If you had any doubts whether the various types of social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook) were here to stay, take a look at a recent news article concerning a new hire the University of Michigan (see: University of Michigan social media director hired at $100K per year):
When Global Communications Director Lisa Rudgers announced the University of Michigan was hiring its first social media director, dozens of applications began pouring in....Jordan Miller...was hired at a $100,000 yearly salary....Among her top priorities, she said, are creating a unique "voice and personality" for the Michigan brand on social media, putting together a seminar on social media strategies for university leaders and making the school's various Twitter and Facebook handles more cohesive. Most important, she said, is creating a "conversation" on social media outlets where followers comment to U-M postings and U-M circles back with a response. That's different than the "loudspeaker" approach the university, for the most part, currently uses, Miller said. "Giving people information on what’s going on is a good thing," Miller offered. "But right now the conversation is very one way and frankly that’s been a resource issue." Resources won't be a problem for long, Miller predicts. She'll begin her post at U-M as a one-woman show but hopes to eventually have a team of people working on U-M's social media message and community engagement.
Although this article is short, it hits all of the high notes about the value of social media. Let me tease out four of them that stood out for me:
- The salary of this new employee is impressive and provides some inkling of the earning power and competition for people working professionally on social media.
- Next, the main stated goal for the new individual will be to create "a unique, integrated voice and personality" for the U of M brand across all social media.
- This goal is differentiated from the prior "loudspeaker" approach at the University because it involves an ongoing "conversation" with the friends of the institution.
- Finally, she will be developing a "seminar" for "university leaders" to explain what she is doing, why she is doing it, and (my addition) why she is worth $100K per year for doing it.
Not to put too sharp a point on this, what we see here is a newly hired individual with a new job function. She will serve as the interface and spokesperson to thousands of current UM students and alumni. In my mind, her stated goal of eventually having "a [larger] team of people working on U-M's social media" will soon be realized. The Twitter stream for the UM will be closely monitored, I am sure, to gauge the ideas and sentiments of U of M alums regarding all of the diverse activities and goals of the University. An ongoing conversation with "friends of the University" via social media will trump a "loudspeaker" approach any day of the week.
I truly appreciate your post, and for your nuanced understanding of what it is that I'll be doing here at the University of Michigan. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm hoping we can really break some ground.
Thank you for the mention, and I hope to hear from you in the future.
Posted by: Jordan Miller | March 01, 2012 at 05:09 PM