AUSTIN, Texas — School rivalries are making their way from the basketball court and football field to Facebook, the social networking Web site — and one of the closest-fought competitions is between Texas A&M and Louisiana State universities.
The Aggies are going after LSU's title as the school with the most Facebook fans. In July, LSU claimed 55,686 online fans, beating out more than 1,000 other colleges and universities, according to a study released by Blue Fuego, a technology consulting company. The University of Kansas was second with 45,820. A&M was third with 42,898.
The LSU fan page quickly claimed victory, baiting the Aggies to challenge it. That they did, increasing their number of online fans by 12,000 in about 10 days. Texas A&M officials then announced their "win" online.
"It's the kind of race between a Big 12 school and SEC (Southeastern Conference) school that probably wouldn't happen on the playing field, but it's happening in the Facebook world," said Diane McDonald, Texas A&M's associate director of marketing and communications.
The numbers are still seesawing back and forth: At last count, the Aggies had 69,034 fans, the Tigers 65,751. Texas A&M is the only Texas university that Blue Fuego ranks in the top 10 Facebook schools, a list that also includes Stanford University and the University of Missouri.
Meanwhile, the University of Texas was conspicuously missing from the study. Its 41,069 fans on Facebook weren't enough to crack the top 10.
Nyleva Corley, manager of Web and social media for UT's public affairs office, said the university has a strong presence on Facebook, even if the study doesn't show it.
"We have almost every college and school represented in some way on Facebook, whether it's an official Facebook page a group has created or a group a student or faculty member has put together," Corley said.
For universities, the world of social networking isn't all fun and games. Higher education institutions are also tapping into the power of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other Web sites to engage alumni — with their potential contributions — as well as prospective and current students.
At UT, prospective students can log on to Longhorn Confidential, a student blog project that follows eight students through a year of their life on campus.
"It's a nice way to show the broad experience of students on campus," Corley said of the project, which includes photos and interactive content.
The university also uses networking to aid fund-raising efforts, said John McCall, associate vice president of university development.
"Social media is something that we are beginning to figure out how to exploit in the most efficient way possible," McCall said. He said that he couldn't quantify how much money it has brought in because people contribute in varied ways and that the connection to networking may not be apparent.
McDonald said Texas A&M is putting significant resources into social media, too. "We believe in meeting our students where they're at and communicating with them," she said. "It's all about making our school accessible and improving our student services."
In June, the Aggies launched TAMUmobile, an iPhone application geared toward students that enables access to campus maps, student directories, sports scores and university-sponsored videos.
UT plans to release its iPhone application in September. The application will have news, videos and other content, McCall said; future add-ons might include course catalogs and dining hall menus.
Joe Gaylor, one of Blue Fuego's founders, said universities are taking advantage of online conversations that are already happening.
"People are already talking about your brand or institution online," he said. "You might as well be a part of it."
Juana Summers writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: jsummers(at)statesman.com.