4级考前冲试题一.docVIP

4 级考前冲刺试题一 Social media presents challenge to universities Universities have a new weapon in the battle to protect their reputations: the friendly student blogger A few days ago, Vshuf, an international student, posted a message on the Student Room discussion site. He/she wanted to know which university — Glasgow, Birmingham, Warwick, Nottingham or the Institution (sic) of Education would be the best place to study business. The academic reputation of the institution was important, but there was another consideration. “How are people like in these universities?” the post asked. “I have watched some videos about Warwick on YouTube and it seems to me that the people are snobby and arrogant in contrast to those from Nottingham.” Members were quick to defend Warwick, but Vshuf remained unconvinced. The thread highlights the difficulty that universities face in the age of social media. At a time when reputation is more important than ever because of higher student fees and greater global competition, the ability to manage their reputations is increasingly falling out of their hands. How to reach an increasingly networked generation that is more inclined to trust the opinion of their anonymous peers on the internet than official bodies such as universities was a problem discussed at last week’s Youth Strategy Marketing Conference 2011. Helen Pennack, head of marketing communications at the University of Leicester, says students now post queries on Facebook or the Student Room about open days or where to find their timetables, rather than simply contact the university directly. “When we do relationship marketing communications, we are trying to strike up a two-way dialogue with students and they are taking the conversation away from us and having it with other people,” she says. “How we make ourselves part of that conversation again is quite a challenge. Her university has responded by setting up a system that allows students to sync (与……同步) communications from Leicester