Facebook Page for TAFE English Language Centre

[Wordstream, 2013]

Facebook is a very popular website. It has more than 1 billion users this year (Associated Press, 2013) and these people use this site to stay connected with their friends, peers, and favourite celebrities. They also use this for other purposes like playing games, sharing files and getting information about commercial products and services. As Facebook allows private and government-owned companies set up Facebook ages, it has become a highly valuable tool in reaching customers.

TAFE English Language Centre can set up a free Facebook page wherein current and potential students can “Like” it (Facebook, 2013) and access information. We can display the school calendar so that current students will have an idea when they should submit their requirements. We can also post lists of courses that potential local students can have a look at. We can also post links to Australian Immigration, IELTS testing centres and other websites that are useful for incoming international students.

Setting up a Facebook page for TAFE ELC can be problematic as we try the site to be as interactive as possible. If we allow visitors to post comments, then we may receive comments that are not related to the site like bullying of students and staff. Users can also post links to pornographic sites. Other potential problems may not be intended as malicious like posting photos of students with no consent.

The above-mentioned problems can be prevented or controlled if we employ someone who is highly knowledgeable in TAFE courses and privacy concerns. This person has to be in charge of posting information on that page and at the same time, monitoring the data being displayed there. This person will also be granted permission to delete offensive comments and (if the situation calls for it) ban Facebook users from accessing the page.

I highly recommend that our organisation jump on the Facebook bandwagon as it will help us in getting more students and maintaining the ones that we have. Using this free service, we will be able to extend our presence beyond our buildings. We simply need to delegate one of our staff in making sure that our office is well-represented online.

References:

Facebook like 2013, WordStream, Massachusetts, viewed 4 September 2013, .

Facebook logo 2013, Velocity Digital, Edinburgh, viewed 4 September 2013, .

How do I like a page?, 2013, Facebook, viewed 4 September 2013, .

[Velocity Digital, 2013]

The Associated Press, Number of active users of Facebook over the years, 2013, Yahoo! News, viewed 4 September 2013, < http://news.yahoo.com/number-active-users-facebook-over-230449748.html>.