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Like many other organizations, universities are using social media to engage with their stakeholders as they have varying interests and commitments. This chapter focuses on strategic communication and stakeholder engagement by UK universities on Twitter. It presents a descriptive study about their engagement on Twitter in terms of their followers, number of tweets, etc. In addition, it analyzes the tweets’ content to identify British universities’ communication strategies. Hence, the results revealed a thematic model in the form of an interrelated conceptual theory that comprises three strands of communication: (i) recruiting prospective students, (ii) retaining present students and staff, and (iii) reporting activities and media coverage. This contribution presents implications for university marketing communication managers who are involved in student recruitment and/or in managing relationships with stakeholders.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the use, attitudes and perceptions of both teachers and students towards social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) in healthcare higher education practice.

Systematic literature review. A search of published and unpublished databases was conducted from January 2000 to January 2013. Data were synthesised through a narrative approach. All included studies were critically appraised using Critical Appraisal Skills Programme appraisal tools.

From a total of 876 papers, 16 publications met the eligibility criteria. The review papers were largely of moderate methodological quality. The results indicated that Facebook and Twitter are perceived as potentially useful adjuncts in healthcare higher education practice. Their use as part of a “blended” approach to classroom teaching has been employed to enhance communication and increase accessibility of students to real-world practices and expertise. Whilst students perceive this to be of value, some have reservations regarding the possibility of faculty members spying or infringing on their “virtual” social community. Faculty members expressed some reservations regarding the perceived boundary between student-staff relationships.

This is the first paper to systematically review the literature on the use of social media networking sites in health education. This identified both the potential strengths and weaknesses of using this new technology, and highlights areas to expand knowledge with further research and practice.

This chapter focuses on how social media tools can be used to enhance collaboration in higher education and the benefits and challenges that this can bring. We investigate how two social media tools, social bookmarking, and microblogging, can be utilized to foster collaboration and determine why this is important in contemporary higher education. Case studies of social media use at Bournemouth University show how social bookmarking and microblogging have already yielded benefits.The case studies are grounded in the challenges facing higher education in 2010. We explore how social media has been used in the context of a need to enhance academic excellence and drive efficiencies in the face of funding constraints and changing demographics.

The case studies illustrate, first, how social bookmarking has been used to foster group cohesion, reflective practice, and evaluative skills in students, as well as being used at an institutional level to drive professional and administrative efficiencies; and second, how microblogging has made a difference in promoting reflective learning, group cohesion, and professional awareness in students and how this style of social networking has contributed to enhancing academic and professional networks.

Whilst the tools, uses, and stakeholders vary, the case studies show how social media has enabled collaboration between, students, academics, librarians, learning technologists, and even professional groups beyond the institution. We conclude that, when used appropriately, social media can facilitate the collaboration that will be essential to overcome the challenges facing higher education.

The study aims to compare survey recruitment rates between Facebook, Twitter and Qualtrics and to assess the impact of recruitment method on estimates of energy content, food safety, carbon footprint and animal welfare across 29 foods.

Two versions of an online survey were developed on the citizen science platform, Zooniverse. The surveys explored citizen estimations of energy density (kcal) or carbon footprint (Co₂) and food safety or animal welfare of 29 commonly eaten foods. Survey recruitment was conducted via paid promotions on Twitter and Facebook and via paid respondent invites on Qualtrics. The study included approximately 500 participants (Facebook, N˜11 (ratings 358), Twitter, N˜85 (ratings 2,184), Qualtrics, N = 398 (ratings 11,910)). Kruskal–Wallis and Chi-square analyses compared citizen estimations with validated values and assessed the impact of the variables on estimations.

Citizens were unable to accurately estimate carbon footprint and energy content, with most citizens overestimating values. Citizen estimates were most accurate for meat products. Qualtrics was the most successful recruitment method for the online survey. Citizen estimates between platforms were significantly different, suggesting that Facebook and Twitter may not be suitable recruitment methods for citizen online surveys.

Qualtrics was the favourable platform for survey recruitment. However, estimates across all recruitment platforms were poor. As paid recruitment methods such as Qualtrics are costly, the authors recommend continued examination of the social media environment to develop appropriate, affordable and timely online recruitment strategies for citizen science.

The findings indicate that citizens are unable to accurately estimate the carbon footprint and energy content of foods suggesting a focus on consumer education is needed to enable consumers to move towards more sustainable and healthy diets. Essential if we are to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals of zero hunger, good health and wellbeing and responsible consumption and production. The study highlights the utility of Zooniverse for assessing citizen estimates of carbon footprint, energy content, animal welfare and safety of foods.

This chapter takes a look at the Social Web. Humanities scholars are, by and large, a fairly social group. Attend any of the Modern Language Association conferences and you will be inundated with invitations to attend events hosted by publishers, groups within MLA, universities, and alumni organizations. The way we now include apps as an inherent part of our socialization, however, is changing and evolving as a result of some of the tools that are to be associated with the digital humanities, albeit not necessarily as apparently so as some others. This chapter explores the familiar players like Facebook™, Google+™, Twitter™, and others and discusses how they are being used by those in the field, contextualizing them within a variety of disciplines in the humanities through case studies while situating the category alongside theories that make sense of their use. Not as commonly used in academic social networks are vlogging applications along with student blog sites, which are also examined in this chapter. It is in this and subsequent chapters where augmented reality enhancements will be used. Please follow the directions at the beginning of Chapter 2 to access these additions.

In December 2022, the Taliban announced that women were banned from attending higher education institutions in Afghanistan, which was met with concerns, condemnation, and a call to action. Social media platforms have presented Afghans and others from around the world with a free, public, and relatively safe space to voice their opinions and connect with others to discuss the ramifications of the Taliban education policies. The study conducted a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of 186 English-language posts published on the Twitter social networking site in September 2021 and December/January 2022 in response to the Taliban’s announced decisions concerning women’s access to higher education. Six discursive strategies were identified that use hashtags, negatively represent the Taliban, represent Afghan women as victims, report on acts of advocacy, condemn the Taliban’s restrictions and ban, and call to action to advocate for women’s right to higher education. While the ban has triggered more condemnation and calls for resistance than the restrictions enforced in the previous year, the findings suggest that the response to the restrictions imposed in September 2021 was mostly that of indifference compared to the posts that comment on the education ban in December 2022. Questions are raised concerning the role and effectiveness of the analyzed Twitter posts in mobilizing serious measures to reclaim women’s rights to access quality higher education in Afghanistan within the confines of the English-language Twitter sphere.

This chapter theorizes academic libraries and library workers as partners in social justice work in higher education, linking the core concerns of critical librarianship (or Critlib) to library leadership practices that can enable and facilitate widening participation as a political project. ¹ Widening participation, as a policy imperative and higher education practice, attempts to improve access to higher education among underrepresented groups. However, rooted in the logic of marketized, neoliberal higher education, liberal approaches to widening participation are instrumentalist and contribute to a cultural discourse which reproduces inequity and unequal educational outcomes.

Drawing on Nancy Fraser's model of social justice and critical sociology of education, particularly the work of Penny Jane Burke and Diane Reay, this chapter develops a critical theory of library leadership which radically reframes widening participation practice as a project of recognition and inclusion. In connecting the rich scholarship of Critlib movement, particularly critical information literacy and library pedagogies, to shared commitments to social justice between library and other education workers, this chapter deepens our theoretical understanding of libraries' contributions to widening participation.