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

Afanas'eva Anastasiya Georgievna Deputy Head; Personnel Department; Plekhanov Russian University of Economics 115404, Russia, Moscow, Kasimovskaya str., 7 building 1, sq. 33 aafanaseva345@gmail.com

Private Telegram channels have recently gained popularity, becoming an important tool for building a personal brand and influencing the audience. If a telegram channel is hosted by a representative of an organization, then its content has an impact on the image of that organization in the public space.

The content of private telegram channels and its features from a scientific point of view have so far been little reflected in Russian science. Thus, the linguistic features of publications are considered by Yu.V. Shuiskaya ^[1], where both the telegram channels of a certain personality and the telegram channels of organizations are considered. V.V. Oleshkevich, analyzing the leading telegram channels of the Russian Federation, indicates "after analyzing the work of three telegram channels that occupy leading positions in the ratings of telegram media, you can to conclude that the messenger, in the context of changes and the termination of the work of traditional media, acts as an information alternative – it provides a platform for broadcasting not only to bloggers, but also to journalists" ^{[2, p. 84]}.

The telegram channels of teachers are considered in the article ^[3] in the key of teaching – teachers post assignments in the channels, share the secrets of learning a foreign language. The study ^[4] demonstrated the potential of Telegram as a messenger in relation to the organization of student groups: “ However, this study does not consider the potential of personal telegram channels of employees as a tool for building the image of the organization, which causes the problem of this study.

The first studies of telegram channels as an important information force and a new means of building communication with the audience began in 2018 ^[5], when Telegram as a messenger appeared and began to develop intensively. The fundamental research ^[6] summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of Telegram. The strengths include the possibility of instant messaging, the rapid growth and development of the messenger ^{[6, p. 296]}. The ability to maintain channels in which information is posted is not considered an advantage.

The research ^[7-9] analyzes the vast potential of Telegram in the field of new journalism, its impact on the media field and content diversification. O.I. Lyakhovenko points out that "A unique situation has developed in the political segment of the Telegram messenger: a low "entry threshold", a short "shoulder" for transmitting information to the addressee, including status and "closed"mass coverage with simultaneous elitism of communication" ^{[10, p. 124]}. This consideration can be extrapolated to Telegram communication in other areas, including education.

A brief review of the Telegram research in domestic and foreign science shows that to date, the image potential of teachers' Telegram channels as a means of university PR has not been explored. The organizational potential of Telegram as a messenger and its information capabilities are not in doubt, however, a comprehensive analysis of these two factors could not be identified, which necessitates this study.

The teacher's telegram channel is a way of uniting students (provided that the teacher positions himself as a teacher and does not hide his identity from his students), introducing corporate spirit into their environment and a way of internal PR of the university, faculty and a specific discipline. In this regard, open telegram channels are of great interest, which anyone can join - including not a university student, but his friend, acquaintance, relative, etc.

For practical analysis, the telegram channels of teachers of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics and the Griboyedov Moscow University were involved. First of all, it should be noted that teachers practically do not use the potential of the messenger: an open source search revealed isolated telegram channels of teachers, despite the fact that both universities have a faculty of journalism, whose professors are aware of the expansion of new media and their potential in interaction with students. At the same time, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics does not have a centralized telegram channel - there are telegram channels of the admissions committee ^[11], individual directions and branches ^[12]. Griboyedov Moscow University has such a channel ^[13], and its content is mainly news from the life of the university – stories about conferences, student activities, publications, etc.

Among the teachers of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, such telegram channels as "Narmina about career and career guidance" ^[14] and "Alexey Kylasov" ^[15] have been identified. The second channel is a unique case among the analyzed ones – it is nominal, tied to the first and last name of the owner – a teacher, a doctor of cultural studies. Among the analyzed telegram channels, he has the maximum number of subscribers - more than 3 thousand as of October 2024.

Among the teachers of the Moscow University named after A.S. Griboyedov, there are owners of anonymized telegram channels "Teacher's tales" ^[16] and "Keys ring under the mantle" ^[17], who do not disclose their identity in the description of the channel, but use their real photos as a photo channel, as a result of which university students and staff can use them identify.

The number of subscribers in the analyzed telegram channels as of October 2024 is 364 people ^[14], 3116 ^[15], 143 ^[16] and 57 ^[17], which proportionally corresponds approximately to the scale of the corresponding universities - Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, according to the portal "Higher Education" ^[18], teaches 8,400 students by 2024, and the Moscow University named after A.S. Griboyedov – 1,636 students ^[19], i.e. Plekhanov Russian University of Economics is approximately 5 times more than the Moscow University named after A.S. Griboyedov.

Let's look at the content of telegram channels in descending order of the number of subscribers. The channel ^[15] publishes daily materials representing a repost of articles, other telegram channels, screenshots of the channel's author's speeches in various TV programs, statements on topical issues. The author does not hide his affiliation with Plekhanov Russian University of Economics – for example, photos of his performances in various TV programs regularly appear in the chat, in which he is signed as a professor at the relevant university. At the same time, the content of the telegram channel is in no way related to the teaching and student context - as of October 2024, the author only mentions his students once and at the same time in connection with issues of public resonance: "I have always mercilessly lowered my students' grades if I found Wikipedia materials containing scientific articles that are a rattling mixture of tendentious materials. But it took Russian officials from science and education more than ten years to understand the essence of Wikipedia as a means of fooling the population" ^[15].

