The potential of the university teacher's Telegram channel for the development of the university's image

The subject of the study is the content of the Telegram channel of a university teacher as a means of forming the image of the university. The object of the study is the potential of the employee's Telegram channel as a contribution to the organization's public relations. The author examines this issue in detail using the example of higher education organizations, choosing large and small universities for practical analysis and comparing the content of Telegram channels of those teachers who advertise their affiliation to the university. Special attention is paid to two different approaches typical for large and small universities, respectively: in the first case, the professors positions themselves as professionals regardless of teaching activities, in the second – precisely as university employees. As a result of the analysis, recommendations have been developed that will allow universities to productively use the potential of new media. When selecting the research material, the method of continuous sampling of employees leading Telegram channels and the content of the Telegram channels themselves was used. The author used the method of content analysis of publications, analysis of the quantitative composition of the audience, as well as strategies for the interaction of the channel author with his audience through feedback tools. The main conclusions of the conducted research are, firstly, the statement of the fact of the extremely small use of the potential of employees' Telegram channels to build the image of the organization in the field of higher education. With great attention to the personality of the teacher and the significant influence of his personality on the views of students, tastes in the field of art and culture and the choice of a future profession, the professorship does not convert this influence into the space of new media. A special contribution of the author to the research of the topic is the identification of two strategies for the interaction of the personality of the author of the Telegram channel with his profession as a university teacher. Conditionally, they can be designated as the primacy of professional success and personal brand, regardless of teaching, and the primacy of teaching, regardless of personal brand. The novelty of the research lies in the research of the teacher's Telegram channel, undertaken for the first time in Russian science, precisely in connection with the image of the university: for example, there are studies of teachers' Telegram channels in their connection with the teaching process (assignment placement, dialogues with students through the Telegram platform), but the connection with the positioning of the university and its image has not been previously considered.