UK Google+ Ranked Fifth
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 30, 2014) — The University of Kentucky's Google+ account has been ranked fifth on the Most Influential Colleges on Google+ list created by CollegeAtlas.org published May 28.
CollegeAtlas.org evaluated the social media efforts of major U.S. colleges and universities. The 2014 rankings focused on each school’s activity, reach and engagement on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram.
"We were pleased to see an unusually broad set of colleges emerge as top performers in our social media rankings," said Branden Neish, general manager of CollegeAtlas.org. "These schools offer immersive collegiate experiences and fervent alumni groups that positively impact students throughout their lives. Social media helps us measure these difficult-to-quantify, yet important, aspects of higher education."
Using a data set, ranging from the number of Facebook likes to tweeting frequency, CollegeAtlas.org developed proprietary algorithms to generate top 20 lists for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, as well as Google+. From those lists the website also developed at top 30 list for the social media platforms combined.
CollegeAtlas.org teamed up with Shawndra Russell, a writer and social media educator for businesses, professionals and graduate students at Armstrong Atlantic State University, to analyze the top-performing colleges. Their findings are published as "A Study of Social Media in Higher Education."
The website anticipates its findings will be used by a wide variety of organizations to further develop their social media strategies, as well as by prospective students looking for colleges that offer tight-knit and supportive communities.
CollegeAtlas.org, which describes itself as the encyclopedia of higher education, aims to provide comprehensive and unbiased information about universities, degrees and academic programs. CollegeAtlas.org publishes rankings that help students make important higher education decisions. For nearly a decade, CollegeAtlas.org has been helping aspiring students and education-minded professionals make more informed choices by providing up-to-date information about college and higher education opportunities. More information is available at CollegeAtlas.org.
Other colleges joining UK in top five of the CollegeAtlas.org Google+ list are Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Duke University and Columbia University.
To connect with UK online, visit the following social media outlets:
- on Facebook at www.facebook.com/universityofky;
- on Flickr at www.flickr.com/universityofkentucky;
- on Foursquare at http://foursquare.com/universityofky;
- on Google+ at http://plus.google.com/113736732922435907446;
- on Instagram at http://instagram.com/universityofky;
- on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/edu/school?id=18413&trk=tyah;
- on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/universityofky;
- on Tumblr at http://university-of-kentucky.tumblr.com;
- on Twitter at www.twitter.com/universityofky; and
- on YouTube at www.youtube.com/universityofky.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu