In the
United States, going to camp is a customary way to spend the summer
for millions of children. There are hundreds of different types of
summer camps like day camps, science camps, religious camps, sports
camps and traditional residential, or “sleep away” camps. Each
one is unique with different traditions, activities and goals for
camper outcomes. In the U.S alone there are more than 12,000 camps
which are attended by 11 million children and adults and employ more
than 1.5 million adults to work in various camp positions (American
Camp Association). It is important for such a large industry to
utilize social media practically and to understand how social media
affects their campers, camp families, and staff. There are so many
ways camps can use social media for marketing and increasing
enrollments, helping to maintain a community through the off season
and keeping parents up to date during the camp season, and many more
which will be discussed throughout this analysis.
Some camps are
already using social media platforms like Facebook, but what is
certain is that most of their campers are on Facebook, and likely
some of the parents too; what does this mean for summer camps? How
can they use social media to their advantage? What are the
implications of this on a traditional summer camp experience? These
are all issues that will be addressed and analyzed with hopes to help
traditional summer camps keep up with the internet and social media
while maintaining their values. The “traditional” camp
experience in the U.S is to attend a sleep-away camp for several
weeks during the summer break. These camps usually promote the
benefits of being outdoors, making new friends, nurturing personal
growth and giving children the ability to take risks in a safe
environment to develop feelings of independence, leadership and moral
values (Dahl, Sethre-Hofstad, & Salomon, 2013). The opportunity
to go to camp is one worth taking and it is through social media that
camps can extend their reach and bring more people to camp.
