Post 26: Social Media Sabbatical

Can I interest you in a Social Media Sabbatical?

We all know that social media can be addicting. Some of us are on these platforms for hours upon hours for different reasons. I think that it can sometimes be fun and scrolling through my feed is a little relaxing.

But what happens when social media becomes a daunting task? When it starts feeling like a job? When you start dreading it?

Take a Break! Unplug!

Unplugged by las is licensed under (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

I know that I will be taking a quick break after the semester finishes for rebooting and refocusing my attention. I would like to start using social media in my professional development and I think I might take a little time just mapping it out.

Will you be taking a social media sabbatical?

Here are some reasons why taking a break from social media might be a good option:

1.       Social media provides a distorted sense of reality.

2.       Social media can sometimes be a distraction.

3.       Social media does allow for interaction with your friends, but not always in a substantial way.

4.       Social media might cause you to seek validation from others. Too focused on how many “likes” or “retweets”.

I think social media can be a great tool in many of our endeavors, I would just like to find a balance on how many hours I spend on these platforms.

Post 25: Google+ for Curation!

I think Google is trying to take over the world. It has so many tools and offerings for users that you can’t help but want to create a Google account. They just recently launched the Google “Collections” feature.  

“…users are now able to build content collections based on topics and interests.

These collections include a group of posts on a particular topic that can either be shared publicly, privately or with specific sets of people – similar to Google+ posts themselves.”

This feature is very similar to the curation tools that you are already used to. Some suggest that Google was inspired by Pinterest. Are you a Google+ user? I never use my Google+ profile. I do use Google+ to login to other websites.

Do you use Google+?

Not sure if this new feature will be used by the community as expected, due to the fact that most Google+ users do not use this platform as their main social media tool. 

Post 24: Now What Do I Do With All This Junk?

As you can tell from my blog, I prefer to use a pseudonym for the many adventures in this class. With every social media tool introduced in our class, I have used the pseudonym. I created a separate gmail account for this pseudonym and tie every registration to this account. I only use this gmail account in this class and do not give it out otherwise.

From time to time, I check this gmail account for updates from social media sources.

Come to find I have a total of 207 emails! (That includes Primary, Social, and Promotion)

These are emails that I have received from the online communities I joined, Scoop.it, Delicious, Edmodo, Voicethread, Pinterest, Twitter, Quora, Diigo, Wikispaces, and all the other tools that I ventured to try in addition to the ones recommended.

Some of us are desensitized when we look at our inboxes and see hundreds of new emails. Most of the time, these emails are notifications, updates, or promotions. It takes me about an hour to ‘clear’ the junk and for a few precious minutes, my inbox is empty.

To the people that used their regular email accounts, have you also encountered a bombardment of social media emails?

Not to worry, most of the time these platforms, let you unsubscribe. Now the task is to figure out how…

Post 23: Digital Kidnapping...huh?

I think this would be tagged on the course blog as “internet creepiness”. On the topics of privacy that we are reviewing this week, I thought it would be apropos to discuss this interesting term.

So what is Digital Kidnapping?

It is essentially where users find a baby photo they like or want to have on social media, and ‘steal’ this photo and later post it and claim it as their baby or child.  I cannot even fathom why someone would want to claim to have a baby that is not their own or “play house” online. Parents who later find their babies’ photos being used elsewhere feel violated.

“Type "#BabyRP" into Instagram search. Thousands of photos of babies, children- even ultrasound pictures- will pop up. These photos do not belong to the users posting them.”

I do not have children of my own, so I would like to hear from the parents in the class... What are your thoughts?

I remember when my sister had her first child. My brother thought it would be funny to take a photo of her baby and make a meme out of it. She was extremely upset about it and did not let him post it anywhere. I guess she did not like the idea of her baby’s picture being plastered all over the internet on chat forums, websites, and/or social media.

Again, we circle back to the idea that we must feel comfortable with everything we post on these social media platforms because this information is not under lock and key. Others can and will take the information you provide (including baby pictures) and use it as they please.

What can you do to avoid digital kidnapping?

1.       A reverse image search on Google can help you find out if your photos are being used on other websites or social networks.

