BY ALEXA CHERRY
For the UAS Whalesong

I don’t think it can be said that any UAS students really like UAS Online. I personally don’t have anything to say against the site’s technical setup, except for its occasional propensity to crash exactly when I need to turn in assignments. Largely, I think any dislike stems from the fact that most students only use the website for school. And while higher education is a gift for which we should all be grateful, let’s be real – there are things we would all rather be doing than homework. (Well, most of us; I know at least one freshman who puts my senior-year study skills to shame. You keep doing you, Karey.)

The main UAS website is also kind of boring, largely because we either don’t use it at all, or only use it to locate information – like a professor’s E-mail address, or the Egan Library page so we can do research. So, when most students hear about “UAS Online,” they kind of tune out. But wait! Don’t leave yet! In this article, I’m not going to be talking about UAS Online – I’m going to discuss UAS, online.

It might be surprising, but UAS is actually pretty widely spread on the internet and social media these days. Whether you primarily use Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, our college has a presence (sometimes multiple presences!) on each of those sites and apps. Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of students don’t know what or where these accounts are. So whether you’re a current student, staff or faculty, or if you’re an incoming or interested student who’s been following the Whalesong online – here is my list of top UAS social media accounts, arranged by platform. I’ll write in detail about the accounts I think are most prevalent, and include the names of others for you to investigate yourself!

Instagram:
University of Alaska Southeast (@uasoutheast) – This is the primary and most active UAS social media account, featuring photos by students, staff, and faculty from all over the campus. In addition to showing all sides of UAS life through aesthetically pleasing filters, it also runs contests (free coffee money, anyone?) and is trying to bridge the gap between being the “professional” face of the university and the “fun” one. It’s also pretty interactive with students – you can submit your own pictures to the E-mail listed in their bio for consideration, or if you use any of the hashtags listed, they might regram you! (And let’s be real – we are all online for exposure and popularity.)

Other UAS Instagrams:
• UAS Rec Center – @uas_rec
• UAS Gaming Club – @uas_gamingclub
• UAS Career Services – @uas_career

Facebook:
University of Alaska Southeast – I had to do a little bit of digging to find it, but this page seems to be the most current and active Facebook page for UAS. There’s actually an interesting reason for me having to look for it; the primary UAS Facebook page used to be for Spike the Whale, but since his page had been set up in the early days of Facebook before there were different types of pages, he was posting under the guise of a real person. The Facebook powers-that-be decided that a humpback whale was not a real person, it was unacceptable that one be posting under the guise of such, and consequently wiped his page from existence. So, if you thought you were following UAS on Facebook, you probably aren’t anymore.

The newest Facebook page is worth a “like” if you’re attending or interested in UAS and its community! Posts I’ve seen so far have been about articles in the Juneau Empire, activities and events at and around UAS, club descriptions and meeting times, and updates on UAS department activities (like UAS Admissions).

Other UAS Facebook Pages:
• University of Alaska Southeast, Student Activities Board
• University of Alaska SE Student Government
• UAS Career Services
• UAS Whalesong

Twitter:
UAS Events Today (@uas_events) – Besides the Spike Facebook page, this is the first UAS social media account I ever followed. Don’t let the grainy picture of Spike and the lack of a header photo deter you; it may not have been aesthetically modified since several Twitter updates ago, but this is the most active (and, in my mind, useful) UAS social media account that I follow. The reason for this is that it’s connected directly to the UAS event calendar, so as soon as that updates, so does the Twitter account. Its persistently regular posts – every day at 8 AM – make me inclined to think that it’s actually being run by some kind of bot program, but that’s alright. It’s the content of the posts that counts.

Other UAS Twitters:
• UAS First Year Experience – @uasfye (Fall 2015 freshmen should remember this!)
• UASoutheast – @uasoutheast (affiliated with and run by the same people who run the Facebook page and the Instagram)
• UAS Student Activities Board – @UASSABJC
• UAS Career Services – @uas_career
• UAS Rec Center – @uas_rec
• UAS Tidal Echoes – @UASTidalEchoes (a student-run, university-published literary journal for Southeast Alaska)
There are also several authority figures at UAS you could follow also! The registrar, the director of campus life, and the first year experience advisor are all on Twitter.

These are the UAS social media pages that I could find or that I already knew about and followed. If you know of others that you think deserve attention, please feel free to E-mail me at whalesong@uas.alaska.edu to let me know!