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The Sunday circular was once a premier destination for grandparents armed with scissors at the prospect of saving $0.15 on frozen peas. I used to roll my eyes and wonder how this habit could be a smart investment of time. Then I found FatWallet.com, a site that gives users 1%-30% cash back with a few clicks of the mouse. Suddenly, FatWallet = the Sunday ads and my mouse = scissors.

It was then I realized the apple didn’t fall far from the tree and my miserly roots were exposed. Even though I was effortlessly getting cold, hard cash back on my click investment, I was hesitant to reveal this find to friends. Saving money hasn’t ever had its time in the spotlight. Microsoft tried to build momentum around the concept with Bing Cashback, but the program never took off and sang its swan song July 30. Geek got chic, so why couldn’t frugality?

And then, just when parsimony was destined to be a virtue relegated to secrecy and smoke-filled rooms, along came Groupon.

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Of the sectors throwing caution to the wind and making social media integral to long-term communications plans, I perceive higher education as dragging its feet. Fresh off graduation, I can still smell the ink drying on hastily-minted digital plans for universities of all sizes and ilk. That’s why I was surprised after a recent finding from the Society for New Communications Research: higher education is outpacing the Fortune 500 in social media adoption by more than 2 to 1.

We must consider such inferences carefully. The deeper one digs into the study, the more context must be added. In one instance, researchers found 95% of schools use at least one platform to recruit. While the for-profit equivalent of recruiting is acquiring new customers, social media serve many more functions in both sectors. In education, uses include informing current students, communicating with alumni, and promoting curricula, courses, and extracurriculars internally, among countless others.

The study’s broad statements must be examined carefully and, while the rate of adoption may be high, it may not translate to effectiveness. Social media shouldn’t be drooled over solely for external promotion and recruiting, but also for opportunities to create an enriching stakeholder experience. For example, Harvard University has been an early adopter in its use of social platforms to welcome guests with campus tips on foursquare, serve diverse audiences on Twitter, and provide students resources to get involved via Facebook.

“Well, that’s freakin’ Harvard!” one might say. Sure, but it could be any university with the strategic insight to serve disparate audiences through social media. While not every institution can offer a custom foursquare badge to visitors, it can bring a campus, its students, and the community to life with a fuller interactive, multimedia presence. Obviously it’s no cakewalk and schools must address four fundamental uncertainties that inhibit effective use of social media in higher education:

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