Category: Friday Five

Some recent and not-so-recent gleanings about social media and my on-the-fly thoughts about it all:

1. How to change the world using social media. Copyblogger tells us that the power of social media really boils down to the concept of social proof, also known as the her mentality. “[U]sers often decide to give a message a chance based on initial indicators that have nothing to do with the actual quality of the content.” That isn’t the case with my linking to this post, but let’s face it, Copyblogger’s strong reputation often puts that blog front and center in the minds of many who are looking for good information about writing and editing copy, blogging, etc. At least it seems to work for me.
2. The social media manager: coming soon to a campus near you? In an old post from last spring that unfortunately remains relevant, Matt Herzberger laments higher education’s resistance toward social media as a legitimate form of marketing and suggests that it’s time universities create a CMO in charge of social media. I can’t say I necessarily agree with elevating social media to that status but I do agree that social media advocates should have a voice in university leadership.
3. Outside of higher ed, though, social media jobs are hot.
4. Speaking of leadership and social media, The Blog Council, a “community of senior executives in charge of social media at the largest corporations in the world,” might be a model for higher education to follow. That group is dealing with many of the same issues that confront higher education — only in higher education, we confront them earlier due to the tech-savvy nature of our youthful customers. (Tip from @GeekMommy: You can aggregate all Blog Council stuff through http://blogcouncil.alltop.com/.)
5. The new AOL gets social. This CNET review of AOL‘s redesign discusses the company’s newly social-mediaized interface.