Now that you have a My Ai Campus.com account (or other functioning email service) set up, you can use it for admission into the exciting world of social media!!! Social Media tools allow you to connect with others with similar interests, meet new and interseting people and find out what is most relevant to you. These tools also allow you to provide feedback so other people can learn about and from you and connect to you. And best of all, anyone can do it.
Chex out the short CommonCraft video for an introduction on what social media is all about.
Part 1: Getting Started with Social Networking
Now that you know a little bit about what social media is, pick one of the networking tools below and join the conversation.
- Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves. It’s free and anyone can join.
- MySpace is an international site that offers email, a forum, communities, videos and weblog space. Use MySpace to express who you are and meet people from your area in the country and keep in touch. Special features unique to MySpace include bulletins, groups, MySpaceIM, MySpaceTV, MySpaceMobile, MySpaceNews, blah-biddy-blue-biddy-blah-ditty-blah. MySpace!!!
Here’s the low-low from an insider who's been there: It’s important to use a consistent identity across all networks to build your "celebrity". More importantly, you’ll have fewer passwords to remember too. Don't say I never told you. Oh, snap!
Part 2: Professional Networking
King Lear: Are you LinkedIn?
Cordelia: As I am glad I am not, though not to have it hath lost me in your liking.
King Lear: [frustrated] Well you should be, because relationships
matter.-William Shakespeare
King Lear, Act I
Say what you will about Lear's judgement in the balance of this play; in this scene he was "dead on". Relationships do, in fact, matter.
Your professional relationships are key to your professional success. LinkedIn helps you be more effective in your daily work and opens doors to opportunities using the professional relationships you already have.
This isn’t networking—it’s what networking should be.
Forget exchanging business cards with acquaintances that don’t know your work, or trying to renew professional ties when you need a favor. LinkedIn is an online network of more than 25 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries.
When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.
Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified professionals.
LinkedIn is free to join. It also offers paid accounts that give you more tools for finding and reaching the right people, whether or not they are in your network.
Plaxo
Plaxo is kind of an unholy cross-breeding of a "professional" and "social" network with some pretty fun features. Use Plaxo to:
- Connect to your family, friends, and business network. It’s easy to find who you know.
- Use Pulse to discover the great content your friends are creating all over the web — and share your own.
- Take your address book and Pulse with you to Outlook, Mac, Thunderbird, and your mobile phone.
Why not take the Plaxo tour and see what all the hoopla is about. If you like what you see, go ahead and "cowboy up" with Plaxo. It's free, it's fun and you deserve it.
Now you go and work your bad self out.
Blog Prompts
1. Now that you have a profile on Facebook or MySpace, how will you share information about yourself to meet other students at Ai and start to build your network?
2. Keeping in mind that employers use social networks as a recruiting tool, how will you use Facebook or MySpace to promote yourself to potential employers?
3. How will you use Facebook or MySpace to build your professional network?
4. What interests and personal details will you share with your circle?
5. How is professional networking different from social networking?
