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Focus on GSD Instead of BSOs

Michael_home Posted by Michael Stoner on 9.21.2012

I think Pinterest is cool. I really do. I know how fast it’s growing. I’ve seen data. So I don’t discount it, nor do I want anyone who reads further to think that this post is about Pinterest hate (or even dislike). It’s not.

It is about focus, though.

Let me explain. I’ve been busy with meetings and focused on writing this week so I haven’t spent a lot of time on Twitter, but I’ve seen a bunch of tweets about highered and Pinterest. And Becca Ramspott wrote a terrific post for CASE’s social media blog about how Frostburg State uses it.

This buzz indicates that Pinterest is a new BSO for higher ed. [That's Bright Shiny Object, in case you're wondering.] Unfortunately.

Why “unfortunately?” Because a Pinterest presence is the last thing that most the majority of schools, colleges, and universities should focus on right now.

Here’s why:

People are paying attention to your website, blogs, Facebook page(s), YouTube channel, and Twitter feed(s). Are you managing them? Are you developing and sharing fresh content regularly? Are you responding to comments, likes, RTs frequently? If you are, that’s awesome! Maybe you should experiment with Pinterest and see how it works for some audience segments. But if your key channels aren’t rockin’, Pinterest is a distraction. Stop messing about, focus, and get to work on the really important channels!

This is particularly true for anyone who thinks Pinterest has a role in student recruitment right now. Let’s consider a few datapoints.

Slide from The 2012 Social Admissions Report

Zinch and Inigral released some research earlier this week on social media and admissions [there's a lot there to digest on prospective students and Facebook]. They learned that of the 7,000 teens they surveyed, only about 5% said they used Pinterest to research colleges. [That's the slide above, if you're interested.] This echoes findings from Noel-Levitz, who reported that 6.3% of prospective students used Pinterest.

I believe that there are institutions (like RISD and FIT) where an initiative for prospective students designed around Pinterest just might work. But my suggestion to most colleges and universities is to focus right now on GSD, not this particular BSO.

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Michael_home Posted by Michael Stoner on 9.21.2012
Additional Posts by Michael (351)
  • http://twitter.com/eolsencreative Eric Olsen

    Yes. Thank you for simplifying the thoughts in my head.

  • Heather Heimarck

    of course, as a graduate of the GSD, the Graduate School of Design at Harvard…I thought the reference was to my alma mater not “Getting Shit Done”. I wonder if adminstration at the GSD is aware of this acronym.
    Thanks for a good post Michael.

  • http://twitter.com/andrewcareaga Andrew Careaga

    Excellent points that bear repeating, again and again. One challenge I’ve seen repeat itself in terms of social media platforms has to do with managing expectations from others across a university setting, and higher up in the chain of command, who become enamored by BSOs. Having good data to share, such as the information from Zinch, Inigral, Noel-Levitz (as well as  your own research, Michael) can help provide the independent perspective we need to address the “Why aren’t we on [social media platform du jour]” questions or, worse, the demands to create a presence on said platform without a solid strategy.

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  • http://twitter.com/virtualr Rebecca Bernstein

    I agree that we need to focus on what really matters, and also that students don’t use Pinterest. However, demographics make this platform a wonderful value add for alumni community building. Pinterest is a natural platform for collecting shared thoughts that can serve as user generated content for our foundational platforms. There are some schools that are out doing it well.  With that said, what is common to the schools who are doing Pinterest well is they have strong, foundational platforms already in place and Pinterest is a logical “next step”, once those platforms are mature and your community culture for sharing is established.

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