How Important are Social Networks for Universities? An Analysis for Romanian Higher Education

Abstract:

Social networks are modern tools developed on the Internet, through which users around the world can connect and interact. Correlated with the need to communicate with the population and with the increasing use of the Internet and mobile ITC devices, they have developed a lot lately, being favoured by the physical interaction restrictions imposed by COVID-19. The paper proposes a study on the use of social networks in higher education, with an analysis of the presence of Romanian universities on the main social networks. The information provided by uniRank, Quacquarelli Symonds, national statistics and other specialized publications was used for evaluation. The research results showed that although Romanian universities have improved their presence on social networks, they have a modest international ranking. The top popularity on social networks at national level is dominated by public institutions, which are more active than private higher education institutions. “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galați occupies intermediate positions in these rankings, made at national level. The research conducted is useful in analyzing the impact of social networks on the performance of Romanian higher education and in implementing strategies for institutional promotion at national and international level.