The Oxford University Facebook page has reached a million likes, taking just over five years to do so since its creation in 2008.
Oxford was also recently named one of the top 10 social-media savvy universities in the world – and top in the UK.
Although its media presence falls behind some of its Ivy League competitors – Harvard University has garnered a total of more than 2.5 million Facebook likes, Oxford beats Cambridge, which falls behind with just under 360,000 likes on its Facebook page. American universities topped the league tables for their social media presence and the University of Sheffield was the only other British institution to feature in the top ten in a list compiled by social media consulting company, Sociagility.
The University has released a video to celebrate its burgeoning popularity on the social networking site, thanking its Facebook fans for their interest in and support for the university. “Sometimesyou need to look beyond the human stories” the video suggests “and look at the numbers to understand a place like Oxford.”
An Oxford University spokesperson commented “The University uses as many channels to communicate with friends, alumni and potential students as possible, and is pleased so many people have found Oxford on Facebook, as well as on Twitter, where the University has more followers than any other UK university.”
The University’s Twitter account has over 66,000 followers.
One first-year student at Hertford said “All this shows is that, despite their reputation for academic success, Oxford students are just as prone as any others to wasting their time on Facebook.”
Another Hertford student commented “This is certainly something to celebrate but it’s important for the University not to go too far in its quest for Facebook popularity: if it starts posting posed selfies on its news feed, I think we should be worried. “
Even some Cambridge students were impressed, albeit bitter, at Oxford’s significantly greater popularity on the social networking site. Cambridge first-year student Neethu Mariam told Cherwell “Although this news does make me resentful, I am tempted to find excuses for Oxford’s apparent popularity, perhaps rooted in more promotion of its Facebook page or a ‘technical glitch’ on Cambridge’s page. However, even I can see why Oxford is so loved!”
