The use of Facebook as a communication tool between universities and students.
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Abstract
Universities are beginning to embrace social media and realizing the potential power
and implications of using social networking sites such as Facebook as a communication
tool to reach its target audience. It has become an integral part of their overall
communication and marketing strategies. Social media is redefining how we
communicate with each other, and how students want their organizations to serve them.
Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and colleagues who work,
study and live around them. In the current study, the existing Facebook pages of two
tertiary institutions namely University of KwaZulu-Natal and Durban University of
Technology were explored to investigate the effectiveness of Facebook as a
communication tool. The key strategies behind adopting Facebook as a communication
tool that would ensure effective communication were determined. The barriers to
effective implementation of Facebook as perceived by the students were also
examined. A thorough analysis of the content of the Facebook page revealed that it is
being effectively utilized by the university and its students. To examine the key
strategies employed by the UKZN and DUT, the Facebook administrators of both the
institutions were interviewed. The findings from the interviews shed light on the
universities policies, its advertising and marketing strategies as well as how a university
tackles the issues created by implementing a new media to communicate. In the third
part of the study, the barrier to effective communication as perceived by the students is
examined by sending an electronically administered survey to all the Facebook users of
both the universities. The respondents indicated the advantages and drawbacks of
utilizing Facebook at an educational institution and the barriers they face in accessing
the site were identified. Suggestions for improvement were indicated. The research is
primarily an exploratory study of the findings, and recommendations are provided.
Description
MBA University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban [2012]
Keywords
Facebook (Electronic resource), College students--Social networks--South Africa., Social networks--South Africa., Social media--South Africa., Online social networks--South Africa., Digital communications--Social aspects--South Africa., Theses--Business administration.