Welcome to Week Nine!

Creative deadline management from Calvin & Hobbes, courtesy Go! Comics

Wow! It's Week Nine!
That's right, it's week nine, and our class is now drawing to a close. We've had some real great discussions over the term, and though we are almost out of time, we still have a few more in the pipeline. This week, we will be talking about the wider implications of Social Media in society. Political power, media, and quality of life are at the forefront. 
First though, an announcement. Earlier in the term, we asked you about interest in a meet-up, an in-person, face-to-face meeting of the class. We've set a date and time for that:

CCM 376E Intermediate Social Media Meet-Up

Friday, June 1, 2012, 5:00 pm

Manzana Grill in Lake Oswego, OR

View Larger Map

Just to restate, this is totally optional, but it is an opportunity for you to meet your instructors (Joanne and I) as well as your classmates. There's no grades, it's not required, nor are purchases required, and for those unable to make it due to time and distance, we will miss you!
However, optional though it is, we also thought we would do this meet-up for an extra-curricular learning opportunity. For the last eight weeks, we have been communicating constantly via electronic means, much as people who you interact with on social media. For those of you meeting each other for the first time this way, it may be interesting to see if your level of comfort or connection is different than with people you have no electronic relationship with whom you are meeting for the first time. Consider it a social experiment!
Now a little reminder. For those contracting for an A, we will soon be asking for your final reflection papers. It may be worthwhile to begin making notes about your projects and possibly starting on your papers. Also, keep plugging away at the projects themselves. 
Now, onto our browsings for the week:

• Net Neutrality: Why it may be a hot topic is 2012: http://bit.ly/zLgZ30
• ...and peoples reactions to it on Social Media shook Congress: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/sopa_awareness_goes_mainstream.php
• Meanwhile, even larger issues are at stake in other countries, such as Egypt: http://www.fastcompany.com/1809458/wael-ghonim-egypt-revolution-20
• Breaking down old paradigms: Twitter makes us all journalists, says Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab: http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/05/you-might-not-be-a-journalist-but-you-play-one-on-twitter/
• And the revolution continues in media: http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/05/rory-oconnor-traditional-media-companies-cling-to-their-brands-at-their-peril/
• Social Media changing how we relate to each other in time and space: http://www.ted.com/talks/amber_case_we_are_all_cyborgs_now.html
• ...and Social Media changing how we understand the places we live: http://livehoods.org/

As always, there are discussion questions in Moodle related to our browsings for the week. We'll see you online!

Week Eight Assignments

Hi everyone,

Can you believe we are now beginning week #8 of Intermediate Social Media?

The topic this week has been one that several of you have brought up in past weeks. Now we're devoting a lot of time to the very important issue of privacy.We know you'll have a lot to say about it.

Here are your assignments for this week:

1) Keep working on those projects. We are looking forward to seeing your progress and the results you are able to create.

2) Read this: Who Owns Your Personal History?

Read this: Burglars picked homes based on FB postings

Watch this: Seeing burglars in action

Read this: Mark Zuckerberg losing war on privacy

Watch this: Zuckerberg sweats

Read this: The Age of Privacy is over

Read this: Using FB to spy on people

Read this: Not fired after FB posting

Watch this: Facebook privacy

3) Remember to answer the discussion questions posted on Moodle and respond to at least two of your classmates comments. Make it more than just, "I agree with you," or "Good point." Add why you agree with him or her. (You've all been really good about this. Just wanted to add a little reminder to keep it up.)

We look forward to seeing your comments and questions this week.

Alex & Joanne

Your Assignment for Class Final

Earlier in the term, you identified a social media project that you would engage in during the course of this class/. For those students contracting for an A grade, a paper reflecting on this project and its relationship to course learning must be written and submitted.

PROJECT REVIEW

The description of the project assignment as shown in the course syllabus:

Students will also engage in a social media research project. This project will require them to choose from one of the following two options:

Project Track A: Choose a pre-existing social media community to join and engage in. This should be a community you are not already involved in. This may include one of the following: 

• Follow and engage with a blog that has a robust comments section 

• Join and engage a Facebook page or group

• Join and engage a LinkedIn group 

• Join and engage others on Twitter 

• Propose to the instructors another social media site that you think is worth exploring.

