People don't just use social media to connect with friends anymore.
Wednesday, the Pamplin College of Business unveiled its official channels for interaction online — including Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.
PRISM — which was founded last year and stands for Pamplin Re-Inventing Social Media — was created to help build the social media presence of Pamplin.
The group has been working with Pamplin to form a cohesive social media existence, and over the last year, the group has grown from 15 members to 45.
Throughout the day students who came through the Pamplin atrium were invited to “like” the Pamplin Facebook page and send Tweets using @VTPamplin.
The Pamplin Tumblr will have blogs and summaries of presentations by professors, as well as links to videos on the Pamplin YouTube page. The Facebook and Twitter pages will be used to announce events and let students know about speakers on campus.
Lauren Prociv, a graduate student studying business administration and co-advisor for PRISM, said she thinks students are excited about the expansion of Pamplin social media.
“We’re creating order out of chaos — nobody knows exactly what to do with social media so we are trying to be pioneers,” Prociv said.
Leading up to the launch, PRISM members used Facebook and Twitter to spread the word, generating buzz among students, Prociv said.
Many students need to know to use social media tools, as more businesses utilize tools such as Twitter and Tumblr. Prociv said it is becoming increasingly common for employers to be interested in a candidate’s social media “Klout” when hiring.
Klout.com is a website that tracks people’s influence online through websites such as Facebook, Twitter and others.
Jordan Jacobson, a sophomore marketing major, said this launch reflects well on Tech and Pamplin.
“Everyone is using these social media channels and it helps people collaborate,” Jacobson said. “College really brings out the collaboration element and using social media helps with that.”
Donna Wertalik, faculty advisor for PRISM, hopes opening these social media channels will continue the dialogue between professors and students after class ends.
“A professor can give a lecture and then Tweet something about it and students can Tweet back,” Wertalik said. “It’s more of a conversation that’s occurring rather than a one-way street.”
Sandy Bass, a senior marketing management major and one of the chief marketing officers for PRISM, said before PRISM, there was some disconnect within Pamplin’s social media outlets.
“We had a Twitter and a Facebook page, but they weren’t being used for information. The only way students were getting information was through emails and the general listserv,” Bass said.