University communication mix and the role of social network sites. Is direct presence of the college really desired by students?

The aim of the paper is to understand to what extent students desire direct interaction with their universities through social media. This main research question seems to be relevant because it is one of the issues still open in the literature concerning the evolution of university communication and the use of new technologies. Universities have already understood the primary role new technologies can play in building new and effective communication strategies. Moreover students are defined multichannel teens who spend hours on Internet to interact with their peers and to manage relations with the public. Social network sites represent a challenge for colleges which need to understand whether students desire a relationship with them using these tools or perceive it as a ‘marketing intrusion’. Previous studies have not brought conclusive results on these issues. Thus we conducted a survey to understand what the students’ real perception of the direct presence of universities on Facebook is, and also to identify the contents and information students wish to share with colleges and the tools they would prefer to use within these platforms. The survey was carried out at the Sapienza University of Rome and it was conducted ‘offline’ using questionnaires.