College follows Facebook trend

By Kris Lapenskie

lape0039@algonquincollege.com

Kris Lapenskie photo Students living in residence use a Facebook group to keep up to date on events.

College institutions are turning to social networking sites such as Facebook to spread awareness of their activities and capture a new demographic: tech-savvy youth.

“It’s really just a way to let the college community know when things are happening that they may be interested in,” said First Class Bookstore supervisor Larry Cavanagh.

The bookstore recently rolled out its own Facebook page to showcase events that it is hosting such as the “giant book sale” on April 6.

“[We] have to find new ways to do things that are cheaper. We can’t get ads on TV or radio so this is a way to get our message across,” he said.

The bookstore isn’t the first Algonquin establishment to construct its own Facebook page. The college residence has had its page up for three years.

“We use it to fill positions at the beginning of the year for residence advisors and the residence council,” said Student Support Services manager Kim Dixon.

Dixon is the administrator of the residence Facebook group. She says that once job positions are filled, she uses the group mostly for announcements of major events.

“You have to embrace it,” said Dixon. “It’s the way of this generation.”

Last year the yearbook association used Facebook to solicit photos from students.

“They got over 11,000 photos to use for the yearbook,” said residence council member Amila Matthew.

As for content in college-related online social groups, there have been no complaints. But Dixon said that she has had problems with online posting before.

“At the last school I worked at, we got a complaint of racist comments being posted. We removed them right away.” Dixon said that she normally lets the community talk with little interference.

The Algonquin residence group currently has 672 members. The page features a news section, discussion board, and photo gallery showcasing residence activities. The page’s Wall is a comment posting section where students post anything from upcoming concerts to wanted ads for roommates.

“It’s good to drive some [online] discussion,” Cavanagh said. His bookstore page has nowhere near the number of members as the residence page but Cavanagh says he is hopeful that it will prove a valuable endeavour.