Project Track B: Plan, create, and implement your own social media community, which may include one of the following: 

• Plan and create a blog for a specific purpose 

• Plan and create a Facebook page or group for a specific purpose

• Plan and create a LinkedIn page or group for a specific purpose 

• Plan and create a YouTube channel for a specific purpose 

• Plan and create a Twitter account for a specific purpose

• Combination of some or all of the above 

• Propose something else to the instructors that will best meet your needs for learning and using social media.

Please note: regardless of which track is chosen, students will be graded by their observations and learning from these experiences, as demonstrated in the discussion areas of the course’s Moodle site and/or in the final reflection paper, not on the content the student has created outside of Moodle. Further, we understand that some students will have privacy concerns regarding participation in social media; we encourage but do not require students to utilize their real names in their social media projects. If you have specific privacy concerns, please contact the course instructors and accommodations will be made.

The social media community chosen may be for personal, professional, and/or educational purposes. Students should expect to choose and begin to engage in their social media community in week two, and be prepared to discuss initial observations during week six. Interaction will continue throughout the class. 

PAPER ASSIGNMENT

Deadline. Those contracting for an A grade also need to submit a 5-6 page reflection paper on their learning and observations from this project by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, 6/12/12. 

Graded Content. Students will not be graded on the content or extent of their engagement in their chosen social media communities, but rather by demonstration in their reflection papers of their observations and learning during the engagement process.

Style & Etc. In addition, this paper is expected to meet or exceed Marylhurst writing standards, as described in full in the syllabus. Please use whatever academic writing style is used in your major, e.g. MLA, APA, Chicago, etcetera. We are more concerned with the content than with what specific style you write in. Please do cite outside sources if you include any, for example, any specific course browsings you want to mention.

REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF YOUR PAPER

At a minimum, please answer the following questions in your paper:

• What was the project you took on, and why?

• What if any things that you learned during this course directly affected your project?

• If you are going to carry your project forward after the class ends, how do you see it changing over time?

SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR PAPER

To make this paper easier for you to start, here are some things to keep in mind as you write:

• Consider comparing and contrasting how you felt about Social Media versus how you feel now. Have your feelings changed? Your confidence level? How about your skill level?
• What surprised you about your project? Did anything disappointed you? What were unique challenges that you experienced?
• Were there any course browsings or readings that might relate to what you did? If so, tell us how.

SUBMISSION 

Submit the paper using the Drop Box on Moodle in the Week Ten section. 

If you have problems submitting the paper, please contact one/both of us using the course mail function on Moodle. 

Enjoy!

~Joanne & Alex

Social Proof: A Powerful Concept

Hi everyone,

You may recall last week in the discussion questions, Alex and I asked you the following: 

We're almost halfway through our class term. Before we move on, we're very interested in your feedback. Do you have any suggestions for how we can make this course even better for you? 

There is a reason we asked this of you publicly. In social media, we find ourselves in very public spaces with others in our networks who can see everything we're saying. Not only that, but friends of friends in other networks can often see what we're saying. So, the question becomes, does your feedback change when you know other people are watching? And, whether it changes or not, do you feel differently while writing your comments when you know they are not anonymous? Are others impacted by what you are saying?

 

Before social media, feedback was mostly given in a private way, whether it was over the phone, a letter, or email. The exceptions to this are when people are physically gathered together or if you cc or bcc others in an email. However, with social media, what you say is seen by many others--many of whom you don't specifically choose. Does this impact what you say or how you say it? How does it impact them?

In the case of your responses to our question, it was just our class who saw the comments. But imagine if we were asking you via the social media platforms and all of our friends and associates saw your comments? What if all the students at Marylhurst University saw your positive comments. Do you think that would help enrollment in future classes? 


Social proof is a very powerful concept. When you are looking to make an online purchase, how often has another person's comments persuaded you to buy or not to buy? Companies such as Yelp understand this very well. What if you have a bad customer service experience with a particular company or brand. Would you post about it? And how do you think others would react to that? How would the company react?

I know that for me, I like to know what my friends think. For example, when I was selecting a smart phone, I simply tweeted: iphone or blackberry? I got a lot of feedback, and I was much more inclined to listen to what my friends had to say than some glossy brochure put together by a company's marketing department. 

Social proof. Powerful. Can you think of a situation in which you were influenced via social proof? Tell us about it in the comments section below.

Joanne

Week Seven Assignments

The mobile-social world can be a cruel one....

Hello Class!

It's now Week Seven, and before we get started, congratulations on Week Six and the midterms! You all contributed to a lively discussion on Moodle and Joanne and I are proud of you all.

