The Zinch Report

Early yesterday afternoon I tracked down Ben Jones, the Communications Director for the MIT Admissions Office. If you want to see a school that has figured out how to effectively blog, check out MIT (mitadmissions.org). Many schools look to MIT as a standard for connecting with students via the Web. MIT has been effective for the same reason I enjoyed talking to Ben- our communication was real and there was a story to tell.

Here's some of our conversation, in no particular order...

Tell me about MIT's recruiting communications...

We do a bunch of stuff. A lot of students tell us they give the print material (glossy booklets, mailings, etc) to their parents, and then they head to the web, so we focus on the web. But we still use print- because parents are important. Most of my time is spent on mitadmissions.org- it includes 12 student bloggers- three from each class year. We have guest authors and faculty who also contribute. All in all we have over 30 authors on the site. They basically talk about MIT on a day to day basis.

So how did the blog start?

When I was hired in 2004, they summarized my job description in one line- tell MIT's story in the right way- in a way that people will really get it- get what the place is all about. To me that meant no strategic marketing, no spin, just telling it how it was. That to me was the ability to give students from our school the key to speak uncensored. So, the good and not-so-good comes out- which is important for reasons of credibility. If we don't provide students with true information, they will go somewhere else to get it. The Web 2.0 world is one driven by user-generated content. So we're saying 'hey current students, why don't you just tell prospective students how it really is at MIT?'

Why blog?

There are two main reasons that students come to the blogs. One is to get the vision of what goes on at MIT day to day from primary sources. So we have students who are writing "day in the life" entries over and over again- 3 freshman, 3 sophomores, 3 juniors, and 3 seniors. Each year has played out dramatically differently. So people get a wonderful concept, when they put it all together, of what life is like here.

The other piece, the more important piece, is that students get a feel for the people here, the people who make MIT what it is. In my 4 years working here, I've never once been asked, "will I get a good education here at MIT?" The question people ask is "will I be happy, will I fit in?" The questions are never about quality of education, as that's assumed; they're all about student life. What kind of people are here, and if you're a good match to them I think you'll be happy here.

Tell us about academia's acceptance and transition to the Web...

When the Web first hit- for me it was right after I graduated from college- it really was just another platform for information, another resource. You could reproduce online what you were doing in print- just more efficiently. So, people were thinking of it as an extension of print. Part of the problem with an older generation's view of the Web it that they still look at it as an extension of print.

Today's generation of students understands that the Web is, at least for them, primarily a tool to facilitate interactions that would happen in real life. If I have a conversation with you via Facebook- it's the same as a conversation we would be having face to face. It's not like I'm writing something for a paper. We're conversing.

Tell me about effective use of the Web. How have you seen it done right?

If you treat your website like you treat your print, students won't relate to it, and they won't take you seriously. You have to treat the Web as students treat the Web, as an extension of word of mouth. Any way you would talk to them in person- that's the way you need to use the Web.

If I had a kid asking me about MIT- I would have him walk around campus and ask current students what they think. Then I would tell the student to make their own decisions. Don't base your final decision on some college guidebook or rankings. Do your homework and talk to primary sources. There's no "best school" out there, generally speaking. But there might be a "best school" for you. No guidebook will be able to tell you that though.

I feel like the Web is the college applicant's turf. Admissions officers need to act like guests- respectful guests. Today's high school students are way savvier than any other generation, so it's a mistake when the college treats the student like the guest.

How does MySpace or Facebook play a role in admissions?

My fundamental rule here is that the Web should never be used to hurt an applicant. We don't Google kids. We don't stalk them on Facebook. If a kid sends me a link to his or her site - and asks us to check it out- then we will look at it. At that point, it's fair game because the student has asked us to look.

But otherwise, respect their privacy. I think many people forget what it means to be 18. You're not supposed to be perfect at that age. That's what so great about being 18! Therefore, I have a real problem with colleges that use the web, a primary stomping ground for this age group, to dig up dirt on their applicants.

What do you see in Zinch?

I can't tell you how many times I've heard students say, "My Facebook profile is a much more realistic window into who I am, and I really wish I could send it to colleges. But I also use my profile to interact with my friends, and sometimes there are things that I don't want anyone but my friends to see."

So when I saw Zinch, I saw an answer to "How can I recreate that, but just the parts I want you to see?"

Facebook made this huge leap in the direction of substance, away from fluff (Myspace, etc.). Zinch makes another leap toward substance. You look at any Facebook profile, and you get a good feel for that person. With Facebook, right away, you get a feel for the human behind it all. Sites like Zinch have the potential to take this even further, and bravo to Zinch for being a pioneer. For me, admissions offices are just beginning to grasp how Web 2.0 can affect college admissions.

You can look at a bunch of other industries and see how they've evolved because of the Web. Some are just slower than others. You know it's coming for college admissions too -it's not a matter of if, but when. And it's being driven by the students themselves, which is my favorite part.