The Office of Marketing and Communications recently launched the new DominICAN website for potential students. Guess what this website includes... Blogs .
The difference between DominiNET and DominICAN blogs: the student bloggers on DominICAN get paid $25 per post.
The other obvious difference is that this is a news blog with multimedia content, while the student blogs on DominICAN are personal blogs about their lives and experiences at Dominican.
According to Junior Andrew Infanger, a contributor to the DominICAN blogs, he was emailed by the PR department offering this position. He then had to submit a writing sample and was chosen for the job.
There are 6 student blogs on the page and, of course, Dean Jeff Carlson's blog.
After discovering that students were getting paid to blog I had mixed feelings. I understand this is a great PR tool and is new with the changing technology, but I think it is silly DU has to PAY students to say things about Dominican. If students are passionate about Dominican and love our school, they should be willing to write about it without charge.
I am not upset that I am not getting paid. DominiNET is strictly for a class and I am receiving credit, not to mention great blogging experience to add to my resume. I just wish that Dominican realized they are a good school and students are willing to say good things about them without getting paid for it.
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I'll be expecting my check in the mail, Tracy.
ReplyDeleteThat's what happens when you click links without reading the article first... I clicked http://www.dom.edu/ican/blogs/ and I was so excited we can have blogs now, but then wait... reads the article... crap... not everyone can have a blog... fail!
ReplyDeleteAt first, I was upset that I'm going crazy with all this blogging and wasn't asked to be a blooger for the I CAN. But then PR informed me that the blog is essentially trying to attract potential students, particularly freshman. After hearing that, I'm glad I'm with dominiNET. Let them do their thing. We will do ours here!!
ReplyDeleteDude. I'm on it.
ReplyDeleteDo you guys remember in class when Tom pointed out the blog system at NYU--where literally everyone on campus (students and professors alike) can have a blog? http://blogs.nyu.edu/
ReplyDeleteI know Dean Carlson is all about getting the campus more wired and engaging everyone in a conversation online. Rather than paying a student $25/post--why not create a social networking site through my du that lets everyone have a blog?
Sure, it's not going to be all positive, but it will be authentic and that's what prospective freshmen really want.
I agree with Tracy's comment.
ReplyDeleteLike Natalie, I too, was like, "Well, why didn't they ask US?" But it's cool, it's cool.
In my opinion, DominiNET is probably best left with the nine of us reporting--that's a lot as it is, but perfect.
However, if there was a social networking site where EVERYone at Dominican could blog, I agree--prospective students could check out the site and see the honest opinions of actual students.
I know that if I were school-hunting, I'd rather read authentic stories than something mainly geared toward selling me on the school. Besides, Dominican is a great institution, so I can't imagine people taking to blogs to strictly bitch about bad things. There are way more good things about the school than there are bad.
I do not enjoy how a select few were 'chosen' to get paid to write nothing of any substantial value.
ReplyDeleteThe blogs help the school with creating some fictitious image of Dominican that doesn't exist; however, I doubt many current students read them, and the money could be spent elsewhere.
I'd be happy with $10 a post in a blog concerning everything wrong with Dominican that would give forth substantial information which critically thinks about the current state of the school; obviously, it would be much more beneficial. But this will not happen.
The blogs are a good idea, but getting paid $25 dollars per post? No. My tuition I would like to go elsewhere.