Each semester, I try to do at least a few guest lectures for fellow colleagues and friends I know who teach courses all over the US. It’s really fun for me not only to share my insights on a topic I enjoy teaching and researching about, but also the opportunity to meet students who are interested in pursuing the field.
While most of the ones I have been doing have either been on Google+ or Skype, I got a chance to give a guest talk that was face-to-face (haven’t done one of these in a while!) for my friend Sabrina Page’s public speaking class this weekend at Walters State Community College. Sabrina, who I have collaborated on a few projects with in crisis communications and social media, asked me to talk about some of the pros/cons of social media for the class when it came to relationships.
This was a fun, and new, presentation for me. I had a chance to talk about how I got involved in social media, what are some of the positives I have gained from being active and present on social media, but also what are some of the challenges I have seen along with what my students and colleagues are sharing with me.
One of the biggest points I tried to emphasize with the class was the fact you have to have a balanced perspective when it comes to social media. There’s a lot of power and presence when it comes to being online, and you have to be aware of the fact people may use it for not the best of reasons. However, with this in mind, I’ve seen WAY more great things that have happened online than bad.
Chris Yandle (one of the best social media and sports professionals out there) wrote an excellent post on why he loves social media. Chris brings up so many great points here about the power of networking and collaboration (and thank you again Chris for the kind words and shout out!)
We always seem to hear about the challenges, negatives, and even worst case scenarios when it comes to social media. This is where I think education comes into play. We have to constantly evolve our thinking and understanding of each of these platforms. We have to be aware of the tools and understand the behavior and actions taken on these platforms and what they mean. But in order to do that, we have to share our own stories on why we value,like, and love social media. These are the stories we need to hear more of both on social media and bring this back to our classes to share with our students.
Me? I am forever grateful for social media. I would not be where I am today without it or have made the positive connections and met some amazing people in the business without it. The communities I am engaged in online have been beyond rewarding and helpful for not only me, but for my students as well.
There are some professionals who I have been corresponding for years with and have never met in person, which made me start a “Twitter Friend Bucket List,” and my goal is to try and meet as many people as possible on this list in person.
Thanks Chris for sparking this post and to Sabrina for allowing me to talk to her students about this subject.
[slideshare id=54362207&doc=socialmediarelationshipswsu-151025215103-lva1-app6891]
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
