Additionally, the students watched the Social Media Revolution video and Googlezon video in order to get a better understanding of what is happening and what HAS happened within the world of social media.

Stay tuned for updates on what is going on in our class!!!

As a social media nerd, I spend a lot of time using various social networks, social media tools and location-sharing apps. In doing so, I seem to be inundated with constant updates from friends letting me know everything from what they are currently reading to their relationship status. Now that apps like Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places have become more popular with my friends and followers, I am also privy to the endless amount of check-ins that my contacts provide.

Although some can get pretty annoying (I really don’t need to know that you are at the Alabama State Line on your way to a Bama football game), these location-based services have now proven to be significant not only to consumers and marketers, but also to journalists! I have come across a few blog posts that explain how journalists are chomping at the bit to use location-sharing apps to help them in their profession.

While this has been a subject that I have been meaning to explore further, something happened last night that reinforces the possibilities for journalists as well as citizen journalism. My sister-in-law (Kristi T.) and my brother (Chris T.) were at Range USA, a local shooting range (and one of my favorite places). This morning I noticed that Kristi had checked-in via Foursquare at Range, which uploaded to her Facebook status feed. About an hour later, she posted some pictures of a “crime scene” in the parking lot of said shooting range.

Apparently, someone had attempted to break into a vehicle in the parking lot. Now, I would imagine that breaking into a vehicle in the parking lot of a gun range would automatically be a bad plan. However, what this criminal mastermind did NOT know is that the vehicle he was attempting to get into was a police officer’s private vehicle. Doubly whammy for him! Long story short, Kristi checked in via Foursquare, updated to Facebook and then documented the event on Facebook using pictures and comments.

So, what does this have to do with journalism? Well, Kristi and I use mobile apps and social media for different things. Although I get annoyed with how many Foursquare updates my friends post, this situation led to a “what if” scenario in my brain.

What if: Kristi was able to get this information to local media.

What if: Kristi used Twitter to let her followers in the area know that something was going on in the area.

What if: Range USA was able to use her photos and comments to let customers know that they handled the situation in an effective manner and the venue is a safe place to be at night.

What if…

How do you think Kristi could have used Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter and the local media in this situation?

Comments welcome!!!

//

Photo provided by M*rten at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mortenjust/

While in the process of conducting research regarding social media in the higher education curriculum, I have discovered that I do not have nearly enough time on my hands! Many of the social media gurus (such as Brian Solis and Chris Brogan) suggest that public relations professionals, marketers, and business owners need to maintain a visible presence on the Web. This requires a significant amount of time online, listening to the conversations about your brand/company and contributing to the conversation via blogging, microblogging, and social networks.

Keeping in line with traditional business practices, it is also suggested that you stay up-to-date on the various ways that social media can enhance your business or brand. With a TON of social media tools available, this becomes a daunting task! There are hundreds of books written strictly about Facebook and Twitter alone.

So, as I am developing the graduate course in Social Media for the University of Memphis, I am working to develop a list of books that students need to utilize within the course, their profession, and their life. While putting this list together is very important for the class, I am having a hard time selecting books without actually having read them! Although I would love to be able to read all of them, I simply do not have the time in my life. This is where you come in.

The following is a list of some of the books that social media folks have suggested. Of course, I will not make this entire list mandatory reading for the class, but pulling at least a few staple books together for the course will need to be done. Please let me know if you have read any of these, your thoughts on some of them, and any other books that you feel might be helpful in adding to the list. Note that some of these are directed more toward PR and some are more of a marketing-based framework. What I’m truly lacking is a good list of social media from a journalistic perspective.

The ones that I have read…

• The New Rules of Marketing and PR, by David Meerman Scott (this book was used in our PR Campaigns class, and has some really great information)

• Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge (a FANTASTIC read!)

• PR2.0, by Deirdre Breakenridge (another awesome book!)

One the radar for future readings…

• When Old Technologies Were New, by Carolyn Marvin

• You Are Not a Gadget, by Jaron Lanier

• Trust Agents, by Chris Brogan

The story gave no name of the victim or the friend who was skating with him. Nor was there much information regarding what had actually happened. The story was 82 words long. Not much of a story, at least, according to one person who commented on the article.

Of the 60 comments posted by readers on the CA website, the following comment caught my attention:

August 23, 2010, 9:50 a.m. [user name deleted by me] writes:

“This is terrible, both the death and the reporting…CA any more information, why was the kid/adult out at 2am, male/female…I know you say the police did not identify but come on you have sources.”

This comment caught my eye for one reason in particular. The reader is apparently upset at the Commercial Appeal for the lack of information regarding the accident.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, my little sister is friends with this young man and his brother. She called me last night to tell me about the accident. What she did not know prior to calling is that I had tweeted this story earlier that morning. However, I posted the article on WMC TV Action New 5′swebsite. This article, although not revealing the victim’s name, at least had a little bit more information regarding witness accounts and a statement from Allied Waste Management’s spokesperson. Driving to work this morning, I began thinking about the CA’s article, the lack of information, and the comparison to the Action News 5 story.

image from Action News 5 website

In recent months, I have been working on a research project on journalism and social media. One thing that is mentioned often by journalists and news organizations is that newspaper organizations are being forced to cut jobs, thereby forcing journalists to produce an increased amount of stories with a limited number of writers and copy editors. This begs the question…are journalists sacrificing quality news articles to meet excessive demands from management? If so, why is it that Action News 5′s article had more information? Is it a lack of effort or a difference between print and broadcasting.

