Social media platforms have become crucial in the response of universities to the pandemic, and the latest analysis from the W100 Social Media Rankings shows that our members are stepping up to the mark.

World 100 Reputation Network members are on the front-line in the response to impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global higher education. We spoke to senior global colleagues to understand the key role that communications, marketing and international teams are playing as universities grapple with the challenges.

W100 members continue to perform well in the latest Social Media Engagement Rankings covering the month of February. The Rankings, which cover engagement across 5 key platforms for the world’s top 450 universities, are published quarterly

Whilst scientists and researchers battle to develop a cure for the coronavirus, higher education institutions are facing one of the toughest challenges ever. It goes without saying that the number one objective is to keep students and staff safe, but the business repercussions are now being felt keenly. 

Why is networking so beneficial and how can it help? Well, we could list a dozen reasons why, but really, all the benefits can be grouped together into 2 main areas:

Reputation requires conversation. This is where Social media comes in. Here's our top 3 tips for managing reputation on social media

2020 promises to be another year which presents increasing challenges to universities operating globally, whilst providing opportunities to grow profile and embed reputation as a key pillar of institutional strategy and delivery.

This month's Rankings Watch looks at the academic reputation surveys that underpin the THE World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings

The latest World 100 Reputation Network social media rankings, covering engagement on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube across 467 of the world's best universities. 6 W100 members feature in the top 100 for social media engagement across all platforms.

The next W100 annual research project kicks off in January, with the launch of the first surveys for the International Reputation Tracker pilot. Most W100 members are taking an active role in the project to develop new ways of measuring reputation internationally beyond the rankings.

An overview of the final global ranking of the season, U.S. News & World Report's Best Global Universities 2019 and a focus on our members' performance

W100 members recently received the final report of the 'Riding the Tiger: Enhancing the Role of Reputation in international partnerships' research project. The report reflects key findings that international partnerships provide great opportunities – often under-exploited at present – to build global profile; whilst also presenting a risk that they will turn around and bite you if partners suffer reputational damage.