Course Syllabus

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Social Media

Course Description

Social media has increased the complexity of business and interpersonal communication by creating interactive environments where customers become collaborators and employees become facilitators. The way organizations communicate and interact internally as well as with consumers has been significantly altered. It is critical for organizations to develop strategies to identify social media tools that assist in recognizing and targeting particular markets or addressing organizational initiatives that create interactions and build relationships.

This course is grounded in practice, and students will be required to participate in social networks, forums, blogs, wikis, micro-blogs, and more. Online discussions, guest speakers, presentations by students, readings, and examples of emerging technologies and media will bring students greater understanding of the issues, evolution, and practice of social media within organizations and companies. Using case studies, invited speakers, and personal learning journals, new effective strategies and applications of these tool s within the business organization will be identified, analyzed and evaluated.  

 

Course Objectives

  • Understand the underlying principles of social media to engage with consumers and coworkers
  • Integrate social media techniques and trends into overall business strategy
  • Use social media to effectively convey messages and engage constituents
  • Develop skills and knowledge to identify, evaluate and recommend social media tools for use inside and outside the students’ organization
  • Use advanced applications of LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other cutting edge cloud technologies
  • Create blogs, wikis, YouTube videos, and other types of co-created or interactive media
Assignments: Individual – Interview Paper: Find the person in your company in charge of creating and using social media. If your company does not have this position/person, locate a small business that uses social media and interview the owner. Guiding Questions provided Team – Final Project: LFGSM encourages community service on the part of their students. As a result, this will serve as a community service project. With a partner you will select a small business or non-profit organization to create and implement a social media strategy.   SM Weekly lessons and objectives

Lesson 1 Class Introductions, Syllabus Review, and SM Overview

ReadingS: Readings are located in the LMS course site as well as the Diigo Course Group. “Social Media in Business 2012”; HBR article: Why You Need a Media Ringmaster, Diigo Resources, Video SM Revolution

Activities: Diigo & Evernote Accounts, Discussions, Webinar Meeting Session for course Q&A/orientation, interview paper, team project

 

After this lesson you will be able to

  • Discuss class protocol
  • Understand syllabus
  • Discuss class objectives
  • Explain broad overview of SM (what is it, why use it, when use it, who uses it)
  • Identify the business applications of SM, both within and external to the organization
  • Describe your personal use of SM, i.e. what, why, how, when
  • Create accounts and use Evernote, Diigo, for class

 

 

Lesson 2 SM for content creation: blogs, wikis, microblogging

Readings: Readings are located in the LMS course site as well as the Diigo Course Group.  HBR: 1) Entrepreneurs at Twitter: Building a Brand, a Social Tool or a Tech Powerhouse?, 2) Blogs at Dresdner, Kleinwort Wasserstein, diigo resources, TED Video: Evan Williams co-founder Twitter

Activities: Create class blog for weekly reflective journal, Analyze corporate blog, create Twitter account and follow corporate Twitter account, discussions (best Weekly Tweet, post blog analysis, case studies

 

After this lesson you will be able to

  • Describe blog, wiki, and microblogging basics
  • Analyze and evaluate blogs for content, delivery, and effectiveness
  • Create, navigate and use blogs
  • Create, navigate and use wikis
  • Create, navigate and use Twitter
  • Discuss the current use of blogs, wikis, and Twitter personally and professionally
  • Discuss the potential use of blogs, wikis, and Twitter inside and outside the organization

 

Lesson 3 SM for sharing: YouTube, Flickr, Pinterest, podcasts/vodcasts (compare/contrast)

Readings: Readings are located in the LMS course site as well as the Diigo Course Group. HBR: 1) ING, 2) United Breaks Guitar, Diigo resources, YouTube Video: BP Spills Coffee

Activities: Blog reflective journal, Best Weekly Tweet, Assignment choice: (a) create Flickr or Pinterest account and post photos related to your business or industry OR (b)create product or service video with smartphone and upload to YouTube. Post links to your selected activity in discussions. <Guest speaker #1>

 

After this lesson you will be able to

  • Describe video sharing, photo sharing, and podcasting basics
  • Discuss the current use of sharing tools in the organization as well as personally and professionally
  • Compare and contrast sharing tools features, ease of use, cost, and feasibility
  • Determine positives and negatives of sharing tools and evaluate their effectiveness in specific examples
  • Discuss the potential use of video sharing, photosharing and podcasting inside and outside the organization

 

Lesson 4 SM for networking: Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn

Readings: Readings are located in the LMS course site as well as the Diigo Course Group. HBR: 1) Cork’d: Building a Social Network for Wine Lovers, 2) Coca-Cola on Facebook, Diigo resources, YouTube video: Facebook for Business Marketing

Activities: Blog reflective journal, Best Weekly Tweet, discussions: case studies questions; Assignments: Join LinkedIn & connect with classmates, join Google+ Circle; Finalize Interview Paper and choose partner for Final Project.

