Thinking about your project

As we enter Week Two of the class, it's time to start thinking about the social media project you will undertake. This is your only major assignment, and it can feel intimidating at first glance.

First, relax.

The purpose of the project is to test the waters. As I described it in a post on our Moodle course site, it's a trial run, a test-drive, a kicking-of-the-tires. In short, it's an experiment with social media. As with all experiments, what matters is that you designed and attempted something. It doesn't have to be "complete," much less comprehensive. (It is good, however, if it is public and running for at least a week.)

You can use any social media platform or tool you want, and you can aim to achieve almost any goal you want. Last year, for example, one student started a facebook group built around a particular interest, while another started a blog about a form of dancing she likes.

Some suggestions:

1.) Keep it simple and achievable.
2.) Make it practical and about something you enjoy or are interested in anyway. Got a work related goal? A hobby? An educational goal? Build it around something like that.
3.) Be playful. Try new things, new platforms, experiment. Don't worry about the outcomes or about success, instead concentrate on trying something different.

If your project is something you enjoy building and want to continue after the class, that's great! On the other hand, if your project is something you just want to play with for the class, that's fine too. What's important is that you're planning and launching a social media project, to learn how these things work and observe what happens after you launch and run it.

So go forth, explore, and see what you uncover!