There is no longer any discussion about what Social Media has meant for all sectors, nor that one of the sectors that benefits most from Social Networks is the education sector, but according to data provided by Online Colleges, educational institutions, even though they use these new social media, do not do so when faced with adverse situations such as reputational crises.
Very few use social platforms to communicate with their audience if necessary, of which the vast majority, between 96 and 100% use Facebook, and between 80 and 94% communicate with their users through Twitter .
The data provided by Online Colleges also reveal that the institutions that have a crisis plan include an emergency website in 59% of cases, ie a web that is only visible in case of crisis, and another 56 % of institutions include constant monitoring of their brand.
Although there are many users, professionals and non-professionals, who think that SMS is something of the past, it is surprising that 89% of American educational institutions use them in crisis cases as a way of notifying any communication to their students, while 99% of them use email for such purposes.
However, 85% of educational institutions have a reputational plan, according to Online Colleges, of which 59% include Social Media. 65% state that all actions in case of crisis are discussed and raised in traditional media, while 66% claim to use Social Media to do so.
What really draws attention to all this is not that social media is not implemented in institutions, but, that 5% of them are completely unaware of the fact that Social Networks are talking about them, and therefore , how they talk about them, completely oblivious to a tool as important as Social Media.
When a crisis occurs, Social Media is a perfect ally to solve it, so it is essential to respond quickly and effectively by establishing a constant monitoring channel, developing a proper Social Media policy and implementing a media management system social skills managed by a professional and creating an account registration system on social platforms for the institution.
It is necessary to establish a series of guidelines, such as interacting, transforming negative comments into positive ones, or any other act dictated by our common sense. What is clear is that educational institutions are not exempt from fires, and must be prepared to respond adequately.