 

After this lesson you will be able to

  • Describe networking tool basics
  • Discuss the current use of networking technologies inside and outside the organization
  • Discuss the potential use of networking technologies inside and outside the organization
  • Compare and contrast networking tools features, ease of use, cost, and feasibility
  • Identify strategies for implementing additional networking technologies within student’s organization

Lesson 5 SM Multimedia Tools: Skype, Google+ Hangouts, Prezi, Slideshare

Readings: Readings are located in the LMS course site as well as the Diigo Course Group. HBR: google, Inc, Diigo resources, YouTube Video: Google Founders

Activities: Blog reflective journal, Best Weekly Tweet, post Interview Paper & Executive Summary by Wednesday & provide feedback to others; discussions compare Google+ and Facebook; Skype and Hangouts; Slideshare and Prezi; case study on Google <Guest Speaker #2>

 

After this lesson you will be able to 

  • Describe SM multimedia tool basics
  • Describe your experience with SM multimedia tools personally and professionally
  • Discuss the current use of these technologies inside and outside the organization
  • Discuss the potential use of these tools inside and outside the organization
  • Compare and contrast other SM tools features, ease of use, cost, and feasibility
  • Identify strategies for implementing these technologies within student’s organization

Lesson 6-7 (2 weeks)  SM Inside and Outside the Organization

Possible Readings: Readings are located in the LMS course site as well as the Diigo Course Group 1)

Booz&Co Campaigns to Capabilities: Social Media & Marketing 2011

Groundswell “Using Social Technology to Foster Employee Communication, Connection, and Collaboration”

Altimeter Report “Making the Business Case for Enterprise Social Networks”

Nielsen: State of the Media: the Social Media Report” Q3 2011, 4) (YouTube Video 41 minutes)

eBook Social Listening Guide by Salesforce Radian 6

Videos; How to Get Off the Bench and Into the Game

Supplementary for Final Project Planning:

“Social Media Strategy Workbook: The 12-Step Guide to Creating Your Social Media Strategy”

Marketing Profs “A Step-by-Step Guide to a Successful Social Media Program”,

Activities: Blog reflective journal, Best Weekly Tweet (optional), discussions cases, Treasure Hunt, Groundswell <Guest Speaker #3 module 7>

 

 

After this lesson you will be able to

  • Analyze and discuss SM timeline infographic
  • Analyze your company website’s current or potential integration of SM tools
  • Compare and contrast your findings with other students’ analyses
  • Describe and predict the future uses of company/corporate websites as SM strategies
  • Describe the importance of current SM for communication, connection, and collaboration for various departments within the organization, i.e. HR, finance, marketing, sales, others
  • Identify current similarities and differences among industries for the use of SM
  • Analyze case studies

 

 

 

Lesson 8 Brainstorm Future of SM; Final Project Presentations

Readings: Readings are located in the LMS course site as well as the Diigo Course Group) HBR Empowering Customers with Mobile Applications: How to Boost Your Company’s Image Using Social Technologies”,  Video: Slideshare:  The State of Social Media and Social Media Marketing in 2012

Activities: Post link to Google Docs Team Paper that supports Slideshare Presentation; provide feedback to others. Pick a new SM tool not included in course, provide overview and recommendations for its use. Bonus points for using Google+ Hangouts on Air to record your presentation

After this lesson you will be able to

  • Describe the role of emerging SM inside and outside the organization
  • Describe how your use of these tools personally and professionally has changed (if any)
  • Infuse SM into a particular product’s current marketing plan
  • Complete a company analysis of the social media
  • Identify the best SM tools and metrics, with benchmarks, for a specific product or service
  • Create a SM plan for internal use identifying problems to be solved and key metrics for measuring success

 

 

 

 

 



Course Summary:

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