Riddle me this - how does a university celebrate a successful alumnus like Chad Hurley (a founder of YouTube), yet remain completely ignorant as to why he was successful in the first place?

I don’t have the answer, though I wish I did.

A quick scan through IUP’s Marketing course schedule reveals that the university does not offer an Internet Marketing course.  A similar search through the Communications Media department shows one course called “Internet and Media”, though the course description leads me to believe that they’ve just now discovered those wonderful “web page” doohickies.  Hardly reassuring.

More troubling to me is the lack of early adopters on campus.  There are four or five students on Twitter (including myself and two friends I recruited) and one IT guy.  Not a single professor is on Twitter.  The university has no official presence on the service, either.  I won’t even talk about FriendFeed or any of the other lesser-known social networks.  

I’m left with this question - what on earth are the students learning about regarding the internet in Marketing and Communications?

Social media is where the future of advertising will take place.  Social media is slowly changing the game in terms of interaction between media entities and the everyday guy or gal.  Social media is connecting users around the world in a trillion different ways.  College students need to know this - they need to see it, play with it and be taught how it will affect their job someday.

YouTube didn’t invent online video - it became wildly popular because it made online video social.  Until this university acknowledges this new medium, they’ll be left in the dust as others move forward.