The introduction of the hashtag #dartmouth17s on Twitter is one of many measures the Admissions Office has taken to increase its social media presence. Admissions initially intended to use the hashtag to help track conversation on Twitter, but it has evolved into a way for current students, alumni, faculty and staff to reach out to accepted students.
Admissions manages its a Class of 2017 Facebook group and a blog, and collaborates with the Office of Public Affairs to promote activities on channels such as Instagram, Google Plus, Flickr and YouTube, said Katie Santos-Coy, senior assistant director of admissions for communications and social media.
Admissions aims to increase access to information for prospective students, their guidance counselors and their families.
"If a student wants to have a conversation over Facebook or Twitter, then we will accommodate," Santos-Coy said in an email. "Admissions is interested in making it easy for prospective students to get their questions answered in a way that's most convenient for them."
Admitted student Jennifer Evans, who attends the Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School in Wales, said that the Facebook page helped her to put a "face and personality" to the College. Admissions' efforts have also alleviated some of Evans' concerns about transitioning to college in September.
"I thought it could be quite difficult making friends straight away as I'd be so different to them, but the Facebook group and Twitter access have allowed me to form friendships already," she said in an email. "I really think that without social media I'd be isolated and perhaps quite frightened right now, so it's definitely given me a lot of support and encouragement and helped me access people who live thousands of miles away."
Eliza Hoffman, student from Thetford Academy in Vermont, said that while she found some of the posts in the Facebook group difficult to relate to, it has been a useful resource.
Hoffman perused through the questions from prospective students and answers from admissions representatives, but said the College has not sent her an email encouraging her to like' its Facebook pages, a tactic that other schools employ.
"If Dartmouth had sent out an email like, Hey, like us on Facebook,' I probably would have been a little more connected, but I wouldn't think to do it on my own," she said.
Prospective students can also turn to the Dartmouth Direct blog, whose blog posts from students are promoted on Facebook and Twitter and featured in the corner of the Admissions Office's homepage, blogger Anoush Arakelian '14 said. Student bloggers have complete control over the content in their posts.
"They don't screen anything I write because the point of the blog is that it's very candid," she said. "They're putting a lot of trust in us by not restricting anything we say."
Because the bloggers are not paid, they have no incentive to write posts other than having a genuine interest to attract prospective students, Arakelian said.
The College's Facebook page offers downloadable cover photos "in the spirit of welcoming the #Dartmouth17s to the family." Photos of campus specifically formatted as cover photos encourage students and alumni to "show your Dartmouth love online."
Admissions will continue to monitor social media use among prospective and admitted them to learn how to connect to students more effectively in the upcoming years, Santos-Coy said in the email.
"We are interested in making data-driven decisions and continuously evaluate what's working and what's not via the analytical tools available to us," she said.
