Sunday, September 2, 2012

Week 1: Introduction and Twitter










Video: The Machine is Us/ing Us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g





22 comments:

  1. Posted on behalf of Jacqueline:

    My name is Jacqueline, and I am the Communications Coordinator for a non-profit organization. This week's videos were informative, unfortunately I wasn't able to access the article by Gina Masullo Chen... if someone could fill me in, that would be awesome :)

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  2. Posted on behalf of Erin:

    I'm Erin and I am the Communications Officer for a large educational institution in Ontario. A social media newbie and looking to make our content relevant and meaningful to our audience. I also do all the tweeting for my organization.

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  3. Jacqueline: to access the course resource you're looking for, just search the #UAlberta library. It is free access to students. I have also e-mailed you the paper using the library system. Let me know if you get it.

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  4. I'm Yolanda and I'm the Communications Coordinator for a large faculty at the U of A. As I explore social media options I find myself needing to give up (or at least work around it) my disdain of Twitter for the good of my faculty. So, I'd like to learn more about the options available and how best to engage our target audiences.

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  5. I'm Vanessa - I'm pretty ambivalent about SM, but want to learn how to write for it so I can use it in the best manner. I text, I email :). I rarely YouTube, but my kids make up for it by showing me 'cool' stuff. I follow a few people on Twitter and use FB to see pics my friends post. I work for the GOC (Govt of Canada) in Comms. Looking forward to an interesting class. As for the readings the emergence of mobile tech caught me by surprise, will we one day, really be connected all the time, everywhere?

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  6. Hi, I am Michelle, currently an HR Advisor. SM has been a challenge for me that I sometimes do not see the value of it's use. However, in my role we are encountering SM as part of our branding but also how our employees use to communicate both positive and negative. I am looking forward to learning new skills to help me overcome my reluctance of using SM by providing meaningful information for my workplace. I am not the 30% of smartphone users, yes I do own a cell phone (thinking of getting a smartphone), text when I can which isn't often. I have viewed blogs, maintain one for work purposes, I have listended to podcasts, youtube I enjoy it when someone mentions a clip but do not seek it out. FB is something I use but I wouldn't say I am on it each day. From the presentations I have viewed,and read I can see that SM is fast and evolving and I hope to catch up on some of the SM that I wasn't even aware of until I started this course.

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  7. Hi. I'm Lori. I'm a communications consultant and I'm finding a need to integrate more social media into my client work. While I use some SM in my personal life I'm interested in learning how to best use it in business/corporate environments and how to manage it.

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  8. Hi, I'm Elizabeth. I have worked in public relations for over a decade. I'm currently unemployed but searching for work. It seems that all the jobs out there want people with strong social media skills. I only have fairly basic skills, nothing that would impress a prospective employer. I'm hoping that through this course I'll develop both the skills and confidence to consider myself proficient with social media. Looking forward to the course!

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  9. Hi Yolanda. Thanks for your introduction. What was (is?) your main reason for your initial disdain of Twitter? I think you make a key point though - it is necessary for us to learn to use the technologies and platforms that will engage our audience.

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  10. Welcome Vanessa! One of the things I hope this course will make clear, is that anyone can *use* social media (like Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and YourTube) but not everyone can use it in a literate way or a professional way that engages our audience.

    Looking forward to your thoughts on the first week's readings.

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  11. Hi there Michelle. Thanks for commenting. I think you are highlighting one of the aspects of this course - that there is a need to develop a *transliteracy* of social media. I.E. there is a shift required from listening/watching to engaging/writing/producing. That shift is what we are undertaking in this course - and look you've already started by commenting!

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  12. Lori can you tell us a bit more about your clients - what background are they in and what kind of audience are they trying to reach? These key questions, as you know, will help decide which #socialmedia tools are most appropriate.

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    1. Sorry for the late response. I've been a tad overwhelmed - that's the joy of working on your own. I have clients in several sectors but right now it's one of my health sector clients that are interested in pursuing social media. They are interested in reaching both current patients, the general public and in some cases media.

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  13. Welcome Elizabeth! You've now started your social media journey. By the end of this course, even if you don't necessarily like certain platforms, I'm sure you'll be much more confident in using them.

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  14. Hi there! I'm Megan and I work in the broadcast industry. I don't have much experience with social media, and since the world seems to be going in that direction, I want to try and catch up!

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  15. Jess: Thank you for emailing me the paper by Gina Masullo Chen.

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  17. Hi - I'm Anne-Marie. I'm a technical writer for an investing house in Calgary, AB. I write mostly policy and procedure manuals so my interest in social media is about 75% personal and only 25% professional. I'd like to use understand the potential impacts of this type of communication in heavily regulated industries and how it can be used effectively while mitigating risk.

    I enjoyed the videos this week. "Did You Know 4.0" was fascinating! The numbers are unbelievable.

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  18. Hi - I'm Anne. I am an Elementary school teacher and am looking at getting a Masters in Education Technology. I am fascinated by technology but have to admit I'm not good at it! I think Social Media is the way of the future and if we don't try and keep up with new ways of doing things we are just going to get more outdated! I have a smartboard and an ipad that I use in the classroom. I text and use online banking but I really don't understand why I would want to know what everyone else is doing all the time. Have you ever seen the youtube video "Day of glass"?

    I am looking forward to knowing more and seeing value in Social Media and how Education can adapt and harness it's use in the classroom.

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  19. Hello Everyone, I'm Christina, the new Communications Coordinator (that's what they call us at the university) for a collaborative research initiative between Germany's largest scientific organization and the UofA. I look forward to learning more about using Twitter and blogs effectively and time-efficiently. Cheers

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  20. Hello, I'm Diana and I have been in government communications for a very long time. It's been interesting to see how dramatically the profession has changed with technology. I remember when workplaces restricted employee access to the Internet, fearing they would waste their worktime surfing. I remember reading about Twitter when it first launched, thinking, huh?

    I enrolled in this course to learn the hows of SM and optimize its use by our organization. I get the why, though I am not the person on our communications team who posts. I leave that to the 'younger' voices.

    On a personal level, I don't use social media to connect to my friends and family. I really love getting a long, or even a short, handwritten letter on beautiful stationery, in a thick linen envelope, in the mail, with a stamp on it, delivered by Canada Post. What would Jane Austen make of Twitter, I wonder. Perhaps I'll make that my twitter message for our assignment.

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