Marissa Filletti, Staff Writer 

In recent years, social media has become a huge part of all of our lives. From the launch of Facebook and Twitter to more recently Instagram, it’s safe to say that these apps are becoming more and more relevant in how we get information and communicate.

With this recent technology revolution, businesses need to keep up in order to communicate with their key publics; and Utica College is no exception.

UC has a solid presence across several social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“I think the main purpose of UC social media is to share news, increase awareness and give the UC community an opportunity to be part of the conversation,” Mary Donofrio, director of news and new media at UC, said.

Sophomore Mary Warfel gets the most benefit out of UC’s page on Instagram.

Mary Warfel, UC sophomore, said, “Since I’m a commuter, following Utica College on social media is an easy way for me to stay updated on what’s happening on campus,” Warfel said. “I follow UC on Instagram because that’s what I use the most. I also follow a lot of the sports teams so I know when there are games coming up.”

Aside from keeping UC students, faculty, staff and alumni informed about all things happening on campus, social media is also a platform used to reach out to prospective students and show them what UC is all about.

“Social media is such an important resource for prospective students,” Donofrio said. “Before, they would probably check out UC’s website or look through a UC brochure. But now with social media, I think they are able to get a more realistic representation of UC on a day-to-day basis.”

UC freshman and criminal justice major Annalisa MacPhee said that UC social media was a great resource throughout her college decision making process.

“Before I even decided to come here, I liked UC’s Facebook page because I wanted to see what the college was all about,” MacPhee said. “Now, I follow the UC Twitter and Instagram, too!”

Donofrio said that more than 10,000 people like UC’s Facebook page. She is able to track how many people engage with UC’s posts on Facebook and the peak times at which they do so.

“I think students check social media pretty consistently, but for the faculty, staff and alumni, peak social media times are typically lunch hours and in the evening around 7 p.m.,” Donofrio said.

Donofrio confirms that UC’s Twitter account has more than 3,400 followers to date and the newest addition to UC’s social media trio, Instagram, is rapidly growing, currently with 1,400 followers.

“There are certain marketing materials that UC puts out on purpose and people know that,” Donofrio said. “When people see an ad or a billboard, they can’t engage with it and might even ignore it. Through social media, we can open up a two-way dialogue and it’s a great way to get a sense of what people really think.”

Christine LeoGrande is the Coordinator of Media Relations at UC, and said that UC wanted to be able to reach all members of the campus community through social media.

“Social media enables us to reach more people,” Leogrande said. “We have many different ‘publics’ – students, prospective students, parents, alumni and the community – so we need to use the channels that those publics are using. In addition, we need to tailor the message to the specific public and the specific medium.”