There was an article a few days ago in the Chronicle with the headline “Colleges Create Facebook-Style Social Networks to Reach Alumni.”
The first paragraph claims “hundreds of college alumni associations have begun to offer their own online social networks . . ”
To me, this seems like a very sad waste of time and money. (The article mentions the two major private network vendors are charging $10,000 per year plus set up fees.)
We’ve talked about walled gardens** for a long time.
Walled gardens are simply networks that are cut off from the outside world. Schools like them because it feels like control and privacy.
We’re generally against them for college and above. Younger, it makes more sense.
College students are different. They’re not just adventurous, they actually know – or at least feel – an extremely important reality of today:
The social, educational, and economic value is in the network.
Anything that restricts their network, constrains the student’s value.
College can be an important network, but it is only one among many. Whether or not any given student can find what they need within the college at any given time obviously depends on the student and the college. At some point, however, most are going to need to get a job outside of the school network. At this point, the student needs to be a good global networker.
The schools should be teaching this skill. The earlier the better.
The school should not be setting itself up with a conflict of interest by competing with Facebook or Linkedin. It’s tantamount to trying to fend off the real world.
Locking students into old technology and closed networks is a huge disservice, verging on irresponsibility.
Students generally just won’t follow, but that doesn’t absolve the university from the responsibility to prepare the students for the world they will live in. Or to provide experience with the tools the world currently uses.
If you are an alumni director and feel that you must give a private network a try, please try Ning.com. It is free. Then, at least, when alumni or students don’t use it, you will only be out the time.
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If you don’t have a Chronicle subscription, there’s a nice commentary on Alumni Futures** as well.