(Later this week, Joanne is going to talk a bit about the feedback question we asked in a post here on the blog. Watch for that.)

Now for this week:

1.) Keep working on your projects! We only have four more weeks left counting this one, so keep at them. In fact, from here out, we will be asking about them as part of every week's discussion questions on Moodle.

2.) This weeks theme is the ever changing nature of Social Media. Complete the following assigned browsings for the week. There are a lot here, however, do not panic. They are all short. You do not have to read them in order but you may want to:

Myspace Gains a Million Users in One Month from Mashable
Myspace Memories from Mashable
Local Will Matter More and More from Chris Brogan
The App is Dead Okay Not Really but the Browser is Back from ReadWriteWeb
First Night with Google Plus from ReadWriteWeb
How to Get Started with Google Hangouts from ReadWriteWeb
Kickstarter to Outfund National Endowment for the Arts from ReadWriteWeb
What Goes Where from Chris Brogan

3.) Answer the three discussion questions for this week in Moodle.

That's all!

Also, we will have more information on the final paper assignment next week. As stated in the syllabus, it will be brief, so worry not.

As always, if you have problems or questions, ask away!

Week Six Assignments

Welcome to week six!

We have been talking about authenticity in social media and have had some very stimulating discussions on Moodle, as well as some good comments on recent blog posts.

Now that we are officially half way through the term, it's time to get focused on those final projects. Therefore, during week six, your only assignment is to work on your projects and answer the discussion questions in Moodle.

We'll see you online.

Alex & Joanne

Social Media Myths & Difficulties

Alex and I have a similar philosophy when it comes to social media. It's one that I believe reflects how much we have embraced this form of communication and interaction with others in a public space. 

I'm not sure there is anything I can add to Alex's last post in terms of what it means to be authentic online, so I thought I would add to this conversation by sharing the difficulties I find many people have when working to embrace this new communication channel. Here are just a few of them:

I want to keep my private and professional lives separate.

I am afraid that ship has sailed. I can't tell you how many people have opened up more than one account and profile on the various platforms in an attempt to completely separate these areas of their lives. But what happens is it simply causes all kinds of confusion in their minds and much more to maintain on the sites themselves, which of course, they soon fail to do and end up looking like they're dead. Plus, when they realize they can't keep it up they have followers or friends on each of these different accounts and trying to get them all in one place brings about a whole new challenge. 

I don't care what people are eating for lunch and I don't want to share that.

You don't have to share what you're having for lunch. Why this statement has become such a shared negative view about social media is beyond me. I don't know that I have ever shared what I'm eating. However, at times when someone posts what their meal is, or even takes a picture of it, I sometimes find that rather interesting, particularly if it's a new restaurant that I might want to sample. Is it an important piece of information to know? No. Is it going to impact the world in some way? No. It's just a little peek into someone else's world that can be intriguing. Besides, one of the reasons I think reality television is so popular is that as human beings we really like knowing what other people are up to. I'm sure there has been research done on this. However, this statement is simply my opinion.

It's a fad that is going to go away.

That's a good one. For those in business, don't be surprised if you're out of business in a couple of years.

What do you mean I'm broadcasting and not engaging?

Back in the "olden days" and by that I mean a few years ago, businesses paid a lot of money to have commercials produced and then aired. In the case of magazines and newspapers, it would be ads created and placed. These commercials were all about "me me me" whereas now with social media when you talk about your business it needs to be about them. Even more than that, it has to engage them. There is a two-way conversation that needs to happen. We covered much of this in week 1 so I know you know what I'm getting at here. 

What do you mean spraying all over someone's wall is like spray painting their front door?

Do you remember when your friends or family were just getting online and all they could do was forward jokes and share warnings about disasters that were actually urban legends? Well, whenever we start something new there is a learning curve. Social media is the same way, so some begin by "broadcasting" what they're up to on your wall without even asking, e.g., someone I know with a new book posted that fact along with a link to their Amazon page where my friends could buy a copy. Not cool. I make the comparison that doing this is like driving by someone's house and spray painting all over their front door. You wouldn't do that right? So doing it on someone's wall isn't OK either. (This is a point of etiquette.) Oh, and by the way, some people never really get this even when they are beyond the early learning stages.

I want to tie all my accounts together so that I can post one thing and it goes out to all the platforms.

