Fueled by new technologies and new media, the public's information consumption habits seem to have changed almost overnight. To keep pace, Temple's Office of University Communications has enhanced its menu of social media outlets for up-to-date university news, information, events, photos, videos, sports scores — and most of all, a sense of community.

"In the past, there was no way to talk instantly to a broad audience, nor was there a way for our different constituencies to talk with each other," said Ray Betzner, assistant vice president for university communications. "Temple's students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, prospective students and neighbors form one of the most connected and engaged communities in higher education. When it comes to social media, we follow their lead."

University Communications' primary social media outlets, led by Temple's official Twitter feeds and Facebook page, have experienced explosive growth in 2011-12.

Temple's official Twitter feed, @TempleUniv, has become a regional powerhouse. Earlier this month, the number of @TempleUniv followers broke 10,000, more than three times the feed's following at the same time last year. According to a leading national monitoring service's measures of Twitter reach and impact, @TempleUniv is one of the 20 most influential college Twitter feeds in the nation and the second most influential feed at a public university in the East.

University Communications also maintains specialized Twitter feeds directed to more focused audiences, including @TempleU_SciTech (science and technology), @TempleHealthMed (health sciences), @TempleUArts (arts and culture) and @TUGovtAffairs (government relations). A new Twitter feed, @iThinkatTemple (humanities, social sciences and related subjects), launched last week.

Temple's official Facebook page, also has experienced an unprecedented surge of activity in recent months. The Temple page was "liked" by more than 1,000 new individuals since mid-December 2011, a 15 percent increase in only 10 weeks, breaking 8,000 followers on Feb. 28. In addition, the average number of comments and likes received on the page's individual status updates has more than doubled in the same time period.

Temple also has developed a strong presence in several newer social media platforms. In order to better showcase images and videos — essential at a university with strengths in the arts — University Communications created an official blog at Tumblr, a fast-growing, visually-oriented microblogging and social networking site. Although not managed by University Communications, the popular professional networking platform LinkedIn has several Temple groups, including one for Temple alumni. As new players emerge on the social media scene, Temple will continue to experiment and adapt.

University Communications is leading several initiatives to help managers of other official social media outlets at units throughout Temple, including the development of a university-wide inventory of social media outlets and a guideline to best practices. Both projects will be completed in the coming weeks. To access Temple's primary university-wide social media outlets, go to the University Communications social media page.