2.       You can watermark your photos before you post.

3.       Set your accounts to “private”

Post 22: Falling into the Quora hole

I have been entranced my Quora lately. If some of you have not tried Quora, I recommend that you try it out at least once.

 

Here are some observations and benefits I have found using this platform:

·         There is a designated space to answering questions instead of “Googling” or “Binging” the answers and sifting through search items

·         Answers are from real people in real time as opposed to SEO sites.

·         You can follow both people and topics.

·         The Answer/commenting system has a voting system to promote effective items and suppress the ineffective responses.

·         Quora only allows you to search for questions; this prevents initial bias on answers.

·         Most of the time, you will receive more than one answer and source on a question.

What was your experience?

Post 21: Is Social Media Changing Language?

Social Media is changing the way we communicate with others.

I cringe sometimes when I see the texts loaded with acronyms or hear people use the acronyms or phrases while speaking. I do not know why but I still like to spell out words and avoid acronyms.

Here are some words that were created from social media use or have been given new meaning through social media:

• selfie
• unfriend
• troll
• rickrolling
• status
• meme
• hashtag
• viral
• tag
• trending
• tweet
• wiki
• avatar

Can you add to the list?

If students are relying on new vocabulary and social media to communicate with others, where are they going to practice good language mechanics? In other words, if a student is consistently using social media language can we still hold them accountable in the classroom? If they are not practicing grammar, spelling, and punctuation, will those skills start to slowly disappear?

In my opinion, social media is contributing to poor spelling, grammar, and punctuation (skills that are still very necessary in this society).

I wonder how English teachers are solving this issue in the classroom? Can anyone share their own experiences?

Post 20: Slacktivism: “Token Displays of Support”

I just learned a new term. I stumbled upon it as I was researching how social media is used to promote causes and issues around the world. I began to read this article “Does Slacktivism Work?”.

We all can observe that social media is a powerful communication tool. Stories spread faster through social media than waiting for the 6 o’clock news. Social media has the ability to grab our attention and even regulate the kinds of conversations we are having with each other ‘around the water cooler’ at work.

Yet, the real question we need to ask ourselves is:

Once social media promotes awareness on a cause, are there subsequent tangible actions that follow?

In other words, do these causes generate more support after being blasted through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.?

I’m sure you have seen posts on Facebook that ask you to ‘share’ or ‘like’ a post if you are in agreement with its message. But once you do those actions, is there anything further that happens? Or if you have just been asked to ‘retweet’ a tweet that promotes awareness on an injustice, what happens next?

Most people say nothing happens next. This is an interesting phenomenon where social media brings issues to light but doesn’t necessary spark action within its users. Some say that when you share, like, and/or retweet, most users feel like they have met their societal obligation. They have shared the message along and have made a contribution.

So how can we repackage our social media message to ignite tangible actions?

One solution is having “charities promote the values underlying their causes if they want to turn more slacktivists into committed, policy-changing activists.”

What do you think?

Post 19: Wikipedia: A Starting Point and Not an Ending Point.

From my experience, Wikipedia is not a credible resource when trying to find research for academic purposes. However, I have been known to skim a Wikipedia article here and there when I am unfamiliar with a topic and am looking for general information. 

In reference to academic use, it turns out Wikipedia claims they are not a credible resource as well.

Then why visit it in the first place?

It is interesting that it is a living and breathing body of work based on the contributions of its users. It exists and thrives on the contribution of others and is an amalgamation of information from various sources. It is free and open to everyone which allows for the sharing of information and dialogue to occur. It is the epitome of produsage!

What do I use Wikipedia for?

• Link surfing hang ten!
• Quick and easy general knowledge 
• Starting point for further research
• Settling debates among friends

I do think that this type of environment does set the stage for Wikipedia to become a more reliable resource in the future. If more editors can check the accuracy of the content, Wikipedia might be used in an academic environment in the future. Or, because it is user-driven, it may stay at the same level of being a nice resource when the stakes are low. 

What do you use Wikipedia for?

*Did you notice I only used Wikipedia links?

