<p>"Colleges see social networking sites as tool of the future" more flexible than traditional university home pages because they can be easily updated with photos, videos and seasonal application information by admissions counselors. Savvy use of these social sites since students already spend hours communicating with friends and to connect with other students going to colleges they may become interested in:</p>
<p>"If the kids see how much fun students here on campus are having, they may think it would be fun to be a part of that atmosphere," said E.L. Jones, an admissions counselor with the small, private Roanoke College in Salem, Va.</p>
<p>"With the click of a finger, they can see what is going on," said Jones, whose college added a MySpace page about five months ago with photos and videos of campus events as part of its effort to increase enrollment. "It is a big part of how they communicate. Most teenagers today are on the Internet one to two hours a day after school, and one thing they do right away is check MySpace. The more we have on our MySpace page, the more we will get students to check it."</p>
<p>San Francisco State recently put up its own MySpace page, becoming the largest among the growing number of colleges and universities -- from Boston University's College of Communication and Graduate Admissions to Hiram College in Ohio -- to embrace social networking...</p>
<p>"If the kids see how much fun students here on campus are having, they may think it would be fun to be a part of that atmosphere," said E.L. Jones, an admissions counselor with the small, private Roanoke College in Salem, Va.</p>
<p>"With the click of a finger, they can see what is going on," said Jones, whose college added a MySpace page about five months ago with photos and videos of campus events as part of its effort to increase enrollment. "It is a big part of how they communicate. Most teenagers today are on the Internet one to two hours a day after school, and one thing they do right away is check MySpace. The more we have on our MySpace page, the more we will get students to check it."...</p>
<p>San Francisco State started its MySpace page after Villanueva attended a conference in Las Vegas titled "100 Ways to Effectively Recruit Today's Students." He added a Facebook group about a month ago. The campus also has a self-guided campus tour that can be downloaded as a podcast.</p>
<p>"We have to adjust with the way people get their information, so that's where we have to go. If you don't pick up on this now, you could really be left behind," he said. "This is the best way for students to access it because this is what students deal with every day.'' "</p>
<p>Even so, don't expect phone calls or brochures to go away any time soon.</p>