Abstract

<div>The main objective of this study was to explore the visual content and discourse present in three Ontario universities’ Instagram profiles, particularly their profiles dedicated to student recruitment and admissions. The study looked at the Instagram content published by top-three high application volume universities: McMaster University (macadmit), Ryerson University (whyryerson), and University of Toronto (futureuoft). The data collected was composed of photos, videos, and captions from all three universities from September 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 inclusive. The results showed that visual assets highlighting the institution, portraits of students, and event/advertisements were the most occurring types of Instagram content. In addition, there was a high use of event/advertisement style in the accompanying captions. When the visual assets and captions were juxtaposed against each other, there was a high incongruence between the pairing which can be laborious for readers who will need to consolidate the visual and text information.</div>

Highlights

  • In 1997, the Ontario University Application Centre (OUAC) held their first university fair, the Ontario University Fair (OUF), bringing together all Ontario universities under one roof (Ontario University Application Centre, 2021)

  • It should be noted that all mentions of “Instagram account” or “Instagram profile” pertain to the student recruitment and admissions account of each Ontario university included in the study

  • For an Instagram post with multiple visual assets or often called as “multiset post”, if the set contained an image or video that was irrelevant to HEI recruitment, only the relevant visual assets were included in the data analysis

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Summary

Introduction

In 1997, the Ontario University Application Centre (OUAC) held their first university fair, the Ontario University Fair (OUF), bringing together all Ontario universities under one roof (Ontario University Application Centre, 2021). Events like OUF aid in the decision-making process of prospective undergraduate students which provide students the one-stop shop opportunity to talk to all Ontario universities. The university fair is just one of the many recruitment strategies employed by universities to entice high school students to apply to their institution. The cancellation of in-person events such as open houses, university fairs, and campus tours placed heavy pressure on online resources and content to provide all of the information students normally seek at in-person events. Despite the unique circumstances of the recruitment process, the interest from high school students did not waver. Social media sites became a unique communication channel where prospective undergraduate students can preview the culture of a Higher Education Institution (hereby referred to as HEI). The digital readiness of the Generation Z youth helped them adjust to the completely virtual recruitment experience in 2020

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