Admissions officers around the country are hearing consistent calls to enhance their social media presence. Whether the pressure is from administrators, influential alumni, or peers across institutions, social media are touted as the next big thing in admissions marketing. But are social media strategies truly "strategic," or are they merely bolt-ons designed to satisfy the demands of internal constituencies or to keep up with what peer institutions are assumed to be doing? In an effort to learn more about how prospective students--the target of all these new efforts--use social media in the admissions process, Widmeyer Communications conducted a national survey of first-year undergraduates during each of the past two years. The surveys yielded three key insights that can help all higher education institutions invest effectively in social media: (1) though part of the information landscape, social media constitute the least important tool for gathering information in advance of the application decision, at least for now; (2) although social media become substantially more important as students make their final decisions, they continue to be less important than other communications mechanisms; and (3) investments in social networking should be strategic, and they should be tied to an overarching digital strategy.