Buying an Iron, the eCommunity Way

I needed a new iron, so I went shopping.

Not like my parents used to shop. Back in my childhood, there was one place to go—Sears, Roebuck, & Co. And if they didn’t have it, you really didn’t need it.

Fast forward to 2003, and the Web. Suddenly, the world is laid at my wrinkled-khaki-wide-cuff-full-break-reverse-pleat-trouser-draped feet. I wanted a cordless iron, but not just your regular cordless iron. I wanted one that was durable, dependable, quick-heating, and-if I could be permitted to dream for just a moment-complete with its own carrying case. So I googled and found three reputable models: Panasonic, Maytag, and Oreck. All were within my pricepoint and could be had immediately (courtesy of Fedex), but I needed to do more research. So I “targeted.” More specifically, I read the product reviews posted by actual customers at target.com. And then I “amazoned” and did the same thing. I followed a couple of rabbit-trail recommendations from the reviews, and then I googled once more to scout any information on general customer service for each of the makers.

The point? Simply that the once-nebulous concept of eCommunity, at least for this user, has been realized, partly out of need for more information, and partly out of a blind (but not usually misplaced) trust for the recommendations of other real people. Name brands aside, I wanted to know what other people thought of the product before I made the same investment.

The application to higher education? Varied. Some colleges and universities have started student blogs or “year-in-the-life” features to bring their campuses to virtual life. Others offer on-the-fly IM chats with real-life students. And no site is complete without student, alumni, faculty and staff testimonials. Some schools are testing pda-enhanced tours in which prospective students can wander around campus and read on their Wi-Fi Palms the comments posted by others who’ve gone before them. In the end, people are still keenly interested in what other, real people have to say.

The time is quickly drawing to a close where any institution can claim frontiersman credit for incorporating blogs, IM chats, commented tours, or other peer-to-peer technologies to their recruitment and marketing efforts (there goes the CASE award!), but they can still employ and refine their use to more effectively communicate the distinctions of the school to an eager and interested audience (here comes the CASE award!). How do you employ and refine peer-to-peer and ecommunity technologies? Stay tuned, Emily’s got some ideas…

P.S. I bought the Oreck.