Comments on: Social Networks: Should you go private or stick with Facebook? http://collegewebeditor.com/blog/index.php/archives/2009/10/12/social-networks-should-you-go-private-or-stick-with-facebook/ Web, Marketing and PR in Higher Ed Tue, 22 May 2012 06:35:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Karine Joly http://collegewebeditor.com/blog/index.php/archives/2009/10/12/social-networks-should-you-go-private-or-stick-with-facebook/comment-page-1/#comment-404496 Karine Joly Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:36:54 +0000 http://collegewebeditor.com/blog/?p=2205#comment-404496 Thanks for your comment, Andy. I'll try to see if I can find an example or 2 with some data. Thanks for your comment, Andy.
I’ll try to see if I can find an example or 2 with some data.

]]> By: Andy Shaindlin http://collegewebeditor.com/blog/index.php/archives/2009/10/12/social-networks-should-you-go-private-or-stick-with-facebook/comment-page-1/#comment-404486 Andy Shaindlin Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:03:19 +0000 http://collegewebeditor.com/blog/?p=2205#comment-404486 Karine, I think you did a great job of making the main points in a very compact statement - nice job. I think some administrators fall into a trap when making the open/closed decision, which is to say "why let people go somewhere else, when we can get them to come to our site/community?" The truth seems increasingly to be that alumni simply will NOT come to your site/community, especially if it requires them to complete yet another profile, uses a separate log in scheme, and if it doesn't appear to be populated with a lot of other people who share the alum's interests and concerns. I'm still interested in whether there is real data that illustrates ongoing success with a private-label community in 2009, and how their traffic and stickiness compare with the public sites such as Facebook. Karine, I think you did a great job of making the main points in a very compact statement – nice job. I think some administrators fall into a trap when making the open/closed decision, which is to say “why let people go somewhere else, when we can get them to come to our site/community?” The truth seems increasingly to be that alumni simply will NOT come to your site/community, especially if it requires them to complete yet another profile, uses a separate log in scheme, and if it doesn’t appear to be populated with a lot of other people who share the alum’s interests and concerns.

I’m still interested in whether there is real data that illustrates ongoing success with a private-label community in 2009, and how their traffic and stickiness compare with the public sites such as Facebook.

]]> By: Kate Klingensmith http://collegewebeditor.com/blog/index.php/archives/2009/10/12/social-networks-should-you-go-private-or-stick-with-facebook/comment-page-1/#comment-404485 Kate Klingensmith Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:16:10 +0000 http://collegewebeditor.com/blog/?p=2205#comment-404485 It's very exciting to be thinking about this when no one knows the "right" answer yet. It seems like most people see that failing to participate in on-line networking can come at a cost to schools, but we're having trouble agreeing on the costs of being 'public' versus 'private'. Regardless of the strategy, it's important for schools to remain authentic and engaging - keep your alumni feeling like important members of your community, and they'll act that way! It’s very exciting to be thinking about this when no one knows the “right” answer yet. It seems like most people see that failing to participate in on-line networking can come at a cost to schools, but we’re having trouble agreeing on the costs of being ‘public’ versus ‘private’. Regardless of the strategy, it’s important for schools to remain authentic and engaging – keep your alumni feeling like important members of your community, and they’ll act that way!

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