As the snow melts and spring begins to make itself known across the Queen’s campus, there’s a new kind of growth happening at the Faculty of Law – and it’s happening online.
The Faculty has been finding new ways of reaching out, via some of the world’s most popular social platforms. “We’re always looking for new and better ways to stay in touch with alumni, prospective students and the extended Queen’s Law community,” says Matt Shepherd, the Faculty’s Director of Marketing and Communications. “Our staff, our students, and our faculty are making a team effort to get us online and more in touch than ever.”
After a “soft launch” in February, the Faculty is now present and regularly updating on a number of social platforms:
Facebook: (http://www.facebook.com/queensulaw)
Twitter: @queensulaw
LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/school/queen'slaw/)
Twitter (Research account): @qlaw_research
Instagram: @queensulaw
Tumblr: http://queensulaw.tumblr.com
While the Faculty is relatively new to each platform – LinkedIn is its longest-term presence, and has only been run by the Faculty since late 2014 – it’s taking to the challenge quickly. “We have no shortage of good things to talk about, from students raising money through charity initiatives to faculty winning awards from their research,” Shepherd says, “to say nothing of the incredible accomplishments of our alumni.” From an initial goal of a post a day, Queen’s Law’s Facebook account is rapidly growing to post several times a day and is gaining followers quickly, having increased its audience by 300% in the last two weeks alone.
On top of all of this, the Faculty of Law is about to announce an official presence on SSRN, the Social Science Research Network – a site where academics can post and share research papers, works in progress, and drafts of work to come.
“Social media is more of an art than a science,” Shepherd says. “There will doubtlessly be some changes to come, and we’re going to tinker with how we use all of these tools to communicate, but we’re dedicated to making sure people get the latest and best information on everything happening at Queen’s Law.”