Week One -- Monday, May 20

Social media is vast...

Introduction to Social Media Management

Social media is now such a broad field that attempting to cover it fully in one class is a huge task. So, we'll focus on one specific aspect -- managing social media. But to get to the management aspect of any information shared by an organization, we first have to learn how to understand our audience, build our content, and then share it using common tools. Then we can learn to manage information sharing at both a macro and micro level, standardizing profiles across social media networks and tracking the success of our interactions with the intended audience.

Objectives

By the end of week one, you should be able to:

1. Identify and describe common social media tools
2. Explain recent social media demographics and what they mean for your organization
3. Explore the challenges and opportunities of social media from the perspective of your organization
4. Identify and relate the 7 building blocks of social media to your organization's needs
5. Visit at least 3 social media/networking sites currently unfamiliar to you and be able to describe them to the class
6. Skim The Cluetrain Manifesto, summarize it, and be able to discuss at least 5 of the 95 theses

What to do this week

Since this is our first week, the best approach is to read the material listed below, chosen for you as the best collection of introductory explanations of social media. The articles I've listed are in our shared Dropbox account. Below each document, I've listed a reading guide to help target your reading.

Then, begin interacting in our class social media accounts -- Facebook, Wordpress, and Twitter about what you've read and what you'd like to learn in this class. I've given you directions below.

Let's start with this week's readings.

Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy, & Silvestre, Understanding the functional building blocks of social media (Dropbox)

As you read this article, look intentionally at the social media honeycomb described by the authors, and then the seven building blocks of social media, including:

1. Identity
2. Conversations
3. Sharing
4. Presence
5. Relationships
6. Reputation
7. Groups

Also, look carefully at the authors' 4 C's of social media -- cognize, congruity, curate, and chase. Determine how these concepts relate to your organization.

A social media primer for technical communicators

Examine this short article to determine how social media relates to technical communication, can be effectively deployed by technical communicators, and fits into our standard audience analysis/content creation framework. Read the five steps for starting in social media and be ready to discuss them in class.

Pew Internet Social Media demographics

This infographic is provided as a quick glance at the use of social media by age and gender. This is important information to consider if you begin to use or manage social media for your organization. Be ready to discuss anything about this data that is surprising.

Kaplan and Haenlein, Users of the World, Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media (Dropbox)

After you read this article, be ready to define the following terms and concepts:

• Social media
• Weblog
• Virtual worlds
• RSS
• AJAX
• User-generated content (and the three related requirements)
• Digital natives
• Screenagers
• Self-presentation/disclosure spectrum
• Blogs
• Social media sites
• Virtual gaming worlds
• Virtual social worlds

The Cluetrain Manifesto (including 95 theses)

The Cluetrain Manifesto is one of the most important documents in the field of social media, having contributed to its emergence and continuing to contribute to standard practices in its book form. This link takes you to the short version, including the 95 theses of social media. Scroll down to begin reading in English -- this document is a manifesto to the world. Choose 5 theses that are of interest to you and be ready to comment on our Wordpress blog.

The 40 most popular social media sites

This is a curated list of 40 social media sites. In reality, there are hundreds in operation worldwide, but these are the traditionally popular ones. Find at least two with which you are completely umfamilar, visit them, and be ready to discuss in class.

Case study: Red Cross; Briones, Kuch, Fisher Lui, Jin (Dropbox)

After reading this short article, visit the Red Cross social media sites below and be ready to discuss in class if the case study findings are still relevant to the ways in which the Red Cross is using social media today. As you read the article and review the Twitter feed and Facebook site, begin thinking about how your own organization uses social media.

https://twitter.com/RedCross

https://www.facebook.com/redcross

What to do after you've read -- interact in our social media sites

1. Comment on the class blog.

You have received an invitation to become an author on our Wordpress blog, tco691.wordpress.com. Go to the blog, read my post, and write a comment reflecting your thoughts about my post. Then, read the comments of other students and make at least one comment regarding another student's comment. Throughout the semester, you will be responsible for writing and posting articles on this blog.

2. Join Twitter and follow @tco691. Then join the @tco691 account and tweet from it. Here's how:

Join the class Twitter account -- https://twitter.com/tco691. First, create a Twitter account if you do not have one, or log in if you do and follow @tco691. Then, log out and sign in to our shared account. The username is tco691 and the password is Mercer1833. Send at least one tweet regarding anything you've read or you hope to learn to the class using the hashtag #tcosm.

3. Lke the class Facebook page and post a status update.

Like the class Facebook page -- . Post a status update about your feelings regarding the class by Monday, May 20, before class. If you do not have a Facebook account, you'll need to create one first.

For Monday, May 20

Please complete the readings and the requested social media interactions before class on Monday, May 20. Then, login to our Webex meeting and be ready to discuss social media management.

Join our Webex meeting Monday, May 20