There is no lack of social media sites nowadays, but none of these is workplace- or university- friendly, as they are only meant for our personal social lives. This is where Yammer comes in. Yammer is Microsoft’s social site that focuses on workplaces and universities to get information efficiently sent to the right people. Introducing this site to KAIST is Jungil Lee, the new manager for the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS). The KAIST Herald interviewed him to discuss his reasons and goals with the site.
Please briefly introduce yourself.
Hello, my name is Jungil Lee and I am the manager at ISSS. I was recently appointed to this position a few months ago in December. I oversee programs and activities for the teams at ISSS and the international community, and we provide help to international scholars and students.
When did ISSS’s promotion of Yammer begin?
It started a few months ago in December when I first heard of Yammer, and it addressed two issues. First off, social media sites nowadays have the same problem: they are either too private or too public. Anything you share is visible to the world but simultaneously, it is very catered and personal. The second issue was that a lot of international students said that they were not getting the information regarding events and programs. So last month, I decided to test out Yammer as a communication tool for international students.
What features of Yammer would you like KAIST users to take advantage of?
The most prominent feature is the ability to create groups and post announcements. Whenever someone posts anything, Yammer will notify other users in the group by e-mail and on the site itself. For those, however, that find e-mails annoying, you can go to “Edit Profile” and then click on “Notifications” to turn it off. Another feature is the lack of clutter. Facebook and other sites have news feeds that are clogged with posts from friends that are sometimes no different from spam. In Yammer, you get the information you need in a nice, organized fashion. Finally, Yammer uses the hashtag very well. Companies can attach hashtags, such as “#recruit” or “#internship,” so that people can narrow down their search and get the information they need.
In lieu of international students being in the dark, how do you think KAIST is handling translation and communication with the international community?
I think the school is putting in quite the effort to make sure English is used. Our language center provides translations for any document and has copies of forms international students might need. Professors and other staff are also hard at work, sending information and emails in English. However, I do believe that there is a problem in the department level as a lot of faculty were raised and educated in Korea, which means it is difficult for them to use English. What they need is more staff and assistants who can fluently use English in order to reduce the stress of having to translate everything.
Do you plan on any future projects or expansions?
We recently posted a survey to get an understanding of how big Yammer has become, and we will wait for the results before making any big moves. If we do we reach a critical number of users, then we may consider whether Yammer will be an official network of KAIST. And if we can get a budget, we can start giving KAIST students Yammer accounts with more benefits and customization, but again, this all depends on how many people use the site.
Any final thoughts or comments?
Yammer is a good communication tool, and I would love to see more internationals use it to its full potential. If you are already using it, spread the word and tell your friends at KAIST to use the site and they can be kept up-to-date with what is going on. All over the world, more and more places and people are using Yammer with good success, and I would like to see KAIST be part of that chain.
Kibum Park
parkkibs@kaist.ac.kr