Speaking the Same Language: Information College Seekers Look for on a College Web Site.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to analyze and understand what search. Often, college Web sites fail either to offer students an interactive dialogue or to involve them in the communicative process, negatively affecting students' college search. The results of the research suggest leges Web site, to the extent that the information available will either encourage or discourage their college choice. Prospective and current students utilize college Web sites because of their convenience and speed. Information most searched includes majors and tuition, followed by ranking, size, and location, as well as pictures, videos, and virtual tours. Student message boards and blogs (e.g., facebook and ratemyprofessor.com) also are highly sought out by college seekers, though most colleges do not feature links to these sites on their own Web sites. Connected. Click. Navigate. Browse. These words have penetrated our everyday lives. Americans now are more engaged with the Internet than with any other medium e.g., television, radio, newspapers, magazines, film, and recorded music). According to Stoner (2004), ". teenagers spend more time surfing the Internet and sending e-mail and instant messages to each other than watching TV" (p. bii). On average, undergraduate students spend 18 hours each week ". doing online activities for school, work, and recreation" (Caruso and Salaway 2007, p. 5). The computer and the Internet are commonplace in todays educational settings. Children are introduced to the computer and the Internet in elementary school (Mentz and Whiteside 2003), with the result that they are technologically savvy by the time they enter institutions of higher learning. The Internet is particularly pervasive, because unlike any other medium, it can be viewed live, read as text, heard as sound, seen as pictures, and engaged by film. Thus, its ability to be interactive surpasses all other media except cable television (Croteau and Hoynes 2003). Until the introduction of the Internet, all media were not interactive (Emanuel et al. 2008). Rather, the media constituted one-way communication - communication that did not encourage a dialogue. Interactive is defined as a medium that provides for two-way communication, ". not simply one that offers a range of choices" (Croteau and Hoynes 2003, p. 301). Two-way communication is pivotal to end-users, because it allows and encourages feedback. Feedback is valued because it is how prospective consumers turn into customers (i.e., enrolled students). In today's marketplace, customers thrive on feedback because it gives them a sense of connectedness to brands (i.e., the college). Connectedness is the foundation of the Internet's success, because it promotes social relationships. Whether the relationship is in one's own city, out of state, or in another country, the Internet can "take you there" - hence, the user is part of a virtual community (Rheingold 1993). Students searching institutions of higher learning can take advantage of the virtual community by tapping into an institution's Web site. Aside from assessing information commonly found on a college's Web site (e.g., tuition, major, classes, and financial aid) (Masikiewicz 2000), prospective students can speak with current students about the institution's advantages and disadvantages, discuss course curriculum with professors, develop a relationship with admissions and financial aid representatives, and strategize plays with a coach. According to Stoner (2004), ". a college's Web site is rated as one of the top sources of information during the college-search process" (p. Bn). More recently, Cooper and Burns (2007) stated, "Web sites for colleges and universities have become the primary means for students to obtain information in the college search process" (p. 203). Thus, more and more higher education seekers are searching college Web sites and other information available on the Internet before making a college choice. …