Post 18: Getting to Know You

Well hello there. Thank you for visiting my blog and reading my thoughts on EME 61414 so far. I had to collect some statistical information for the Knowledge Sharing/Tracking Project and I was curious to see how my blog was doing.

We already touched on how to attract readers to our blogs but I found that visiting other blogs and commenting on posts to be the most effective way to encourage traffic.

Not sure if you have had the same experience?

Overtime, my page views and comments have increased when I have left more comments on other users' blogs. Also, when my blog is mentioned on the course blog I almost always get a significant spike in page views. Is your experience similar?

I found this article to be extremely helpful. 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic. However there are some tips I cannot use because I have purposely used a pseudonym and do not want to mix my personal identity with my blogging identity.

Happy Blogging!

Post 17 : My experience with VoiceThread.

As part of one of our assignments, we were asked to create a presentation in PowerPoint and then upload the slides as images into VoiceThread. VoiceThread allowed me to add audio to my presentation with ease. More importantly, it store the presentation on its site and you can link to it as much as you would like. 

My experience with VoiceThread was a wonderful one! I had no problem importing my slides as images. 

However, I did find some limitations using this tool:

• I cannot change my slides in VoiceThread because they are uploaded as images
• The resolution of the images are also dependent on how you converted them into images
• When I uploaded my images, they were not in order

Some advantages of using this tool include:

• Being able to have media-centric discussions. Users are able to comment on actual media instead of text
• It is extremely user-friendly. It took me about 30 minutes to record my slides.
• This tool supports our best communication tool: our voice
• Provides a human element to our presentations

What was your experience using this tool? Was it easy or hard for you to compile your assignment for the class?

Post 16: Meet the periodic element Calcium (Ca)

We were asked to create a Fakebook profile and I decided I was going to create a profile for the periodic element Calcium (Ca). I used this example to show that this site can be used to not only showcase historical and fictional characters but it can also explain a topic of interest. Just like Facebook has different pages for profiles, websites, companies, and groups, Fakebook can also be used similarly.

Meet Calcium (Ca)

On my profile page I loaded pertinent information about Calcium. For instance, I replaced  the "Born" field with a "Discovered" field. I kept the "Family" field and just listed what group Calcium is in, when looking at the periodic table.

It was interesting that when I began to list Calcium's friends, pictures were generated for the elements. I wonder if this is from other Fakebook profiles or from the internet?

I tried to make some funny posts relating to calcium compounds but, alas, humor is not my strong suit.

How was your Fakebook experience? Please share your link.

Post 15: Webquest Déjà vu

In my previous degree, we were asked to create a Webquest for our students using the World Digital Library (WDL). It is an amazing resource for teachers because it brings history to life. Instead of reading about history, there are different types of media that students can 'explore'. They can listen to audio clips, view historical maps, watch videos and take tours. It is a collaborative effort between the Library of Congress, the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), and libraries, archives, museums, educational institutions, and international organizations from around the world. (Just wanted to share this tidbit)

"DSCN1535" by Hans Feldmeier is licensed under CC BY 2.0

We were asked to complete a Webquest this week, but how many of us know what is involved in creating one? Not only do you have to plan your content but then decide whether or not these websites are appropriate for your audience as well as if you are comfortable with your students clicking on every button and link on that website (including advertisements). 

So why even create a Webquest in the first place?

• Increases student motivation
• Increases student focus
• If done correctly, the Webquest can meet curriculum standards
• Promotes team skills 
• Promotes higher-level thinking
• Increases student quality of work

Now that I have convinced you that you must design one immediately before you implode. 

What is the secret Webquest formula?

Every Webquest Should Have:

• The Introduction orients students and captures their interest.
• The Task describes the activity's end product.
• The Process explains strategies students should use to complete the task.
• The Resources are the Web sites students will use to complete the task.
• The Evaluation measures the results of the activity.
• The Conclusion sums up the activity and encourages students to reflect on its process and results.

Ready to create one or would just like to learn more? Check out Creating a Webquest It is Easier Than You Think

Post 14: What's in it for me? (Adult Learning)

Based on my experiences in the class thus far, I have had one question on my mind:

How can Web 2.0 tools be successfully integrated in adult learning environments?

