattering of media coverage at the beginning of this month. While the Times Higher Education focused on Mr McGhee’s rather sober task of widening participation at universities and his ‘humble’ beginnings, it was left to the Guardian to provide a more left-field angle yesterday when it highlighted his prolific use of Twitter.

A vice-chancellor tweeting? Who’d have thought it? Well, actually, as the Guardian rightly points out, it is a relatively novel concept among the leaders of our universities. But is this a cause for concern, should we worry that our vice-chancellors seem so uninterested in drafting pithy 140 character messages? For many, this question will no doubt be the cue for rolled-eyes and mumblings about social media being ‘over-hyped.’ Certainly, some have oversold social media as a communications panacea and prematurely rejected more traditional communications techniques. Moreover, there is the very real danger that using social media opens organisations and individuals to a level of scrutiny and criticism that can be extremely damaging, if handled incorrectly. But, despite this, or perhaps because of this, social media remains an often unrealised channel to communicate with target audiences. No doubt students are already moving onto new social media platforms, but for those looking to engage with an increasingly consumer-like student demanding answers on all manner of things, Twitter remains a solid option to engage with them.

Not all communications between universities and their students/prospective students need to, or should, come directly from the vice chancellor. But in an increasingly volatile market where universities are having to make tough and sometimes unpopular decisions, it is often vice-chancellors who find the buck stops with them. Numerous universities have adopted social media to effectively engage with students, but true cultural change needs to come from the top. More vice chancellors should follow the lead of Patrick McGhee and demonstrate a willingness to embrace social media if they want to better understand the students they seek to attract.

The Guardian’s coverage of Patrick McGhee’s Twitter usage also points to a further modern phenomenon – the development of the use of news outlets becoming news in itself. OK, Twitter is not strictly a ‘news outlet’, but it does serve a loose function as an aggregator and spreader of opinion. The relative newness and associated excitement associated with Twitter and other forms of social media will surely dissipate with time, and with this it is likely that ‘Prominent public figure uses Twitter’ stories will also begin to fade. But in the meantime, spokespeople of high-profile organisations need to be aware that simply using these platforms can be a story in itself. This is particularly true of organisations where eagle-eyed members of the public are keen to scrutinise the motives behind even the most innocent use of social media.

John Hood
Consultant
john@linstockcommunications.com