I understand wanting to do this, but it's really a bad idea. Each platform has its own culture so when I see people do this, it screams amateur to me. Maybe that's too harsh, but that's how I seem to react. Nothing looks worse to me that seeing someone tweet with a bunch of hash tags and links posted on Facebook. It's just wrong.

If I were to summarize my philosophy for getting involved in social media it would come down to this: There is a lot to be said for observing before reaching out and connecting online. Some call it lurking and a little lurking just to get an idea of the culture of a platform is a really good idea. Then begin to engage when you are ready. 

We'd be very interested in hearing how your philosophy of social media is growing and developing. Go ahead and add any of your thoughts below.

Authenticity, Professionalism, and Personal Space

This week we've been examining authenticity in the Social Media sphere, and Joanne and I are going to share some of how we approach this aspect.

As Social Media rapidly grew in popularity over the last five years, more and more there have been commercial uses for it. Companies frequently have presences on Facebook and Twitter, for example, sometimes even incorporating such presences into their customer service or advertising plans. With more bombardments of "HEY! LOOK AT ME! BUY MY STUFF!" on Social Media, as well as more instances of spam moving onto such platforms, one of the key strategies that have emerged is a drive for authenticity. Some of your readings this week have dealt with this, and here's another from the Gaurdian.co.uk that gives some good examples.

Of course not everyone agrees. Some have more cynical views, suggesting that by definition a company is always profit driven, and therefore everything they post is inauthentic, as it's all just about your wallet.

But I want to talk more about personal authenticity. In 2005, Thomas Friedman, a Pulitzer prize winning New York Times columnist, wrote a book called The World is Flat.

Friedman was talking about economics, suggesting that geography was no longer an advantage on labor price. This means competition for jobs won't be based on the price of labor, but potentially on other things, like quality of life. It was a revolutionary notion.

Well in the world of Internet privacy -- or perhaps what might better be described as the world of personality and positioning -- the world is also becoming flat. Whether we like it or not, much about us can be learned on the web, and many aspects of ourselves that were once separate are converging. 

This is only going to increase. It is part of why Mark Zuckerberg, in 2010, essentially declared that privacy was dead. He didn't mean that you were going to be stalked more often, but that in some ways, Social Media makes us all public people. A simple search on Google reveals many aspects of ourselves at once: it becomes harder to "dress the part."

Logically, there seem only three choices for a response. The first is to withdraw entirely, to disengage from Social Media and the Internet in general. The second is to carefully craft a public persona for the Web -- the route many celebrities take.

The last is to find an authentic approach and stick with it. This is the route I chose, and the one I advocate fervently to others. It has been rewarding in many ways.

But what does it mean to be authentic? Here's how I answer that:

1.) It forces me to think about who I am, instead of who I want to appear to be. Maintaining a front or mask on the web -- the carefully crafter persona -- is a nice sort of lie. It's about what you want others to see -- it's about that crafted resume and dressing the part, something the last century taught us to do well, but that has always, at least for me, felt vaguely worrying. By choosing authenticity, I still have to think about what others will see, but it is how I think of myself and who I am that are the things I can change, not what I am "wearing" on Social Media.

2.) It forces me not to hide. I have a lot of diverse interests. For many years, I maintained a certain separation between these different worlds of friends, acquaintances, and coworkers. It was the classic attempt to separate personal from professional, as well as lofty aspirations from the day jobs. And you know what? It was hard work. That level of self-censoring is exhausting, and in the end, its purpose seems unclear. By being authentic, I don't have to waste my energy dividing those I know into different themed camps of knowledge.

3.) It makes me be more thoughtful. Yes, being authentic does mean being a bit more open about some matters, sometimes including personal or political beliefs, or matters pertaining to daily life. But it also means being thoughtful about that. By being an authentic but public person on Social Media, I find I am less likely to:

• Use curse words or inappropriate language
• Frequently post on political issues or be disrespectful in political comments
• Post incessantly about trivial matters like what I ate for lunch.

Because what I say will be public, and because what I say will be a reflection of me, I am careful that I am committed and willing to stand by what I say, instead of just throwing in a reactive or half-thought-out post.

Does it help me? Well more and more of my professional activities are centered on very public work, such as speaking or publishing. I find that having a public and authentic voice on Social Media has made talking with and working with others in my field easier and more personable. When I post something, people I work with know I am genuinely interested in the matter, and not merely pursuing some kind of Social Media marketing strategy.