Rice Facebook fan page launched

By Cindy Dinh     8/21/08 7:00pm

The perpetually popular student pastime of spending hours on the Internet toggling from e-mail to social networking sites has certainly caught the eye of the public affairs department, given last month's debut of the official Rice fan page on www.facebook.com."Right now there are at least 10,000 users affiliated with the Rice University network," Director of Web Development in Public Affairs Sean Rieger said. "There's a large market for us to connect to them and keep them in touch with Rice."

Facebook users can sign up to be fans on the Web site and receive news notifications. The idea is to raise awareness and generate traffic to the Rice Web site, not to create a competitive site, he said. The Web site has several links to external Rice domain websites and a real-time RSS news feed. Since most Facebook users would check their account daily, those who subscribe to the page can receive updates and customized messages as they occur. There is also a user forum for people to post comments and start discussions.

Though the fan page is meant to connect current students, faculty and alumni to Rice news, prospective students may find the site most helpful, Rieger said.

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Wiess College senior Jorge Arciga agrees.

"I don't think I'll ever use it for its features," Arciga said. "I already know where to go to look for something."

For prospective students, however, the page offers links and headlines that drive interested users to the official Rice Web site so they can find more information about the school, Rieger said.

Some undergraduate students see the Rice fan page as just that.

"I don't think it really has much application for current students," Brown College sophomore William Garcia said. "I joined just for school spirit."

Arciga said other universities have already established Facebook fan pages and students will most likely be a fan of their school.

"We're going through a renaissance of sorts with the Rice domain," Rieger said. "We're trying new technology and showing everything that Rice has to offer."

To date, the office of public affairs has established a virtual tour of Rice, used Google Maps to identify Rice buildings with exact latitude and longitude points and is monitoring other social networking sites for possibility of inclusion in future plans.

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