I've spoken with a few folks at Davidson since writing this, and I can confirm that they're approaching this with a great mindset of experimentation and innovation. I want to clarify that when I wrote “the project requires minimal extra effort” I didn't mean to under-emphasize the work that folks in the admissions office put in on the front end. It surely takes some effort to get started with something like this (setting up a system to receive permission to quote from applicants, figuring out what criteria will be used to post, etc), but my point is that once it's integrated into the ongoing and necessary work of the admissions team the content practically writes itself. That, to me, is a goal that other organizations, corporations, and individuals should strive for: how do you make social media a natural extension of what you're already doing–and doing WELL–instead of a time-consuming and frustrating “extra” part of your employees' time.

Nicely put!

I agree entirely–I couldn't make Twitter work for me personally until I realized how low the stakes are and what a boon that can be. It's a whimsical medium that asks no more than to say something short, sweet, and interesting, and I commend the Admissions folk for using it in such a fun way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoGxvB1llbc

“That's right, gentlemen. We could wind up constantly wiping our eyes in a downpour while trying to dance to Leonard Cohen music!”

+1 on everything Taylor said. This is a really fun and simple project that showcases the college and its fine applicants. I hope this maybe the start of a bigger trend by the school to engage with social media and web 2.0 I already emailed ITS to try to sell them on Google Apps for Education, but they didn't bite… how cool would that be, though? I feel like Davidson is the perfect size school to be really bold in these areas, and this Twitter/Google Maps project is a great start.