HBS Alumni Social-Media Page: HBS gets it right

From an HAA all-schools perspective -- and perhaps from the perspective of any university's alumni-communications effort -- the Harvard Business School is one-stop shopping for best practices. A particularly nice trick (and one that's easy to impliment) is this "Social Media" page at alumni.hbs.edu. It lists:

• Facebook and LinkedIn groups for alumni, including reunion groups
• Microblogging (aka "Twitter") feeds from HBS, including faculty feeds
• Blogs & podcasts, both general and faculty
• Suggested tags for flickr photo-sharing, to help alumni find each others pix (I guess the #HBS Twitter-topic tag is obvious enough)
• RSS feeds (for your newsreader) for general-alumni-news, the HBS Bulletin, and the library

On the one hand, this is a useful page, and it acts as a compelling invitation to connect using whichever media you're comfortable with. On the other hand, media are merely tools to serve our communications/community-building goals. So you would, of course, want to also feature each of these in the places specific to each topic (faculty news, reunions, library, alumni news, admissions, clubs, etc.)

It occurs to me, however, that merely listing the blogs from FAS would be a huge project. Anyone have a clue how many are out there? I would guess: a few hundred active blogs from FAS faculty and staff.

So what IS Twitter, exactly?

Because a few of you have asked...

Twitter's one of those things that's most easy de-mystified with a screenshot. In words: it's a stream of tiny postings from friends, news sources, or institutions such as Obama or Harvard. Here's a couple screenshots (viewed on an iPhone, to keep it small) of posts from people and groups I "follow".

Why Twitter? I think it's about having an awareness of what your friends are up to, although it's also a source of news and information. Think of the Twitter postings ("Tweets", sorry) as micro blog postings.

And, if only to show some random Tweets, on the right margin of this blog you see a "widget" showing my latest updates. These would appear on the Twitter home pages of the people who subscribe to my Twitter spew feed (my "followers").

(The ones beginning with "@" are addressed to specific people. So "@joeharvard Nice tie!" is targetted to Joe, probably as a reply.)

There's nothing else you need to know about Twitter. Check out the latest from @HarvardAlumni, or just give it a try.

UPDATE: JWT's CEO Bob Jeffries wrote a short article about his discovery of Twitter for HuffingtonPost .

The HAA is Now Tweeting!

Yup, the HAA is now active on Twitter, emitting those tiny sub-blog status-reports called Tweets. Twitter seems to be "popping" these days: Lots more mass-media mention, and I notice more "normal people" talking about it, or using it.

In case you don't know what's Twitter: It's a network for posting status reports or comments that are very short (140-character, the length of a text message). They're used for reporting status, giving opinions, or sharing links. (If you paste in a URL, Twitter will automatically replace it with a short "tinyurl" link.)

You can follow the HAA at http://twitter.com/HarvardAlumni

You can search up and follow friends, and then see who THEY are following, to find more. (Follow me, if you like, at http://twitter.com/scherlis )

It helps that your Twitter Tweets can automatically become your Facebook status. You just have to install Twitter's application in Facebook. (But, not vice-versa: if you update your status in Facebook it will not appear on Twitter.)

Fresh content is GOOD content

I just inserted the blog-feed widget on the right. It had occurred to me that the new post.harvard should include, on its main (default) page, the most recent posts from some of the best Harvard-based blogs.

Then I wondered: is there something that will automatically assemble such a thing?

Yes! Google led me to wowzio.com, which -- once I provided some web addresses -- handed me the stuff to easily add this "widget" to my blog.

I do think a collection of recent posts from Harvard blogs should live on the main post.harvard page; it's fresh, interesting, and leads you into many interesting Harvard blogs, websites, and publications. (I sample only a few here, but there are hundreds.) Of course, I don't propose THIS widget; this is simply what I could assemble with no time or resources.

Of course, if we did deploy an equivalent widget on post.harvard, then it could be made easily-available for alumni to insert on their own pages (their blogs, facebook pages, etc....)

Getting started with facebook (DRAFT IN PROGRESS)

[This is "in progress" because I intend to revise this guide based on your comments and questions. Please let me know where it's not clear, or where you need more help.]

So you want to get quick-started onto Facebook? I've drafted this introductory walking tour for the HAA volunteer. We'll get you registered, and into the Harvard network, and messing with the key Facebook features, particularly involving Harvard content.

This tour is long enough that I've posted it on its own page. Please check it out.

About this tool (blogs, and blogger.com)

By the way, the very word "blog" has achieved a sort of mystical intimidation-factor amongst non-technorati (or, as I call them, "normal people"). It's comparable to the effect of "webmaster" circa 1994.

A blog is a webpage, and indeed has become the default form of webpage for people and entities seeking a fast online presence. Technically, it should be a list of chronological entries, giving truth to "web log."

This webpage was created with the impressively-simple tool from Google's blogger. If you don't already have a google account, it should take roughly three minutes to create a blog and enter your first posting. I timed it, assuming you don't customize anything, but do have to guess a few times at a blogname (e.g.: "haadan.blogspot.com") that is available.

Welcome HAA volunteer! (What's this blog?)

This page is intended merely as a collection point for my notes relevant to fellow HAA committee members & directors. Although it's technically publicly-accessible, I don't expect it to be viewed by others. That said, none of it will be confidential.

And if anyone asks (or if it shows up on google despite my efforts) I'll password restrict it.

In the meantime, feel free to email me, or to add comments (by clicking on "comments" below each post). If you think this is a useful medium and want to pile on, I'll make you a fellow author.