Legal issues regarding social media

The legal aspects of social media need to be incorporated into the class.

Social media, web site design, and search engine optimization all come together at the the application (consulting project) level. We are going to have to find a way to put them together at the classroom level as well.

Next semester, I will need to give very specific instructions about how to do the endnotes/references.

Ethics/bad example overlap

Module 1 asked students to cite bad examples of the use of social media in promoting products and services. This overlaps with Module 3 which addresses ethical uses in the use of social media, since many of the bad examples involve ethical issues. Note to self: Distinguish between the requirements for Module 1 and Module 3 next time as they pertain to ethical issues.

Google reader is very helpful

Google Reader really helps me follow all my students' blogs. It is a really good way to keep up with a lot of information that comes in a continuous stream. I will probably formally incorporate it into the class the next time I teach it.

Include names in titles

I am learning that I should tell students to include their names on the titles of blogs and other social media tools they are using. Otherwise, it is hard to figure out who is posting what!

It's too bad there is not a class at the Freshman or Sophomore level that introduces students to social media tools. I think they would find it to be useful throughout their college careers. For example, Delicious, Google Reader, Google docs, PB Wiki, Google Groups, and Google Blogs would seem to be particularly helpful to both undergraduate and graduate college students. In fact, an entire course could be devoted to Google alone.