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whartonsnapchat

To visit Wharton's Snapchat story, follow whartonschool on Snapchat.

Credit: Tiffany Pham

Next time Wharton students take a Snapchat, they may have the opportunity to be featured on the business school’s social media. The Wharton social media team recently created an official Snapchat account.

“The decision to launch [a] Snapchat account was [a] relatively easy one,” Director of Wharton New Media Communications Stefan Frank said. “Our own survey data and independent market research showed that students use Snapchat in a big way. Our social media team has grown dramatically, and we are now in a better position to respond to students.”

Frank said that the purpose of the account is twofold: to engage with current students and alumni, and to authentically convey the Wharton experience to prospective students and make them more familiar with life at Penn.

Specifically, the Wharton social media team will take the Snapchats sent to the account and use them to help students create engagement in events on campus. The team will also repurpose the content to share with audiences around the world.

“Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are great for broadcasting information and engagement, but we feel that Snapchat is one of those apps that has blown up being about interaction,” Frank said. “Wharton is excited to be in a space about interaction.”

Frank’s social media team will begin intensive promotion of the account at this year's graduation.

“Now with graduation, it is good way to capture these moments and a good way to target alumni,” Frank said.

Although the account is brand new, the social media team is already looking to further student and public engagement. Frank said that they hope to create “Snapchat Stories” over time and even engage “guest snappers,” students that will showcase a day in the life of a Wharton student through Snapchats.

The possible creation by Snapchat of a Wharton “Live” section is something that the team hopes to see one day. The Live section on Snapchat is where users send their Snaps related to a specific event or location, to an official feed to have a chance to be featured for all users to view.

“That is not something we have control over, but the fact that we will be on Snapchat will drive more engagement [from the company],” Frank said.

Frank added that the team is looking into requesting Snapchat to create a geotag.

But the short-term goal is to build excitement and awareness about the new account within the Penn community.

“It is really an exciting time and evolution for social media and higher education. We are glad to be at the forefront,” Frank said.

Following in Wharton's social media footsteps is Penn's social media team. Manager of New Media Communications for Penn Matthew Griffin said in a statement that his team is in the process of developing a Snapchat account under the name UofPenn, but has yet to make any posts.

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