I have already explored how these tools can help me in my professional career. Now I would like to know how I could apply them in a real world setting beyond Professional Learning Networks (PLNs). How can I incorporate these type of platforms in an adult learning atmosphere?

I think most of us face that question as instructional designers. Our goal is to leverage learning technologies in order to foster learning experiences and dialogue. Currently I am interning in a large global corporation. They use a platform called Yammer. From what I can tell, this tool is essentially a social network that's entirely focused on the corporation. In order to join the Yammer network, an applicant must have a working email address from the company's domain. 

However, should I and how do I include Yammer as part of my training? Should I create a learning group for a particular department? Should I host a chat with my learners as an addition to the training? Would they even participate?

Please stop by my Scoop.it topic on Adult Learning  in order to familiarize yourself with the learning principles and how it affects design as well as instruction. You can also access the link on the sidebar on the right.  

"http://cliparts.co"Clip art image by Cliparts.co

Post 13: #lrnchat Information Overload! (In a good way)

Can I just say what a unique and amazing experience #lrnchat was? Wow!

This reminds of the days of chat rooms. There was a designated topic and everyone was part of the bigger conversation but still addressed certain responses and questions to individual users.

I have to admit that being on #lrnchat was chaotic but fun. I found myself trying to keep pace with others and the questions posed by the moderator. It was engaging and it never slowed down. It also forced me to think of responses in a quick manner all the while considering the word limitation. That word limitation slowed me down considerably.

Below you will find one of my posts during #lrnchat

In the span of 60 minutes I generated more traffic on my twitter than in the last 3 weeks. For instance, I received several notifications including:

• 8 favorited tweets
• 4 replies
• 3 new followers
• 1 quote
• 1 list add (I didn't even know I could be added to a list)

What a great way to gain visibility!

I tweeted 13 times in the span of an hour. What a rush! I also followed an instructional designer and another #eme6414 classmate. 

:) This experience made my night. 

Post 12: Attribution

It has been an interesting journey thus far in understanding copyright, licenses, and attribution. I poked my head around Creative Commons and tried to find some useful tidbits on how to properly attribute an image. After little searching I found this very visual explanation on what to do and what not to do.  

Why should we attribute?

• Give credit where credit is due. It reminds me of how we need to cite properly in our papers. Same concept I would imagine.
• Give traffic to the source. Letting your reader be able to go back to the source provides traffic to the creator.
• It’s not yours.  If you fail to properly attribute, others might think the work is yours.

Here is a Creative Commons licensed photo on Flickr with attribution.

This photo made me chuckle. 

“How do you like your eggs? Surprised!” By Tim Simpson is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

How did I do? Did I miss anything? 

Post 11: Netflix.com: Why do you 'know' me so well?

Why does Netflix keep recommending movies I would be interested in? Sometimes Netflix gets it wrong but other times it is spot on!

Well, after reviewing the reading, I decided to read some basic articles about crowdsourcing. It was interesting to find that Netflix.com uses crowdsourcing and has been using this type of resource for many years. It has used crowdsourcing and variations thereof to understand what users want. Netflix has harnessed the collaborative power of crowdsourcing and has continued to provide a very human component in its computerized function.

It employs around 40 people to tag videos with at least 100 tags to work in combination with the recommendation function. Netflix also tests different versions of its program with more than 10,000 users. If it works with large crowds, most of the time it is then made available to all Netflix users. In addition to these outlets, Netflix also has enlisted crowd laborers around the globe to help caption online streaming videos.

Now it makes sense why Netflix ‘knows’ me so well when it provides recommendations for me. I never really understood the effort behind a simple list of recommendations but now I can see how extensive this process really is.

It should be noted that Netflix was not always successful when using crowdsourcing. In 2009, it began a competition to find the best collaborative filtering algorithm to predict user ratings for films. The winning team would receive 1 Million dollars. It turns out that after the team was awarded the prize money, Netflix ultimately did not implement the algorithm stating “additional accuracy gains that we measured did not seem to justify the engineering effort needed to bring them into a production environment.” Netflix also experienced a shift in its user base where more users began to stream videos rather than rent them. As a result, the algorithm based on renting videos would not apply to the user base that wanted to stream movies. 

