How Colleges Should Communicate with Parents on Social Media

College is many students’ first time living away from home. With this newfound independence come worried parents wishing their child did not grow up so fast. Every university has the responsibility to maintain open lines of communication and a close relationship with parents.

Using social media to communicate with parents can be difficult due to the fact that parents are not digital natives like their children. Therefore, while there can be complex, multi-platform social media strategies targeting prospective and current students, the same cannot be done for parents. When facilitating communication with parents, it is important to use channels that they are already comfortable with. Platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat are overwhelmingly used by youth, meaning that only a small percentage of parents are familiar with those social media sites. However, Facebook is used by a large amount of parents. According to US News, 47 percent of parents have an active Facebook account compared to the 25 and 23 percent on Instagram and Twitter respectively. While it would not be unwise to cross-post content meant for parents from Facebook onto other social media platforms, the content should be created with Facebook and its capabilities in mind.

Parents of incoming college students often have a multitude questions about how both the university and their child is doing. The amount of inquiries can be overwhelming, so using social media to organize times and places where parents can ask their questions can help maintain order and ensure every question is addressed. One easy way to do this is by hosting question and answer sessions on Facebook Live. There can either be specialized panels or general ones. For example, if incoming students have to register for housing by May 1, then there should be a panel of housing employees answering questions for a specified amount of time, usually around an hour. These sessions should be promoted on the official Facebook at least a week in advance with the specific times in which they are happening. It is also good to have questions prepared in advance in case parents are asking not enough questions. After the panel is done, a list of topics with the timestamps where they are addressed should be posted in the comments for parents to use in the future.

Facebook Live is a good way to efficiently answer questions, but not having to answer the questions at all would be even better. Parents sending their first student to college often have many more questions than parents that have put multiple children through college already. Organizing a location where parents can answer each other’s questions saves university employees from having to answer the same question repeatedly. This can be done through creating a Facebook Group. While college employees will still need to monitor discussion of the page, it centralizes parent communication and reduces the amount of unnecessary time spent talking with parents. This Facebook Group can also be useful for reminding parents about important deadlines such as FAFSA submission and class registration. This Facebook Group should be advertised on the main Facebook page at least once a semester, so parents of new students can join it.

Communicating with parents can sometimes seem like an uphill battle, but it is not an insurmountable feat. Social media may not be the first thing to come to mind when thinking about parents. However, using specific strategies on appropriate platforms can make social media an invaluable asset. Check out Education World, Peach Jar, Education Week, and The Missourian for more ideas on how to optimize social media strategy for parents at your university!