Keep in mind, I am a public relations girl…not a journalist per say. However, it seems that example of news coverage is something that must be going on in a number of cities around the world. As of this afternoon, there has been no follow-up report on the incident. However, there is chatter in the social media networks regarding the incident. I found myself gathering more information from “citizen journalists” than from professional journalists.

Is this trend affecting journalism more than one might have previously imagined?

I can now take pictures on my iPhone and post them to Twitter via TwitPic’s email service. This is now one of the things that I will be adding to my Twitter toolbox.

Thanks, Monty and TwitPic! Most fabulous Sunday!

The second shower was a bit different. Now, I have been to a number of showers (baby, wedding, engagement, etc.), but this one gave me a greater understanding of the power of social media. This shower was for our friend, Sarah. Coming to Memphis all the way from the west coast, Sarah is a beautiful girl with an amazing personality and intoxicating laugh.

As we made our way to the room for Sarah to open presents, there was something missing…Her mom. Sarah’s parents don’t live in Memphis, and it was impossible for them to be able to make it into town for her baby shower. So, instead, she was there “virtually”.

Sarah hugging Mom via Skype

Sarah’s mom was able to watch as her daughter opened up all of the bibs, clothes, books, and high chairs that her friends had given her. She was also able to “meet” Eric, Sarah’s boyfriend, for the first time. Through the power of technology and social media this family was able to share a special moment that otherwise would have been missed. instead of describing the event, her parents and brother were able to watch through the computer as if they were in the room!

This was definitely a first for me! As I watched all of this take place, I thought about all of the people who are now able to be connected to loved ones via mediums such as Skype. Not only can people connect with their families and freinds, but companies are using this technology too!

This begs the question…How much do journalism students really know about the ways to use this medium? And is it important enough to cover within a social media course?

Most of my research thus far includes syllabi that I have found online. In reviewing these, I have noticed that the majority of them are geared primarily toward a public relations perspective. However, there are a few that focus more on the use of social media within the realm of journalists. After various conversations with my committee chair, Dr. Carrie Brown, I will be focusing on a “best practices” type of course that will not only address the importance of maintaining your individual online reputation, but also maintaining the reputation of your clients online. Furthermore, the course will explain how journalists and public relations practitioners can utilize the social media tools within their careers.

I am still working on getting the project proposal together to submit to the committee. However, in the mean time, I have created a  wiki to assist in the collaboration of ideas from grad students, faculty, and social media gurus. I am inviting anyone and everyone who may have ideas or comments regarding the development of the course to join in the conversation.

In addition to the wiki, I will be conducting interviews with various graduate students, University of Memphis faculty, faculty members at other schools that are currently teaching these courses, and other social media professionals. If you are interested in being interviewed, please let me know!

So, here I sit. Working, wondering, and ready to get started with this project! Stay tuned for further progressions of this!

This year, I quit smoking. Actually, I did that last year too…oh, and the year(s) before that too. But this year will be different. This year, I’m heading back to the gym. Wait…I did that last year too. And as I recall, I was doing really well. That is, until deadlines popped up for papers and Christmas descended upon the world. This year, I’m more organized. Actually, I’ve always been relatively organized. Many would say that I am too organized. So what if my shelves in the refrigerator are labeled? It makes packing lunches more efficient. And color-coding my calendar helps me prioritize! So maybe I could still manage to function as a normal 30-year old wife, mother (of two boys!), sister (of a pregnant woman!), daughter, aunt, graduate student/assistant and mommy to four animals without making all of the lists that I make, but it manages to help me survive.

After cooking dinner, getting the boys ready to start back to school tomorrow, and running over to my aunt’s house to feed her dog for her, I began getting ready for bed. After taking a shower and mentally making my list of things to do tomorrow, I realized that I have a grand opportunity this year. I have the opportunity to learn as much as I can, bring a better tomorrow for my family, achieve greatness in anything that I want, and somehow maintain sanity long enough to spread knowledge to the rest of the world (via the Internet!).

My goals for the year as as follows (though not in any specific order):

1. Gain the most out of my experience as a graduate assistant this semester.

2. Get my paper on public relations in social marketing accepted to conference.

3. Not smoke!

4. Sleep more.

5. Hit the gym at least 4 days a week (for stress relief).

6. Drink less coffee and more hot tea.

After coming up with this nifty little list, I went into the bathroom to moisturize my face only to realize that I have severely neglected things that I was semi-religious about in previous years. When was the last time that I gave myself a facial? No clue. I’m sure that I did my eyebrows at some point over the Christmas break, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at them tonight. And what in the world are those huge bags under my eyes???

So…

7. Spend at least 2 hours a week on me.

So there it is world. 2010 is here, and so am I. So, in an effort to achieve goal #4, I am off to sleep to get ready to change the world tomorrow.

Goodnight and God bless.