What Happened to “Hybrid”? Rethinking Digital Alumni Engagement
Do you remember back during the pandemic, when just about everyone in higher education agreed that the future of alumni engagement would be “hybrid”?
The prevailing assumption at the time was that, once we could safely return to in-person gatherings, engagement teams would build a level of digital-first sophistication that made participating in the life of the university possible from any device, in an ongoing way. Reunions, lectures, volunteer programs, and networking opportunities would live seamlessly across physical and virtual environments, creating more inclusive and durable communities.
Narrator voice: that is not what happened.
In practice, the “hybrid future” never fully arrived. Instead, many institutions reverted to familiar patterns, layering digital tools on top of traditional programming without fundamentally rethinking how alumni experience the institution over time.
Which raises a more important question today: How should advancement teams really be thinking about digital engagement in 2026 and beyond?
One uncomfortable answer is that social media, as it is currently managed at most institutions, has become more of a hindrance than a strategic asset.
As someone who came up in advancement through digital work, it still feels strange for me to say that. But I am increasingly convinced that most institutions need to dramatically rethink, and in many cases sunset, the majority of their alumni-facing social media accounts.
Facebook pages. Instagram feeds. X, TikTok, Bluesky, Snapchat. Class year accounts. Affinity group pages. Program and club handles... time for them all to go. They are all undermanaged and seem to be more of a chore that’s void of much inspiration.
At most schools, these accounts are under-resourced and rarely integrated into a broader advancement strategy. They tend to do three things: share content from the alumni magazine or news site, share campus pics, and promote major events. In other words, they largely replicate what the university’s main channels are already doing. The result is a sprawling alumni-facing digital footprint that looks busy, but delivers very little in terms of measurable engagement, pipeline development, or the relationships that stem from successful online community-building.
This is not an argument for abandoning digital engagement altogether. It is an argument for consolidation and focus. Most advancement teams would be better served by managing fewer platforms, maybe just one or two, and doing them exceptionally well.
For many institutions, a more effective digital engagement strategy can be built around just two primary platforms: LinkedIn and YouTube, with content designed for audiences interested in professional themes.
I have some biases here with my background in career services, but I believe LinkedIn offers enormous, largely untapped potential for alumni engagement. An alumni-facing LinkedIn Page can host live events, publish articles and newsletters, showcase alumni stories, and surface professional opportunities in ways that align naturally with graduates’ identities. It is one of the few platforms where engagement, career development, and philanthropy intersect organically.
We’re also at a moment with a rapidly changing job market due to AI. Alumni-facing content should be a resource and accentuate the value of the network. These two platforms are also opportunities to build something that’s not redundant to the university’s main accounts.
As a core metric, I would track follower growth on an alumni LinkedIn page and pair it with intentional onboarding and community-building practices that help new followers feel welcomed and valued. And yes, most legacy LinkedIn Groups can be retired or ignored. They are largely invisible in users’ feeds and rarely function as true communities.
YouTube should play a complementary role. It is no longer simply a repository for recorded events and promotional videos.
YouTube has become a long-form storytelling platform where alumni, students, faculty, and leaders can share expertise, reflect on impact, and reinforce institutional identity in ways that feel authentic and enduring. Nearly every student or graduate already has YouTube on their phone. Institutions should take advantage of that reality. What connects both platforms is their reliance on community-generated content.
The future of digital alumni engagement will not be defined by institutional broadcasting, where advancement communications speak to their audiences in a one-way stream. Successful teams must lean on graduates to help tell professional success stories, not just share them, that bring to life the network’s value, and showcase why deeper engagement is essential. Freelance alumni contributors should work as partners to spotlight the work of mentors, volunteers, donors, and advocates.
This is where the original idea of “hybrid” deserves revisiting. During the pandemic, the prediction of a hybrid future made sense. After campuses reopened, however, it was framed largely in logistical terms as in creating a digital version of an in-person experience.
A true hybrid engagement strategy is about creating an always-on community experience that blends physical and digital participation into a single, continuous relationship with the institution. If advancement teams can shift from managing channels to building something that resembles a subscription community that harnesses the power of multiple voices from the community that understand the importance of generosity and investment in the school, digital alumni engagement can finally become what many of us hoped for during the pandemic: sustainable, relational, and strategically aligned with institutional mission.
It will become the digital experience today’s alumni want to opt in to.
As someone who has spent much of his career working at the intersection of digital strategy and advancement, I am convinced that this shift is not only possible. It is necessary. The next era of alumni engagement will belong to those who build the strongest communities. To do so, hard decisions must be made to create more bandwidth by freeing-up resources and acquiring additional expertise.
There’s a lot more to focus on in an era where digital engagement should be predominant. After we can sort through our legacy social media obligations and build new approaches, such as subscription models, we can turn to digital micro-volunteerism as a vehicle to activate and sustain long-term engagement for busy professionals in their early giving years.