How Social Media is Changing Our Lives
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxpa4dNVd3c] Check out this awesome video from the folks over at Socialnomics that truly shows the profound impact social media is having on our lives.
Networking at a National Conference: An Introvert's Tale
I wanted to share some of my brief thoughts, reflecting back on my experience at the recent 2014 ACPA National Convention in Indianapolis. To preface this all, I think I am horrible at networking in the traditional sense. I am very bad at going up to someone cold and striking up a conversation. I need more context to go on to keep the chat going somewhere beyond basic small talk (which I most often loathe). However, when I was at ACPA, I was able to utilize social media, namely Twitter, to serve as the groundwork for meeting a bunch of awesome people. Twitter was able to allow me to have some reference point to go up to people, introduce myself and say what I fan I was of their work, the content they share or even create themselves. My understanding is people love to talk about themselves or at the very least enjoy the praise so sharing my enjoyment of what they do online and asking questions about it served me well with anyone I ran into. It was great for both of us too to just be able to meet someone in person that you have engaged with for a while online. I even had lunch with someone at ACPA that I had known from Twitter chats. It was so cool!
I know for sure I would not have been able to have as many successful meetings at ACPA without Twitter. I owe it a lot and certainly advocate for it as a strong tool to foster in person connections and then maintain them afterwards. It's an extension and evolution of the business card I feel like. Definitely jump on to Twitter if you haven't already or be sure to engage with it more if you have joined. There is so much potential for community building within it and to learn from a network of people around the country and world (for more details on this point, check out Josie Ahlquist's recent blog post that I shared entitled "The Power of Networks").
The Power of Networks
I certainly second this sentiment!
Is There An Introvert Craze Because of Technology?
I posted this the other day on my various social media channels but I wanted to highlight it here as well. This video (from the cool PBS Idea Channel) has some very intriguing insights on the trend of highlighting the aspects of ourselves that are introverted and it is becoming quite the buzzword.
Are we all a little introverted? Is the word being overused? Check it out for some answers.
Guest Blogger
Hey everybody, I just wanted to highlight two other blogs where I have just started writing a blog a month (at least). Socialnomics and The Student Affairs Collective.
I've only been writing for a few months now but I've done more specific posts on those sites so I just wanted to spotlight those.
Thanks for your support! Have a great day!
Chickering’s Status Update: Student Development Theory Remixed for Social Media
More great stuff from Josie!
Following College Student Digital Identity Development
I am probably going to bombard you all with more of her stuff soon. It's a great mashup of tech and student affairs. Love it!
Student Affairs Leadership Online | 8 Guidelines for #SApro Social Media Use
Very thorough and helpful list here!
Lessons Learned: Using Google+ Hangouts On Air in a Conference Presentation
I think I'll have to consider this in the future!