Getting Social

A guest lecture on using social media in communication environments

I was invited again by Byron T. Scott, pills Professor Emeritus of Journalism at the University of Missouri – Columbia, cure to talk to a new group of Mizzou students in London. As the group of students I met last year at Imperial College, these too are pursuing internships with different media outlets and communication companies. Knowing that they most likely majoring in strategic communication, broadcast, magazine journalism or convergence (some of the typical degrees offered by the Missouri School of Journalism) I centered my presentation around two aspects: the use social media for communication purposes and the processes that might make this practice successful. I raised questions about definitions of media and social media, emphasized the importance of research and therefore of message relevance online as well as highlighted the importance of knowing one’s responsibilities online, including privacy control and copyright.

The interaction with the class was very good and, the examples the students gave during the lecture and the questions they asked were excellent showing interest in social media as well as a concern for ethical behavior online.