Why do Universities use Social Media?

Just how are Universities using Social Media, and how do they measure ‘success’ of the channel? I haven’t heard or seen an adequate response to these questions yet, but this infographic does give a little hint of what is going on:

Goals Behind Social Media Use – Click to enlarge

• By far the biggest effort is put into engaging their alumni networks and creating and maintaining the ‘brand’ image of the Institution.
• Over 4/5ths of Universities use social media to engage their alumni network.
• One in three Universities claim their use of social media is more “efficient” in reaching their target audience … but is this efficient in staff time or efficient in results?
• Nearly 2/3rds of Universities say the number of likes or friends or followers is a measure of success, yet only 1/10th say the link between social media use and student applications is important.
• 1/5th of Universities think they are “very successful” with their use of social media, so that leaves 80% who think there is room for improvement … I wonder what they think they need to do that they’re not already, and why they’re not doing it yet then?
• While Facebook is the biggest social network the Universities studied are using, services like Flickr and blogs have had the biggest investment (time or effort) since 2010.