Shape of things to come

Social media is throwing up challenges and opportunities for universities, write Beverly Head.

When a pro-rape page established on Facebook by past and present University of Sydney students hit the headlines late last year, it threw into sharp relief the impact that social media can have on tertiary institutions. While the University of Sydney had not set up the page and did not condone it, it nevertheless found itself battling media inquiries and public perception. Social networking and social software will have a major role to play in all large enterprises, and universities in particular where incoming students have literally grown up on websites such as Bebo, Facebook, MySpace and...