Is mobile web a social media tool?

Mobile matters and colleges and universities are working hard to figure it out. This post offers a bit about mobile @williamandmary and some thoughts about why I think mobile web is also social media-ish.

For the first time, new students and families @williamandmary had access to need-to-know orientation info in a nice mobile setup. The mobile format for William & Mary orientation included five orientation schedules, a move-in map, and news and social media feeds. Thanks Tiffany, Rachel, Andrew, Jessica, Rebecca, Joel and Susan for making it happen!

Traffic to our mobile site was four times higher than normal on move-in day at William & Mary. Not surprisingly, the orientation events section of m.wm.edu/orientation was the most popular that weekend as the newest members of the Tribe arrived on campus. William & Mary launched m.wm.edu just 12 months ago. In late spring, we also offered custom content for W&M commencement on our mobile site.

Mobile content delivery isn’t typically viewed as social media. We view it as vital to community-building and along with providing what new students and parents need most in a mobile format, we also offered some fun content. The mobile orientation site also highlighted user-generated content coming in via W&M’s social media channels.

• Twitter feeds from @wmsquirrel and @lordbot (in fact, both had their own icons on the mobile site)
• content from the #wmmovein hashtag stream (including move-in pics from Flickr)
• a YouTube video of the W&M Choir singing the Alma mater (a must learn for newbies)

What say you? Is mobile web social media-ish? Are you using mobile content to support the social media strategy on your campus?

- Susan T. Evans