Personally speaking, I do see how my preferences change when renting a video when compared to streaming a video online.

In the end, crowdsourcing did not work for Netflix in that instance but that does not mean that there is no true value with this technology.

Now I know why Netflix ‘knows’ me so well. 

Post 10: Creative Commons

I wanted to discuss the reading “Open Educational Resources: Enabling universal education” by Tom Caswell, Shelley Henson, Marion Jensen, and David Wiley.

This reading was very informative. I was not aware of online open access collections full of educational materials that have been used in courses at universities. I could not believe that this type of opportunity has been available to learners for over ten years now. This allows learners from different backgrounds to be given equal access to education. I think the concept is stellar and definitely shapes our concept of distance education. Distance education no longer is limited to the users in a class but rather is a global effort that can leveraged in different educational, technological, and economical environments.

I am unfamiliar with Creative Commons and its purpose. From this reading, I understand the concept a little more. I have to admit that I have trouble understanding licensing and I am always weary in using educational materials because of that reason. However, after reading their mission statement:

“Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation. “

I have a better idea of what they offer.

I also was able to find some guidelines in attribution that was helpful for our Knowledge Sharing/Tracking assignment.

In addition to learning about what Creative Commons has to offer, I also was interested in the process of creating and OpenCourseWare pilot. Does FSU currently have anything similar to this? The reading mentioned that there are other venues to share this content like iTunes radio and Connexions. Does FSU participate in something similar?

Lastly, it was interesting how this reading discusses how these OpenCourseWare Projects need to be sustained. Sometimes, I tend to forget that once something is published and used by others on a consistent basis, resources must be dedicated to its maintenance. This ‘issue’ opens up the floor to the idea that this type of platform can one day substitute traditional universities in the future. It demands time, effort and money and universities might begin to cut out traditional classes and replace them with these types of courses.

Personally, I enjoy face-to-face instruction and the idea of everything going online is a little daunting. However, even I can identify this trend and where it is headed.

Post 9: Networked Work

This post is based on reading "Networked" and selecting the chapter "Networked Work"

After reading this chapter, I begin to see how ICTs (information and communication technologies) have enabled our jobs to become networked work. It is interesting to see how the organization I currently work for is becoming a networked organization and in some cases already is. The book uses the metaphor "switchboard" organizations "where each person plugs into a direct connection to his/her own colleagues".

It is an interesting thought, that now these organizations are more flexible, team based, laterally coordinated, and boundary spanning. At my internship I have viewed some of these aspects that make them a networked organization. This includes:

• Employees work in multiple teams across multiple departments. I currently am a part of four different teams in my internship. My department is less of a silo and more of a support team for other parts of the organization. We are constantly working with other members that are not in our department.

• The employees work almost everywhere. It was odd when I first joined and started meeting everyone on the team. I saw a couple of names on the organizational chart but did not see them on the floor of our department. Finally someone explained it to me that these employees worked on our team but geographically speaking were in different states. I am still unsure how we can we be so effective when we have members that we cannot see face to face.

• Employees blur the work-home boundary. Every instructional designer in my department works from home one day a week. They 'telework" and stay connected through our Lync chat platform and through email. We can also call them on their cells. Most employees love the flexibility and some say that it reduces the stress of having to commute to work. 

• ICTs have allowed for flexible communication at work. I have seen this happen in my internship multiple times. I login to a chatting software call Lync every day. My supervisor will 'ping' me if she has a question. She sits only three cubicles away, but the questions she has do not merit the walk to find me. I would say it is more effective than having to come to my office and ask me a question.

There are some drawbacks in being a networked work environment. Sometimes work interferes with home life and vice-versa. Sometimes employees might pay too much attention to the social aspect of ICTs and become unfocused. In a decentralized network, they may be less efficient in facilitating the downward communication of knowledge and commands in respect to routine tasks.

What kind of work environment are you in? If your work 'networked'?

