Alexandra Salerno
Advisory Editor
A few months ago, I took a picture of a tree on campus, and it received more than 50 double taps. (That’s likes on Instagram for those who are bravely living without smartphones). Yet, as #instaworthy as I’m sure we all agree our beautiful school is, unfortunately, there isn’t a common place for Bonnies to find “Earlybird-“filtered pictures of Dev or Sepia-toned snaps of the Quick. That’s because St. Bonaventure University does not have an official Instagram account.
According to a 2012 U.S. News & World Report story, institutions of higher education all across the country are using Instagram. Uses for the platform range from obvious: promotion and interactivity, to the less obvious: encouragement of campus involvement and visual updates for alumni. All eight Ivy-league schools have Instagram accounts, and university Instagram followings range from massive (@bostoncollege: 36,000+ followers) to modest (@canisius_college: 300+ followers).
St. Bonaventure has various department accounts on Instagram. St. Bonaventure athletics operate @gobonnies and St. Bonaventure admissions operate @cometobonas, though the latter has not been active since May 2012. This content inconsistency and lack of cohesive branding on Instagram puts St. Bonaventure at a disadvantage, especially for future students who aren’t reminded of Bonaventure when they check their newsfeeds every hour.
During a time when enrollment is declining, Instagram seems like a no-brainer when considering avenues to appeal to future Bonnies. There are more than 150 million active monthly users on Instagram according to forbes.com.
Instagram also seems like the perfect place to appeal to alumni and donors. According to the same U.S. News & World Report story, the University of Florida has been using Instagram since 2011. The university’s social media specialist said, “Instagram offers filters to alter and enhance an image, many of which can mimic the style or appearance of a photograph that may have been taken years earlier … Our alumni may not have seen [the] campus for 10 or 20 years, and by presenting something that’s presented like a Polaroid, it creates an even more interesting connection. They’re nostalgic, and then they see something that is presented in a way that is nostalgic.”
Since St. Bonaventure is steeped in tradition, Instagram is the perfect place to showcase that.
Instagram is also the best platform to engage current Bonnies. Various campus groups have made attempts to create Instagram accounts, (@wsbufm: 300 followers, @the_bona_venture: 54 followers, @sbu_sga: 20 followers) but an official St. Bonaventure University account could feature pictures from all aspects of campus life.
Gaining followers for a new social media presence definitely doesn’t happen overnight. However, an account legitimized by the university could be broad enough to appeal to everyone from alumni, current students or Bonaventure sports nuts. I can think of about 1,900 undergrads that may love Bona’s enough to follow the feed.
St. Bonaventure currently has an active Facebook presence with more than 9,000 fans of the page. Yet, the university must consider the longevity of such accounts. A recent study done by researchers at Princeton University project Facebook will lose 80% of current users by 2017 according to a Guardian article published Jan. 22.
Strategic communication and digital media became an official major in 2012. I can’t decide if it’s ironic or alarming that two years later, the university offering such an advanced program still doesn’t have a voice on one of the world’s biggest digital platforms.
Alexandra Salerno is an advisory editor for The Bona Venture. Her email is salernak10@bonaventure.edu
