CONSULTING SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE COLLEGE TRANSITION PROCESS: EXPERIENTAL ACCOUNTS OF THE CLASS OF 2014

This study examines social media as a relevant marketing strategy for higher education institutions and seeks to better understand how incoming university students utilize social media to communicate with an academic institution and ultimately make a college attendance decision. A basic history of social networking websites is explored, with emphasis on how this new technology is used in public relations and marketing for non-profit organizations, such as colleges and universities. In order to understand social media use from the students ’ perspective, individual uses of social networking sites are examined through the lenses of uses and gratifications theory, online identity construction and community. As an innovator of social media strategy for academic institutions, Marquette University is used as the subject of study because of the school’s major effort and commitment to connect with key stakeholders through social media websites. This study employs a triangulation of qualitative methods for data collection, including interviews with members of the Office of Marketing and Communication team, focus groups with new students and a textual analysis of the official incoming Marquette Universit