End of the Beginning: #NewhouseSM4 Wrap Up

As a college senior, my final semester classes have flown by. None more quickly than COM400: Social Media U Need 2 Know/#NewhouseSM4, an inspiring course on social media platforms, strategy and use for professional purposes taught by @DR4WARD @NewhouseSU. As a daily user who knew the ins and outs of Facebook and Twitter, I believed I had a pretty solid handle on both platforms. Quickly realizing how unaware I was of social media’s expansion beyond these popular sites, I was eager to learn more.

From a #NewhouseSM4 review of Facebook & Twitter, a Linkedin overhaul, an experimentation with Google+, a revelation with Pearltrees and a intensified obsession with Pinterest, I achieved a better grasp of each platform and now understand its intended purpose and use. Using HootSuite to balance and organize the platforms, the class moved on to social media measurement, understanding Klout, Empire Avenue, PeerIndex and numerous other sites that have developed unique formulas or algorithms to measure a person’s social media influence.

Particularly intrigued by the topic of social media scoring, I completed a group project, #upGRADESU, with four other classmates. We discussed Klout perks, the differences in scoring tools, case studies of companies and businesses already adopting social media scoring and our discussions with social media professionals experienced in scoring or score benefits.

Through #NewhouseSM4, I also heard from professionals throughout the semester on social media engagement, analytics, collaboration, measurement, listening, integration and curation through in-class Skype sessions or live discussions. With each week’s lesson or guest speaker, I completed a module in the HootSuite University training courseware and am now a HootSuite Certified social media professional.

Without a doubt, #NewhouseSM4 has been one of the best and most rewarding classes I have taken in college. I’ve learned so much in such a short time and will certainly be continuing my navigation of the ever-changing social media waters. I recommend the class to anyone interested in getting a better grip on social media not only for their personal branding, but for professional skill and knowledge as well. Take a look at the syllabus if you’re interested!

Upgrade Me: #upGRADESU presents to #NewhouseSM4

To change the way #NewhouseSM4 is presented and to encourage hands-on student learning, my social media professor @DR4WARD assigned Team Teaching Presentations a few weeks ago. I was lucky enough to team up with @eamaher90 @NickDeyo & @RodneyWFleming on a fascinating topic: social media influence, its measurement and Klout perks.

While researching our topic, we used multiple online platforms to help organize our progress including Google Docs, Reader and Alerts, Twitter Lists, Linkedin & Linkedin Groups. We also used Google+ to share information as well as hangout with our professor and inform him of our progress. He showed us the new apps Google+ has incorporated into the hangout. Users can watch videos on YouTube or edit a PowerPoint presentation all at the same time in different locations! One of the most helpful tools for us was Pearltrees in which all members of the group could collect and edit researched links found online in our collaborative #upGRADESU pearltree.

After having the privilege of talking to @jayfenster and @markschaefer to gain some more insights on social media measurement, we assembled our presentation and posted it to SlideShare. We already had 231 views of our presentation before actually presenting! We were live tweeting the presentation and produced some incredible impressions on social media with help from our fellow #NewhouseSM4 students. At the time of this post, 261 tweets generated 188,351 impressions, reaching an audience of 59,927 followers within the past 24 hours, as found by our #upGRADESU Hashtracking report. I also completed a Storify story of the #upGRADESU Twitter back channel.

I really enjoyed this project and gained a better understanding of social media influence measurement as well as the rapidly growing Klout perks. I really responded to a point Mark Schaefer made in his book, Return on Influence, that influencers don’t have to only be celebrities and famous people. We are now in the age of the “Citizen Influencer,” as he titles it, and there’s no turning back.

upGRADE Presentation*

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