Weiss spreads the word about social networking
Tracey Tate
Issue date: 2/18/10 Last update: 2/18/10 at 4:04 AM PST
Section: Features
"I unfriended you, posted it on my wall and tweeted it to all my followers."
If that statement sounds like 'Greek' to you, then you should have been present at "Making Sense of Social Media" presented by Shari Weiss, social media evangelist, on Feb. 9 in Journalism Department Chair Burt Dragin's Mass Media and Society class.
An English teacher at Laney, Weiss is on a mission to spread the word about the benefits of social networking. She defines Social Media as "internet tools and platforms for sharing and discussing information."
The top four social networking tools Weiss considers noteworthy are:
> Facebook-the source of 'unfriend,' which was 2009 "word of the year" in the New Oxford American Dictionary.
> Twitter-where one communicates via 'tweets' to their followers, a micro-blog
> Blogging-a personal diary or web log.
> LinkedIn-a professional networking website.
When asked how Facebook compared to MySpace, Weiss made the comparison of "MySpace is like being at a bar, Facebook is like being at a backyard barbecue and LinkedIn being at the office."
With employers now checking out potential employees on the Internet prior to hiring, Weiss' analogy about the world of online social networking was timely for a room packed with college students. "Once you put something on the Internet, you can't get it back. It's there forever," Weiss said.
She told an anecdote about a woman who had her professional reputation slammed on Yelp emphasized the need for everyone to be Internet savvy. Weiss then encouraged the audience to understand the importance of building a positive presence on the Web so that any negative information online will be "buried" by the good dominating the bad comments.
Conversation ensued about the worthiness of social networking. Student Naytasha Howard asked if social media would ever outrank porn on the Internet. Weiss and others in the class quickly responded, "It already has." Others chimed in about the value of social media. Student, Christopher Fitz said, "Social Media is a tool to enrich our lives."
If that statement sounds like 'Greek' to you, then you should have been present at "Making Sense of Social Media" presented by Shari Weiss, social media evangelist, on Feb. 9 in Journalism Department Chair Burt Dragin's Mass Media and Society class.
An English teacher at Laney, Weiss is on a mission to spread the word about the benefits of social networking. She defines Social Media as "internet tools and platforms for sharing and discussing information."
The top four social networking tools Weiss considers noteworthy are:
> Facebook-the source of 'unfriend,' which was 2009 "word of the year" in the New Oxford American Dictionary.
> Twitter-where one communicates via 'tweets' to their followers, a micro-blog
> Blogging-a personal diary or web log.
> LinkedIn-a professional networking website.
When asked how Facebook compared to MySpace, Weiss made the comparison of "MySpace is like being at a bar, Facebook is like being at a backyard barbecue and LinkedIn being at the office."
With employers now checking out potential employees on the Internet prior to hiring, Weiss' analogy about the world of online social networking was timely for a room packed with college students. "Once you put something on the Internet, you can't get it back. It's there forever," Weiss said.
She told an anecdote about a woman who had her professional reputation slammed on Yelp emphasized the need for everyone to be Internet savvy. Weiss then encouraged the audience to understand the importance of building a positive presence on the Web so that any negative information online will be "buried" by the good dominating the bad comments.
Conversation ensued about the worthiness of social networking. Student Naytasha Howard asked if social media would ever outrank porn on the Internet. Weiss and others in the class quickly responded, "It already has." Others chimed in about the value of social media. Student, Christopher Fitz said, "Social Media is a tool to enrich our lives."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Reginald James
posted 2/19/10 @ 6:32 PM PST
Shari Sax is the Laney College Twitter Queen. I did a quick count of folks at Laney College on Twitter, here's the Top Ten List:
1) http://twitter. (Continued…)
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