Post 8: Playing with Pinterest

Hello there fellow classmates! I have been 'playing' with Pinterest this last week and it has been a tremendous amount of fun. I have pinning about one of my favorite topics. Can you guess what that is? Yes, Shiba Inus and dog-related topics. Below you will find a picture of my efforts so far.

The first step of picking out 5 topics to follow or that would feed into my Pinterest page was very user-friendly and fun to do. Now every time I log in I automatically have access to my interests without having to go too far. Finding pins have also been a great experience. I have been using the search feature and I have found other users that also share my similar interests.

I think Pinterest works for me because I am a visual person. It is more than a bookmarking site, it is a visual representation of what I am working on. It provides a quick snapshot of my collection of items on my board without burdening me with extra searching through folders or having to take notes in another space. I can see why Pinterest works for crafts, recipes, costumes, and anything that is more on the creative end. I could even use this to create a storyboard for a course or lesson.

So far, through my misadventures I have found Pinterest to be useful in the following areas:

• Bookmarking items
• Aids in visualization of projects and ideas
• Facilitates collaboration among members
• Curating tool

What else would you add?

Any tips or tricks when using Pinterest?

Post 7: Having fun at work

During my internship, our department was asked to use a new tool called Padlet. Our department has just finished publishing a new purpose statement that encompasses the recent additions of the different branches of Talent Management over the past two years. The next step after creating a purpose statement that aligned with the strategic goals of the company, was to create a tagline. The director not only wanted to include management level employees, but wanted the entire department to collaborate. As a result, I received an email to go into a board created by Padlet. 

Padlet is an interactive board that lets you pin information as well as post a message. It is a tool that fosters collaboration in an easy and fun way. It gives others the visibility of what you are working on as well as provides an overview of the efforts made as a team. It can have one or many moderators that control the content. 

I think it is important to use these tools in the workplace to provide some levity to our workload. It cuts up the monotony and lets us interact in a different environment. Ultimately, these new types of tools integrated within the workplace can increase:

• Employee Motivation
• Work Output
• Collaboration Efforts
• Work Relationships
• Positive Outlook
• Creativity

At work, we are all excited about contributing to the board and have already started to come up with taglines. I could not imagine doing this exercise any other way. This beats setting up and attending traditional meetings any day. 

What other tools can we use in the workplace to make work feel a little less like work?

Post 6: Will you be my (online) neighbor?

I have been participating in two online communities as part of the assignment for this course. As you might have guessed from my handle, I joined two dog communities. I was hesitant to join these communities because I was concerned about my privacy and I did not want to be asked for personal information.

However, I was pleasantly surprised that these communities only ask you for the bare minimum to help create a username and password. Modifying your profile is completely optional and you share as much as you want to share. I have been having such a wonderful experience so far.

After having been a part of a community for roughly about week, can I share with you the benefits of being a member of a shared space?

1. Support. The amount of support and encouragement I have received from this community has been amazing. I have had some issues with my little Shiba Inu, Niko and so many different members have reached out to help. They have provided tips, tricks, and techniques to help me with my questions and concerns.                                                                                                     
2. Interaction. I have had more conversations about my dog in the span of this week than I have had face-to-face in the past month. This community is designed to attract people that share the same interests and therefore, I have a higher likelihood of being able to foster those conversations that I enjoy having about my Niko. Instead of forcing my interests on disinterested parties, I have somewhere to go who will gladly listen.                                             
3. Information. Through the use of the forums, I have been exposed to more useful links, blogs, and sites than I could be able to find on my own. This kind of knowledge bank can not be created my a google search attempt, this type of plethora information comes from the help of many contributors. In addition, some of the members of the community are experts in dog care and provide accurate information.                                                                                                    
4. Perspective. This is one of the most valuable benefits I have experienced as being part of this community thus far. This online community provides multiple opinions and perspectives in a convenient and manageable way. Why look at something in a linear fashion when you can observe in 360?                                                                                                                                
5. At no cost to you. (Sometimes) Not all communities are free to join. However, the online community that I am a member of allows everyone to interact freely. There are no financial restrictions or membership fees. I have to be honest, some of the advice I received is very valuable. I think this will save me some veterinary clinic visits in the future. 