Alexey Kylasov speaks out on issues of politics, science and sports, mainly positioning himself as a public figure and professor. He does not mention a specific university in the context of the post and does not engage in its direct PR, the university's advertising in this case is indirect, through a photo of the author of the channel's publications. Comments in posts are closed, subscribers do not have the opportunity to write feedback to the author.

The channel ^[14] has a link to the website in the description of the channel, which contains information that the author of the channel, Narmina Borisova, works as a teacher at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. There are many posts about students in the content of the telegram channel without mentioning specific names and surnames. Due to his intensive work with career guidance, the author often mentions high school students, their orientation in their future specialty, etc. So, a typical post in the channel looks like this: "Is it possible to transfer from a university to a university after the 1st year?

May. But it is necessary to take care of this at the moment when the applicant decides that he is going to another university instead of the desired one. This situation occurs when the points for the desired direction are not scored" ^[14].

The content of the comments shows that the channel's target audience is mainly applicants and their parents. Narmina Borisova shares stories of career choice, success, admission to universities and subsequent professional development. Without explicitly declaring in the body of the channel that she is a teacher at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Narmina Borisova, nevertheless, indicates a link to this information and can be identified as a teacher at the relevant university.

The telegram channels of the teachers of the Griboyedov Moscow University ^[16] and ^[17] are much more modest in terms of audience coverage, but they are of great interest in the context of the university's PR. The people running these channels do not have deanonymization in the telegram channel itself, but there is a link to their channel in the telegram's personal profile. It turns out that a representative of the external audience will not be able to detect these channels (unlike the analyzed channels of teachers of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics), but a student studying with specific teachers will be able to join their channel.

So, the channel "Teacher's tales" in the very name declares interesting stories from the life of a teacher and students, which really make up most of the channel's content. In addition, the author publishes stories from his life, mentions the practice of tutoring and private lessons. The channel's content often features dialogues with students on social networks, in which the names are encrypted as "Very responsible student", "Distance Student" and similar. An example of a typical post on the channel: "I ask at a seminar on the psychology of journalism, who among those present describes himself as an extrovert.

Student: it depends on the amount of alcohol consumed.

Another student: alcohol does not always turn an introvert into an extrovert. Sometimes an introvert just becomes a sad introvert.

Me: or an introvert who feels bad" ^[16].

The author does not deanonymize his work at a particular university, the identity of the personality of the author of the channel and a particular teacher can only be established by direct acquaintance. Interaction with the university's PR can only be traced through the keen interest of university students in their teacher's posts: they comment, repost and share the content of the channel with their friends, including those not from the university, which allows to expand the recognition of the university, however, in a rather indirect way.

The telegram channel has a similar structure ^[17], which has the smallest number of subscribers of all analyzed. Its author mentions that he works at a university, without naming a specific university, but the content concerns, among other things, education and the student environment. As in ^[16], the author's own photo is used as the channel's avatar, which allows him to be identified by those who are familiar with him directly. Interestingly, the author of the channel pays a lot of attention to the dark academia subculture – a youth movement in the context of which active study, library visits, scrupulous homework, etc. are assumed ^[18]

A typical post in the context of this aesthetic is, for example, "okay, autumn. We underestimated how much we missed you. now is the time to get used to your nature and comprehend everything that you carry in yourself. Can I stay longer, mm?..

This week, the university building was covered with rapeseed yellow. we are returning to our glorious habit of seeing the smoking room full of colored hairstyles, bows and voices; unlike the desolation, from the bored silence of summer" ^[17].

As can be seen from the above examples, teachers of the humanities faculties of two comparable universities choose different strategies for personal PR in its interaction with the public relations of the university. The teachers of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics position themselves as professionals regardless of their teaching at the university, mention their status, but do not draw attention to it, and, in fact, the telegram channels they create are more a means of PR of a personal brand than a means of PR of the university itself. A more interesting case is at the Griboyedov Moscow University: the selected channels, on the contrary, attract subscribers through the university and devote their content specifically to student-teaching topics. However, neither those nor other types of telegram channels of teachers contribute to attracting attention to the university.

As a result of the conducted research, it becomes obvious that universities do not use the potential of Telegram as a social network and telegram channels of employees and teachers. The universities selected for the study are in different "weight categories", but they have similar trends: neither large nor small universities use the vast potential of telegram channels as a platform for forming and strengthening the image of the university. First of all, an extremely small percentage of university teachers, in principle, conduct telegram channels. Those who lead do not interact with the established image of the university and do not use its potential: the teachers of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics position themselves as independent professionals and only indirectly mention their work at the university, and the teachers of Griboyedov Moscow University are deanonymized only for a narrow circle of students who are directly familiar with them and do not they explicitly mention which university they work at.

Despite the vast potential of telegram channels and their widespread use in the field of public relations, universities do not involve their teaching staff in university PR through this method of communication. The personality of the teacher, his professional and life experience arouses great interest among students and potential students, and this interest can be realized in actively attracting applicants through telegram channels. Many institutions maintain official telegram channels and encourage private employee telegram channels, but this practice is not developed in higher education. The growth point indicated in this study can be used in the further work of higher education organizations in the Russian Federation.