International students are using Chinese social media websites to decide if Kent State is the best choice for their educational career.

Le Kang, Kent State public relations alumna, created Chinese social media networks during Spring 2012 for current students to interact with prospective students in China through a project presented for her graduate program. Kang created profiles on Weibo, Renren and Youku, the Chinese versions of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, launched this past summer.

Social media such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are banned in China, Kang said. Chinese students who are interested in communicating with Kent State or Kent State students via social media would not have a way to do so if not for Kang’s research and the help of her former public relations professor, Eugene Sasso, lecturer for the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Sasso read Kang’s initial proposal for her social networking project, called “A Bridge to China,” and took it to associate provost Marcello Fantoni. After reading Kang’s proposal, Fantoni decided to help Kang put her proposal to use at Kent State.

“When I heard of [Kang’s] idea, I thought wow, this is the stuff we need to think of because we’re not doing this right now,” Sasso said. “We want to attract more international students and [Kang’s] plan was pretty much the outline on how to do it.”

On the social media sites, Sasso noted students are able to ask questions in a more casual format than through emails.

The students are able to hear from other students who are similar to them through these social media, Kang said. They can see what’s going on in JMC and get advice on topics that all students should know, such as where to buy books.

“We want them to have an experience,” Kang said.

In China, schools provide copies of books versus having to purchase them for use, Kang said. The culture is different and these social media sites help these students adapt more quickly to western culture.

Kang posted videos on Youku of Wei Lu, Kent State media management alumnus. In the videos, Lu described his experience as a Chinese student at Kent State and spoke about his professors and friends.

Yolanda Li, Kent State newspaper journalism graduate alumna, said she couldn’t decide between Miami University and Kent State when trying to pick a school for her graduate program. She said she used the videos on Youku to make a decision.

“When I first searched Kent State on Google, I couldn’t find anything,” Li said. “But right before I decided, I searched Kent State again, and I found [Wei’s videos on Weibo], and I thought they were very professional.”

Li said she thought the videos were very helpful and served as the deciding factor in her coming to Kent State, and that her experience at Kent State is even better than she anticipated.

Contact Chenayle Bradford at [email protected]