Mustang Ryan Rosenbaum’s phenomenal 95-yard goal is the soccer kick seen around the world – thanks to YouTube, the ubiquitous video-sharing website. The first-year player’s sensational move against the University of Tulsa Oct. 16 was a hit on the SMU Athletics’ YouTube channel . As of mid-March, the 27 seconds of Mustang soccer history had been viewed almost a half million times.
YouTube provides an easy and efficient distribution point to news outlets for SMU-related video, says Brad Sutton, assistant athletics director for public relations and broadcasting. “From a media relations standpoint, YouTube gives us the ability to cast a wide net.”
Sutton’s team posted the video and sent out an e-mail alert to media contacts. ESPN’s Sports Center and ABC World News are among the national programs that broadcast Rosenbaum’s powerful footwork as a result. After the clip aired, word spread quickly among soccer fans, and YouTube viewings skyrocketed.
YouTube is just one online window open to the world of SMU. While traditional websites like smu.edu are mainstays of news and information delivery on the Internet, blogs and social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter are gaining popularity with users of all ages.
Web-based communication “is about community and participation,” says Steve Edwards, professor with SMU’s Temerlin Advertising Institute in Meadows School of the Arts. He teaches social media marketing at the graduate and undergraduate levels. “You can’t just throw content out there and let it sit. You have to interact.”
Blogging The Latest News
“Blogs and Facebook are less about pushing out information than about engaging in a two-way conversation with key audiences,” says Ben Alexander, director of e-Marketing in the SMU Office of Public Affairs.
In addition to administering smu.edu, the Public Affairs team maintains SMU’s social networking channels: Facebook, which boasts more than 8,000 fans, and Twitter, with nearly 1,000 followers (figures as of mid-May).
Like YouTube, blogs such as SMU Research provide an efficient conduit for information about the University to media outlets around the world. SMU Research documents important findings by faculty in all academic disciplines, including earth and climate, energy and matter, and health and medicine. When information about the discovery of the “Rosetta Stone” of supervolcanoes in Italy by a team led by James E. Quick, associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies at SMU was posted on the SMU blog, MSNBC.com, ScienceDaily.com and geology.com were among the national media to pick up the story.
Blogs also provide an opportunity for the University to present a well-rounded picture of SMU student life. The SMU Student Adventures site features blogs written by students participating in SMU education abroad, service, leadership, internship and research programs. The site, which registers more than 4,000 visits per month, appears in “What’s New at SMU,” the Admission e-newsletter for prospective students, and on the accepted students website.
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