“Choose a topic of focus for this class, or what journalists might call a “beat.” It is VERY IMPORTANT to choose wisely, so put some serious thought into this. Choose a subject you are interested in and passionate about, personally or professionally. This could be anything from bowling to city/county school consolidation to local bakeries to the Memphis hip hop scene to the aviation industry to a particular company, industry or cause you are interested in promoting and/or understanding. Consider your post graduation goals, but be sure you genuinely care about the subject. It will be critical for you to narrow your topic as much as possible.
“Choose a topic of focus for this class, or what journalists might call a “beat.” It is VERY IMPORTANT to choose wisely, so put some serious thought into this. Choose a subject you are interested in and passionate about, personally or professionally. This could be anything from bowling to city/county school consolidation to local bakeries to the Memphis hip hop scene to the aviation industry to a particular company, industry or cause you are interested in promoting and/or understanding. Consider your post graduation goals, but be sure you genuinely care about the subject. It will be critical for you to narrow your topic as much as possible.
Anybody can “use Twitter” or “use Facebook” – it is technologically very easy to do. The trick is to use it productively when you have a specific professional goal. One of your goals will be to develop your ability to create interesting and informative content around a particular subject. But a bigger goal will be your ability to cultivate a community around this topic, to listen to what others have to say and engage your audience.
Write up a short description of this topic of focus or beat on your journal blog. Be as clear and specific as possible.”
My Topic Blog will be titled TN Liberty, and will be a forum in which to share information about news, events, politics, and laws concerning the state of TN. All conservative and liberty-minded activists, students, campus and community leaders, and voters, will be encouraged to contribute.
TN Liberty, will also be a location for resources concerning bills up for approval, TN Congressional representative’s contact information, statewide and county events, activism advice, mentorship, and grassroots training, among other issues as needed and requested. TN Liberty will serve as an extension of the TN and MS Leadership page on Facebook and may ultimately be followed with a MS Liberty blog.
“In your first post, answer the following questions: What social networks of you use most often? How or why do you use them? What do you find interesting or important about social media (e.g. why are you taking this class?)”
In terms of social networks, I used to say I used them all but then realized that there are thousands out there that I didn’t know existed and some that I still don’t know exist, i’m sure. So, to give an exact answer to this question we must start with a list. I love lists, don’t you?
So now that we have a list of all the social networking sites that I have used, still use, or have used at some point (at least enough to know what it is and have an account) we will break it down. Let me start by saying that some of them I didn’t even consider to be a social networking site until I looked it up and found that they were indeed social networking sites and some, I didn’t remember I had used until i read a list of all social networking sites. It was a pretty interesting list too – check it out by clicking here.
Okay – so the sites I use on a regular basis are:
Now we’ve learned that I use 20 social networking sites on a regular basis. Wow – I think I’ve just learned something about myself and where all those extra hours of time i used to have available, have gone. The missing time felt like the random 1 sock and its missing partner from the load of laundry in the dryer phenomenon until now. So – no longer a mystery.
So, if we break those down again into the social networking sites I use on a daily basis we have:
Hmm… that’s still a lot of sites, but significantly less when you consider that I’ve linked many of them together so 1 post is distributed among them.
I use them mostly for personal connections and networking. I know that sounds simple and maybe it is to most but to me – i have to remember what different things to post to which sites because some are personally funny posts, some are professional posts, some are networking posts, some are Liberty and Freedom posts, some are conservative posts, some are liberal posts, some are TN specific, some are posts for the Computer Science department page at the University of Memphis, some are for the Young Americans for Liberty group/page at the University of Memphis, etc etc etc.
If I had to pick the one site that I use most often, it is Facebook to include Facebook pages and groups, followed by Twitter, Tumblr, and Foursquare. The others are more of additions and by-products of those. Pinterest, I used a good amount this past summer because I became obsessed with the DIY information and began to refurnish all the furniture in my house and create those awesome pieces of art that normally cost a lot of money if purchased from Crate and Barrell, Pier 1, and other specialty stores – you know the ones of which I am speaking. Anyway..now that I’m in grad school – i have several half-finished pieces of furniture to include my coffee table and a craft room full of spray paint, paint, glue, sand paper, and other miscellaneous arts and crafts items I long to use again one day. Until then…it sits there, looking at me. A window into the free time I once had.
I’m excited to take this Social Media Class because I hope to pick up a few tips and tricks that I wasn’t aware existed or that I haven’t mastered. This class will also force me to update my blogs and pages more often and with more consistency, as well as create those blogs that i’ve been meaning to make, in order to enhance my online presence. Although my online presence is not that bad – i’m ranked pretty high on Klout (obligatory popping of the collar had to be done). Anyway, I hope to have a professional “portfolio” of sorts at the end of this semester.
No one is awake and it’s too cold outside…even the squirrels aren’t interested in nuts…Selfie for Day 1 it is.
The World According to Robin 