In a Worcester Magazine cover story, Christian Santillo, director of web communications at the College of the Holy Cross, discusses the social phenomenon of the “selfie.”
Santillo says the recent spike in selfies could be credited to two distinct technological advances. “First, the ubiquity of having a camera 24/7, whether through pocket-sized digital cameras or camera-enabled smartphones, has allowed us to record every aspect of our lives with ease,” Santillo said. “Second, the proliferation of social networking coupled with global and portable ‘always-on’ Internet access allows us to share those moments with others in real time.”
Colleges around the country - including Holy Cross - encourage students to tweet pictures of themselves holding their acceptance letters, and then schools share their favorites through institutional social media outlets. “This serves as an immediate start to the relationship between college and student. They’re able to tweet to us, we’re able to talk back to them, and it’s all instantaneous,” Santillo said. “There’s no delay, there’s no mail, there’s no phone call. It’s exciting that we’re able to have this relationship with our incoming students.”
This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Cristal Steuer.
