Profile #6: MyCUBoulder

(1) WHY this site?

Because @mycubulder has a very strong voice and communicates their enthusiasm for the school brand, physical campus and people through their tweets. Its links are at times very local and regional, but consistently promote a good word about the campus and its people, and I feel like I’m having a conversation with a community when I read their stream.

(2) Screen shot

(3) Data on tweets

From Tweetstats
Most tweets: Between 5am-3pm (Pacific time)
Tweet Timeline: 3.5  tweets/day (tpd)
Interface used: Web

From TwitterCounter
Data from July-August 2009

Followership: 249 to 391
Friends: remained at 50
Average growth per day: 33

(4) “Fill In The Blank” stats

Date data downloaded : August 16, 2009
Industry sector : [higher] Education

Twitter ID : @MyCUBoulder
Followers : 401
Following : 50
Ratio followers/following : 8  followers : 1 following

Number posts : 165
Account created : ?
First post : July 16, 2009

URLs:
Twitter : http://twitter.com/MyCUBoulder
Bio link : http://www.colorado.edu/prospective
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boulder-CO/University-of-Colorado-Boulder/23734897109
MySpace : http://www.myspace.com/1814542
LinkedIn : http://www.linkedin.com/companies/university-of-colorado-at-boulder
Org website home : http://www.colorado.edu
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/univcoloradoboulder

About:
What’s super evident about this twitter profile is the sense of community and voice. Though this profile is the Admissions office, which by nature sometimes comes off as stuffy and institutional, they are able to represent themselves in a very approachable way. They tweet about the physical CUB community:

Just used the new Regent Crossing for the 1st time, pretty awesome. Ramp for cars/bikes and an underpass for pedestrians! Super efficient. about 21 hours ago from web

but also tweet about news and accolades:

CU-Boulder still Top-Ranked Engineering school in Rocky Mt Region! The Buffs have beat out CSU and Mines once again. 11:28 AM Aug 13th from web

Additionally, I get a sense that prospective and current students find valuable information about events on campus, regional news and alumni stories.

(5) Analysis

A. General
(A.1) Background: They use the CU Boulder colors, which should be standard for brand recognition. I didn’t notice the buffalo that I normally associate with CUB, but perhaps that’s more athletics? I did LOVE the picture of the week that they use on the side bar. This is great for building engagement and for keeping the page fresh.

(A.2) Avatar: They use the CUB colors and the phrase “MyCU.” This is a great way for them to brand themselves as a personal guide to the university. Putting “my” with anything invites one to take part in something personal. I like that.

(A.3) Bio: Bio reads: University of Colorado at Boulder’s Office of Admissions. This was surprising. Again, there’s usually that impression that admissions offices aren’t as friendly. It’s a great move on their part to be a representative of such an important and sometimes seemingly unapproachable part of the university in a space like twitter.

(A.4) Transparency : It’s clear that this is a university office. Clearly stated in the bio and the colors match the branding of the university. I would suggest that if there are admissions counselors, officers, etc. tweeting, that they perhaps put an ^name or something similar. Though I understand the want to use the royal We.

(A.5) Bio Link: The link provided points to the CUB prospective student page. Very smart. Others normally put the main university link, but if you’re an admissions office and are a resource for prospective students, then the link should point directly to that web page. Good job.

B. Tweets
(B.1) @s: 87
(B.2) ReTweets: 81
(B.3) DM requests: 0
(B.4) Hashtags: 4—mostly #university, colorado, boulder.

C. Questions/Suggestions
(C.1) Questions unearthed during analysis

• Who tweets for this handle? (How do you find time?!)
• Do you answer questions about admission via twitter, or do you re-direct to a person?
• Who are some higher ed+social media folks you recommend to follow?

(C.2) Suggestions for improvement

• I really enjoy visiting @mycuboulder’s twitter page. It would be cool to know what other twitter accounts CU Boulder has, so perhaps a few more tweets about other CUB handles?

E. Conclusion
As I’ve mentioned before, I appreciate the strong voice @MyCUBoulder puts forth. Being approachable is key in higher education, as you deal with so many constituencies. As an admissions office, tweeting seems like a big task to add to the other things they take care of, but it’s much appreciated by me–someone who works in higher education. And for the students who follow them, I’m sure they receive great information that they may otherwise have to spend time searching for. @MyCUBoulder is a good model for engagement with one’s community.