Much of the discussion of the pandemic’s effect on colleges and universities has focused on going online, moving to virtual instruction and support instead of face-to-face. However, as we anticipate a postpandemic world, we should think about other things in the virtual universe that affect colleges and universities. That environment, and specifically the role of social media, also demand a response from higher education.
The closing article by Debra Humphreys notes that many of higher education’s efforts at reform before and during the pandemic are not visible to the public. Telling higher education’s story requires attention to “new social media platforms [that] are massively influential … and that distort … any subject of public importance.” She describes a Lumina Foundation project that traces the evolution of the “narrative landscape” about higher education on social media over the past 4 years. Some narratives are about familiar topics, such as cost, while other topics, such as new adult learners, are nearly missing entirely. Higher education needs to understand this increasingly polarized landscape and “should engage social media and make the case forcefully for innovations that will serve today’s students better.”