Online Communications and Social Media

With the increased level of interconnectivity between people across the world, several social sharing platforms have emerged. I learned that social media goes beyond Twitter and Facebook. Several types of social media are listed below.
 


Social networks – allow for connection with people of similar interests and background. They often have significant information about the user in the form of a profile. (LinkedIn, Facebook) 

Bookmarking Sites – saving, organizing and managing links to websites and resources. Content can be made private or public (Delicious, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, Flipboard)
   

Media Sharing – Sites where users largely communicate through one form of media – I.e video or image. (Flikr, Vimeo, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat)
 

Blog Comments and Forums – This is an early type of social media where people can have conversations and post messages. (Quora, Digg, Reddit)
 

Online Reviews – Sites that feature reviews covering a range of topics from hotels and restaurants to employers.( Yelp)
  

Social publishing platforms – blogs and microblogs. Comprise mostly of written content to be shared with others. (Wordpress, Blogger, Twitter, Medium, Tumblr)




Interest-based networks – Networks that center on a specific interest. Goodreads (readers and authors)
 

E-commerce – Sites that allow for the viewing and purchasing of goods. (Polyvore, Etsy)





     
I also learned about Internet conduct. With the ever-growing social platforms that allow for the connection of millions of people across the web, guidelines have been developed that promote positive interactions. Internet etiquette or “Netiquette”comprises the core rules of etiquette on the internet. Clicking the image below will open a link for an explanation of these guidelines.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn has 467,000,000+ registered members. 
Students and recent college students comprise of 40miillion of registered members. They are LinkedIn's fastest-growing demographic.  The following infographic is from the LinkedIn website

 
 
Some strategies that I learned from online searches about how to effectively use LinkedIn are:

• Strategically connect with other users. Add people who can add value to your personal network and find ways to return the favor
• Take advantage of the profile. Upload a professional photo and put a short descriptive paragraph about you and your skill sets. Be creative and write in plain English.
• Use your profile to flesh out your resume. Upload content and links to finished projects or personal websites.
• Make an investment in your LinkedIn account.

This ultimate LinkedIn cheat-sheet is an extensive infographic on how to craft the perfect LinkedIn profile. Click the snapshot image below for the full guide.

 

LinkedIn Resources:
5 Smart Steps to Career Success 
How to Use LinkedIn: 35 LinkedIn Tips for Professional networking, Business &Marketing

LinkedIn Tips from the class workshop

• Upload a professional profile picture. (ask yourself, would I be comfortable going into an interview looking like my profile picture ?)
• Accept connection from people with similar professional background and careers that align with yours. Be discerning.
• If looking or some direction in your field, look at the profiles of people in your field and see what paths they took to get to their current position. Most students are unrealistic in their expectations of what they will be doing post graduation.
• Make your newsfeed meaningful.
• Under the jobs tab, let recruiters know that you are open
• connect with someone every three months to keep your connections open

Terms

• Asynchronous Communication: Communication that is not happening at the same time. I is characterized by a time lag between transmission and receiving (email, snail mail)
• Synchronous Communication: Communication that is happening at the same time. That is, both participants are present and there is no delay in the transmission and receiving of information (text messaging, telephone, skype)
• Blogosphere: The realm of internet blogs and the people who read or write them.

• Social Capital: The resources accumulated through relationships among people