Am I missing anything?

Post 5: How can I leverage social media for my professional career?

I am on the cusp of graduating from the program and I realize that I should make the conscious effort in promoting myself to employers. However, I find myself thinking of the more traditional ways in doing so. I think of cold calling, applying to job postings, visiting possible employers, etc. The purpose of this blog post is to unveil some new techniques using social media in promoting yourself to employers.

I referred to this Forbes slideshow for tips and tricks as well added some of my own thoughts.

1. Develop relevant and current profiles. Take the time to create profiles in LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter and Facebook that showcase your skills, abilities, accomplishments, and work experience. Think of these profiles as living and breathing resumes.

2. Do your research. If you are interested in a particular employer, take the time to research them. Find them on LinkedIn and like their pages. Follow them on Twitter if possible to be aware of their current events.

3. Network. This time you are networking in a virtual arena rather than meeting potential employers face-to-face. Following groups online that share your similar professional interests can benefit you in the long run. "Introduce" yourself to forums and communities that align with your career goals.

4. Be connected. Sometimes employers tend to ask questions based on current events in your field. Subscribe to feeds that keep you informed and relevant in your profession. To avoid being caught off guard make it a point to learn something new on a regular basis.

5. Be consistent. Building in a social platform does not guarantee traffic. You need to promote yourself consistently on different platforms to keep yourself relevant. Sometimes it is difficult to build a schedule around social media but make an effort to be present on these platforms and participate in active conversations.

Have I missed anything?

Can some current professionals in the business share some of their tips and tricks in using social media ?

Post 4: Welcome to the Jungle....the Social Media Jungle that is

So where was I when this explosion of social media occurred? Was I too immersed in my studies to realize that there were so many technological movements happening?

The "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media" reading by Kietzmann was eye-opening.

"These days, one witty tweet, one clever blog post, one devastating video...can snowball and kill a product or damage a company's share price." Or someone's reputation for that matter. It is terrifying to know that not understanding such a powerful tool like social media can be detrimental to your company, career, and/or reputation. More importantly, being ignorant to what social media does with with your information can also have an impact, whether you are aware of it or not.

What caught my eye in the reading was how the author breaks down social media into seven functional blocks. The first block being "Identity". As you probably can tell by my handle as well as my first blog post, I like the idea of being anonymous on these social media platforms. But even with my name being hidden, I still display an "identity" through my interactions with others, my comments, what I click on, and even how many times I log in on a given day.

Not only do my actions on these social media outlets create an identity but my 'data' can be sold off to the highest bidder. Being that I was only part of Facebook before this class, I went ahead and researched what Facebook actually does with my 'data'. I vaguely had an understanding that Facebook uses my information but I had no idea exactly what they use or how they use it.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/gear-and-gadgets/how-facebook-sells-your-personal-information-130124.htm

After reading this article, I am more aware of what i signed up for with Facebook as well as what the word "Identity" really means. I can gain control of what I put out there by being aware of the information I post, what photos and articles I am tagged in, as well as the sites I 'like'.

I do not want to come off as someone who does not like social media. I just want to be fully aware of what I am getting myself into when I subscribe to these social media platforms.

What are some steps that you have taken to control the identity that you have published on social media?

Post 3 : My RSS Feeder Journey

Well, let me just say that I had no idea how many RSS feeders are out there.
I didn't realize how time consuming this process could be, especially for someone like me who is new to this RSS feed world.

After watching the "RSS in Plain English" I understand why it is important to obtain an RSS Feeder in the first place. I felt overwhelmed when I saw the blogs of my peers in EME 6414 and I could not really fathom how I could efficiently follow these blogs. The reader essentially brings the blogs or feeds to you and cuts out all of the wasted time if you were to look for them one-by-one.

Not every RSS feeder is equal in terms of what they provide and how user-friendly they are. I tried Hootsuite and I have to be honest that I did not like the way it was set up. It was not user friendly for me. However, with further research I came across this article:

http://techland.time.com/2013/07/01/r-i-p-google-reader-hello-four-best-rss-reader-replacements/

I also checked out come of my classmates' blogs for tips on which readers would be easier to use.

