Using Facebook Pages to Connect With Students, Faculty, Alumni, and Friends: An Empirical Analysis

Facebook pages have been promoted as a cost-effective way of communicating with department alumni, students, faculty, and friends. We analyzed Facebook engagement metrics across a 2-year span for the page for one department of psychology. In addition, we surveyed followers of the page to determine whether different constituency groups appreciated different types of Facebook posts. In general, posts related to current faculty accomplishments were most engaging as judged by Facebook metrics and self-report survey data. The survey data also showed that different constituencies enjoyed posts related to their particular group. These results demonstrate that a department Facebook page can be an effective tool for reaching a wide range of constituent groups. We also discuss some tips for generating and managing a department page as well as challenges