by By: Cydney Chelberg (@cydneycay)
Congratulations #SOJCssm, we survived another winter term! I would like to give a big thank you to professor Kelli Matthews (@kmatthews) and to all of my fellow students for making the cold, rainy Monday mornings less painful with engaging strategic social media talk and a highly entertaining, GIF-filled Twitter feed. For reference, in case you aren’t already following some of the people who have kept the #SOJCssm conversation alive, here are the top contributors for you, because networking is important:
In the last class blog post of the term, I am going to summarize a few of my personal takeaways from #SOJCssm that I feel are important to keep in your back pocket as you continue on your journey to becoming a savvy social media “professional”.
- Keep up with trends, issues, and influencers.
Staying up to date with trends, issues, and influencers are vital to the success of an organization as well as your individual success! Luckily, these are not too hard to find and to keep updated on the current conversation thanks to social media. In this class, we specifically explored how Twitter, Instagram, and blogs are great tools to stay in the know. If you can listen, you can keep up with these important key matters so you are always a top social media strategist.
- It is okay to have a second life.
Donna Davis’ guest lecture about the online world of Second Life, really stood out to me. Although I have lived virtual lives through avatars in the past, none of my experiences have come close to Second Life. Davis’ lecture and tour of the online community showed a new side to having a virtual life that I previously did not know existed. Second Life allows people, especially those with disabilities, to be anybody that they dream of being and to have another chance to live the life that they want, but online. I always had the mindset that people who spend a lot of time submerged in virtual realities, don’t have a life. Thanks to Davis, I realized that I was so wrong and that the opposite is true with worlds full of endless possibilities.
- Don’t be afraid to get analytical.
When @kmatthews’ Twitter poll results came in, revealing that the chosen class topic for Wednesday of Week 9 was going to be Google Analytics 101, I have to admit that I was intimidated (I chose iPhoneography). Although there were times I was completely lost because numbers are just hard, I gained insight into how in-depth and important Google Analytics can be for the success of an organization’s social media and business overall. This lecture inspired me to explore more into the world of analytics and who knows, maybe this summer I will face my fears of getting Google Analytics certified. If you want to know more, read a Twitter summary on the Google Analytics 101 lecture, written by Ivan Hernandez (@iahl0914) and I.
- Your peers are one of your most important networks.
Group project team members, students who sit next to you in class, friends in student organizations on campus… the people you connect with during your time at the University of Oregon are so important to stay in touch with and even more important to get along with. Put in effort to these relationships now so when the girl who sat next to you all term in #SOJCssm gets a job at your dream company one day, she might be willing and able to help you out. Networking, and using social media as a tool, can be one the best things that you do for your career. After all, they say, “it’s who you know!”
- You can never do too much research.
I found this out while working on a strategic social media plan for Noisette Pastry Kitchen this term. To make all of your hard work worthwhile, researching anything and everything that could possibly relate to your organization is the single most important thing you can do. Most companies do not have the time to keep up on the online conversation surrounding them and to constantly do thorough research to keep social media and business practices up to date with our fast-paced society. This is where you come in! Making research your friend, is just solid tip for life in general.
Although the list of important takeaways from the lively #SOJCssm class this term could go on forever, these are just some of the ones that I found myself reflecting on a lot during and after class. I hope some of my takeaways help you reflect on your own experiences in #SOJCssm and what you will bring with you as you navigate through life on social media. Have a super spring break!
#SOJCssm class dismissed.
