THE USE OF EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCERS FOR COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES IN THE TERTIARY EDUCATION SECTOR IN AUSTRIA

Peter Schneckenleitner¹, Johanna Thaler^2
1Prof. (FH) Dr., University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tyrol, Austria, peter.schneckenleitner@fh-kufstein.ac.at
²University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tyrol, Austria

Abstract

This study examines reputation building in the Austrian higher education sector with the help of social media influencers. The following research questions are asked: Who are Austria's leading influencers in the tertiary education sector? Are educational influencers specifically used in university communication in Austria? The aim of this study is to find out whether influencers are already integrated into the communication activities of universities and which channels are used.

First, reputation factors that are relevant for students were discussed. These can be divided into three groups: Relevant stakeholder groups, prestige and distinctiveness. According to our research design the study does not focus on paid or owned media. Instead, communicators that can be assigned to the area of "Earned Media"- in detail to the Earned Social Media - will be investigated and analyzed. These communicators can be called influencers. Various categories of influencers are discussed on the basis of current literature. On the one hand, there are influential opinion leaders who, with their detailed specialist knowledge, are regarded as so-called experts for their followers. They are not primarily characterized by a large reach. On the other hand, there are the strong multipliers, who have a large community of diverse people. This study focuses on the experts. The experts in the tertiary education sector are called "educational influencers". In order to identify the experts, a quantitative analysis was carried out, which looks at the social media sites of 36 Austrian universities. The online tool "Fanpage-Karma" was used to implement social media monitoring. The user-generated content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube was evaluated, too. On the basis of this study, the environment of Austrian universities and universities of applied sciences in the social networks can be traced. A total of 137 profiles were compared according to various criteria: Fans, number of posts, number of likes, total number of reactions/ comments/ shares, growth (absolute), commitment and post-interaction. When evaluating the key figures, the size and number of students at the institutes must also be taken into consideration. On this basis, a trend analysis was carried out with 43 profiles, each with over 15,000 followers. As a result of the trend analysis, the educational influencers Elke Höfler and Markus Scholz were identified. Furthermore, with the help of a qualitative effort that was independent of the quantitative research design, the scientific channel "letsdogabout.science" was also classified as an educational influencer. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the social media platforms of Austrian universities shows that external social networks have played a minor role in their communication mix to date. Further research should deal with strong multipliers with large communities in social networks and their influence on the reputation building of Austrian universities.

Keywords: Educational, Influencer, Tertiary, Education Sector