Faculty Social Media Interview

Over the course of the semester I have collected a lot of research about social media and sororities through online sources and from students at SUNY Oswego but I wanted to speak with at least one faculty member and find out their opinion on social media and it’s role in the many different aspects of sororities like recruitment, reputation and communication. I was able to sit down with the Director of Student Involvement, Michael Paestella who gave me some great insight.

“When it comes to social media I think it depends on the sorority, I think in some cases social media has been the ultimate tool that was never there…” Mike told me as he reflected on his own time in Greek life during his years as an undergrad, “what potential there could’ve been to share information, share pictures, get the word out, promote things, set things up in a way that we couldn’t have even fathomed, that you take for granted.” He also examines the dark side of social media saying, “It can also end chapters because of what people put on social media without thinking about it that way.”

He stressed to me that social media is not necessarily good or bad for sororities, but it is a tool and you need to be smart with how you use it, “the positive things, how you can get the word out, how you can share things. How you can really be more unique and show more of who you are. If you are putting out pictures from community service, from meetings, from general activities, from attending events. What a great tool it can be. So it’s really how you use the tool, I don’t think that its good or bad, it’s the use that can be good or bad.”

I was always curious to know if the school is overlooking social media accounts. Student conduct would handle ways that social media can hinder your organization and even end chapters because of inappropriate content that is posted so Mike cannot speak on their behalf. The only social media that Mike specifically checks through work is Laker life. They do have a student involvement twitter account and at times they can see that groups or individuals retweet something that they put out there and can then click on an organizations page and just scroll through to see what they are up to. He stresses that that use of twitter is “the connectitive aspect and not necessarily trying to look for anything.”

When it comes to the future of sororities and social media, Mike understands how important having a positive social presence online is to the reputation, development, and continuation of an organization. “I would share this to a parent or a student, Google, look at their Instagram, look at their twitter, look at what stuff’s out there and think about, does that look like something I want to participate in. In another layer of it, does that look like it could be a liability to me or does it look like its fun, and how does it play out that way.”

It was beneficial to interview someone who is not only a faculty member at SUNY Oswego but was also in a fraternity during his undergrad years because he has been aware of these changes and advancements of social media within organizations as it has evolved.