That is when I found Digg Reader. It is extremely user-friendly and I was able to upload some of my classmates's blogs in minutes. Wow! What a convenient way to collect and review information as it is being updated.

Finding and setting up this reader has definitely relieved some stress on how I was going to keep up with the pace of this class. What a relief!

Anyone else using Digg Reader? If so, any interesting tips and tricks? I was wondering if I wanted to respond to a blog I would have to click the blog itself and not the actual post. Is there a way around that?

Post 2: Breaching the Line between Public and Private Spheres of Life

This post will be dedicated on reflecting on the readings we were assigned. Post 3 & 4 will also be based on research as a result of the readings and the assigned videos of this class.

As I was reading “Networked:The New Social Operating System", by Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman, there were multiple messages that jumped out at me.

I will discuss the first one in this blog, the thoughts that it inspired, as well as additional resources that I found as a result of the reading.

“While Information and Community Technologies (ICTSs) have shattered the work-home dividing line, they have also breached the line between the private and public spheres of life”

This is one of my biggest fears realized. I have always tried to separate my work and home life as well as my private and public life. Yet, it has been very difficult to do so considering how ICTs can be so easily linked to one another, and as a result, different aspects of life begin to merge.

For instance, when I was pursuing my bachelor’s in Education, one of my professors in Ethics class brought up Facebook. At first, I was skeptical that anything published in Facebook, could be used against you and possibly negatively affect your job. Yet, it has been brought to my attention that some employers do a search on your name before they consider you for a position. They consider this your first interview. In addition, to pre-employment Facebook screening, they can also screen you while you are employed. Please refer to this article for more information:

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/03/05/facebook-can-tell-you-if-a-person-is-worth-hiring/

The article goes into detail on how and why employers screen possible candidates and the research behind it.

I remember when I first joined the ISLT program, they encouraged me to join a Facebook group. I felt pressured to link my personal Facebook account to anything professional but I ultimately decided to join because I didn’t want to “miss out” on any opportunities that would pop up through that Facebook group.

Even recently when I was creating the twitter account for this class, Twitter asked me to input my cell number for security reasons. Little did I know that it would pull up everyone on my contact list. Now I have contacts following me on my Twitter account. Something I wanted to avoid…

This is just another example of how ICTs can easily merge your personal and professional life and it is up to you to create the divisions yourself. Some people do not want to be completely transparent and available to others. I am one of those people. Does anyone else like to be “off the grid”?

Through these experiences I have learned that if I am going to use these ICTs that I should do my research on how to properly set privacy settings, availability settings, and audience settings. The book describes it as “reputation management”, which is “the selective exposure of personal information and activities”.

Introductory Message

Good evening fellow EME 6414 classmates.

I am extremely nervous setting up my blog as well as posting my first message. This is a very new experience for me, given that I tend to shy away from posting my thoughts in a public space. For the people in the class that have not met me before, I do not usually come off shy in a face-to-face setting. Usually I have no problem communicating my thoughts in front of class. Yet, I am reticent about my comments when they are being recorded in print. (I remember when livejournal.com had just come out and I created an account, only to have very strict privacy settings so that only a select view could see my posts. What was the point then?)

Not sure if there are others that might feel the same way?

Since I have started to explore the class and the tools that we should become familiar with, I have noticed the term "lurking" being used. I have to admit I chuckled a little bit at first. Lurking somewhat has a negative connotation for me and I always picture someone peering out from behind some bushes ready to strike! lol

However, for the purposes of this class, lurking is observing a forum, community, or message board without actually making a contribution. I am looking forward to being both a lurker and an active participant in our Community assignment.

*On a personal note, if you haven't already guessed it, I am a very lucky owner of my Shiba Inu, Niko. He is a very important part of my life. I have always had pets growing up and they have given me many happy moments. I enjoy taking "cute" or funny pictures of him. I do not want to bombard you with images but I will include one photo of him for the curious readers out there.

Niko hard at work! (Grad life)

Enjoy the weekend!