I love talking about social media in all formats and situations. Whether it is for conference presentations or webinars, or even meeting over a cup of coffee. I feel it is one of the best areas of focus for practice and education.
I had the chance to do a webinar on social media, particularly focusing on future trends to note in 2018 and how educators can become their own micro-influencer. This presentation was part of the Australian Communication and Public Relations Education Seminar (ACPRES) Series focusing on education, which was hosted by the Public Relations Institute of Australia.
This was such a fun webinar to do and there were some great questions about where do we go next in social media for 2018. There were several takeaways I learned from this experience:
- Share your slide deck with your community. I think it is important to be transparent in your resources and share what you are covering in your talk. I did this on Twitter and in the FB group I manage for social media professors, as well as publish my slides for everyone to look at and download. Plus, I wanted to let the professors I highlighted in my talk know I included them in the presentation as resources. There are some incredible professors who are leading the way in teaching social media, and I think it’s important to give them shout outs!
- Power of understanding the bigger picture in social media education. We are all in the same boat for social media education practices, and it is important to see what others are doing and what opportunities and challenges they see in the field as well. What I learned in this webinar with fellow professionals in Australia is the fact they are seeing some of the same challenges, expectations, and opportunities for social media education. Social media is truly a global area of focus, and it’s exciting to see how social media education is also becoming a global area of focus for teaching, research, and practice.
- Owning (and protecting) your content. The best way to protect your content is not to hide it, but publish it for everyone to see and let them know this is your ideas, content, and work. Like all aspects of social media, you want to be able to own your content and let others know what you have to offer based on your expertise and experiences. By sharing what you have covered publicly, you are protecting yourself from others who may want to steal your ideas and frame them as their own in their presentations, guest interviews, blog posts, and social media updates. Just remember, ideas will always be stolen, but no one can take your brain.
Here is the full webinar recording of my presentation:
I had a wonderful experience and I really do appreciate having this opportunity. Special thanks to Kate, Lisa, and everyone who attended the webinar and recording session. I’d love to hear what you all think about some of these trends and insights.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
