Social Media
in the communication classroom
Drs. Corinne Weisgerber & Shannan Butler
How to make
the best of:
Blogs
& Wikis
RSS

Social
What is
Media

Web 2.0 - the social web
Video by Dr. Mike Wesch

The Web has changed
• SEU Homepage:
May 18, 1997
• Statesman Homepage:
Then (Feb. 16, 1996)& Now
Reasons for the change:
• Move from HTML to XML
• Faster broadband
• Open-source technologies
• Cheaper data storage

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language
Form & content inseparable

XML: Extensible Markup Language
Form & content separate
The Result:
Easy to export content
Easy to create content

Interaction
from monologue to dialogue
The New Web:
• popularity ratings/voting
• comments
• polls
• user-generated content

Social media:

Social media: new communication
technologies that allow Internet users to
easily interact with other users and to share
web content in the form of blogs, video,
podcasts, wikis, RSS feeds, etc.

Web 2.0:

Web 2.0:
Based on social media,
participation, collaboration,
sharing, community...

Web 1.0: Web 2.0:

Web 1.0: Web 2.0:
• read only (passive)
• “professional” content
• limited user experience
• isolated
• control
• owning
• personal websites
• directories (taxonomy)

Web 1.0: Web 2.0:
• read only (passive) • read/write (participative)
• “professional” content • “amateur” content
• limited user experience • rich user experience
• isolated • social
• control • trust
• owning • sharing
• personal websites • blogs
• directories (taxonomy) • tags (folksonomy)

“ The media, communications, and marketing
landscape in which the PR industry was developed
is being knocked down. [...]
It is the decline of media based on a top-down
model of communications. [...] This model is
premised on the audience being passive receptors
for the message [...]
In the emerging model, as epitomized by YouTube,
MySpace, Oh My News and Wikipedia, ordinary
people provide content to others. Ideas and
information are passed virally. This consumer
generated content alters the laws of control of
message. Many are calling this new social and user
“
driven media ‘Web 2.0.’
- Richard Edelman (President & CEO of Edelman PR)

Who’s
The Media
What is the media?

2007 Time Magazine
Person of the Year

User-generated Content
Quick
Facts:

User-generated Content Quick
Facts:
• 133 million blogs
• 900,000 blog posts a day
• 80 million videos on YouTube
• 150,000 videos uploaded a day
• Twitter: 1+ million users
• 3 million tweets a day
• Flickr: 3 billion images
• Facebook: 120 million users
• MySpace: 114 million users

Blogs • YouTube • Twitter • Flickr • Wikis
• Slideshare • Social Networks • etc.

Blogs • YouTube • Twitter • Flickr • Wikis
• Slideshare • Social Networks • etc.
Tools
&
for communicating
Community
for sharing

Tools:
Web 2.0 in the classroom
Community:

Tools:
Web 2.0 in the classroom
Community:
• New forms of student-to-
student communication
• New forms of teacher-to-
student communication
• New ways to present an
argument (video, blog...)
• Media literacy

Tools:
Web 2.0 in the classroom
Community:
• New forms of student-to- • Build community of
student communication learners
• New forms of teacher-to- • Eliminate physical walls
student communication of classroom
• New ways to present an • Connect learners and
argument (video, blog...) scholars/practioners
• Media literacy • Share work
• Solicit feedback
• Collaborate on projects

“ The academy is faced with a need to provide formal
instruction in information, visual, and technological
literacy as well as in how to create meaningful
content with today’s tools. […]
The challenge is to develop curricula and assessment
rubrics that address not only traditional capabilities
like developing an argument over the course of a long
paper, but also how to apply those competencies to
other forms of communication such as short digital
“
videos, blogs, or photo essays.
- 2008 New Media Consortium/EduCause Horizon Report

Credits:
Presentation given at the 2008 National Communication Conference in San Diego, CA
Drs. Corinne Weisgerber & Shannan Butler
St. Edward’s University
Blog: http://socialmediaprclass.blogspot.com
Email: corinnew@stedwards.edu