CIT 134 Home
Welcome to CIT 134 - Social Media and the Web
Course Description: Students will learn how to use social media as an effective promotional outlet. They will also increase their social media knowledge base via a variety of strategies and techniques. Topics covered will include YouTube, Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Pre or co-requisite BUS 115. Three lecture hours per week. 3 credits Spring
Instructions: This website will be updated often and will be your resource for learning about weekly homework assignments, quizzes, etc. Be sure to check it frequently! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email. I am available for in person meetings if requested. I look forward to having all of you in my class and I look forward to a successful semester!
Final Exam (due by 11:59PM on Sunday, May 12)
As your final exam, I would like you to compare and contrast 3
distinctly different companies (for example: H&R Block, Zappos, and World
Wildlife Foundation) that successfully utilize social media as their
form of marketing. The companies you choose cannot be ones that you
have already submitted as part of any previous assignment. Based on
your research for both this assignment as well as the assignments
you have completed throughout this semester, I would like you to
identify which forms of social media you feel would be most
appropriate for your field of study. Your response should clearly
justify your opinion while providing resources and examples of
successful companies utilizing such forms of social media. Your
report should be at least 4 pages long (double spaced, not including
your cover page, references, etc.).
As you wrap up this semester, I am also interested in your overall
opinion of this course. Identify the things you like most, least,
and things that you would change and why. Please keep in mind that
your feedback is required, however, it will have no bearing on your overall grade. It is
simply a survey that would help me improve this course for future
semesters.
Your final exam / report (and course feedback summary) should be sent to me
in separate MS Word documents within the same email. I would like
you to summarize your report as your final WordPress blog post.
Include your WordPress blog URL in your email submission.
Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. It was a
pleasure having you in my class.
Homework #11 (due May 3)
This week I would like you to create an account within YouTube. You will be asked to create a video (not to exceed 5 minutes) teaching a skill related to your field of study. Your video can either be made public (open for searching) or accessible only with the direct URL (Unlisted). Identify which one you selected as well as all of the possible options and why you made this particular selection.
Upon completion, I would like you to summarize your experience making the video on your Blog as well as post your YouTube video link for reference. Your summary should explain the purpose of the video and how it relates to your field of study as well as identify the your experience through the process of brainstorming, researching, creating, uploading, etc. your video within YouTube. Upon completion, please email me with the URL to your YouTube video for feedback. For your own reference (if you made the link public), I recommend that you to keep track of the views that occur of your video.
Homework #10 (due April 21)
This week I would like you to research current trends in virtual currency (i.e. Bitcoin). How is it effectively / ineffectively being utilized? In what ways is it being utilized and what are the benefits / drawbacks to this form of virtual funding? Discuss recent issues with Bitcoin. Based on your research and educated opinion, do you feel as though this is and/or could be utilized effectively on a more wide-spread basis in the future? Explain your answers.
Keeping the theme of funds, I would like you to research different (successful and non-successful) examples of crowd funding. Summarize at least 4 different crowd funding programs and explain how they work. Identify some successful crowd funded businesses / projects as well as some downfalls to crowd funding.
Once you have posted your findings to your Blog, please email me for review. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
Homework #9 (due April 13)
This week I would like you to research social media marketing based on a physical location. I would like you to research and compare the purpose and effectiveness of the following tools:
Summarize each of these products and identify how they have been effective / ineffective methods for social media marketing. Have they been successful? Which of these products seems to be most successful? Which of these are using a push vs. pull system of interaction? Based on our research, is it likely for the success to climb, stay the same or decline in the future? Justify your results. How can (or have) these products been effectively applied to your field of interest. If they have been, site specific examples.
Your write-ups should be posted to your Blog. You should have one post (a few paragraphs long) per social media product. Please email the URL to me upon completion for review. For my reference, in your email, please indicate which (if any) of these products you have experience utilizing. If you do use them, is the purpose of your usage of them for personal use or related to your field of interest (if so, how)? General answers are acceptable.
Homework #8 (due April 5)
This week I would like you to work with Facebook. Although you may already have an existing Facebook account, it is important that you use it effectively and prevent your private information (things you would like to share with your close friends and family) from getting into the sight of public users (a potential employer).
To do this, you will need to modify your privacy settings. It is important to keep in mind that privacy settings can be changed at anytime (and without warning) such as the case a few years ago which created an avalanche of issues. Send me a screenshot (before and after) of your settings and explain the changes that you made.
In addition to adjusting / verifying your privacy settings, I would like you to explore the additional options that are available in Facebook, such as building a Facebook group (and how that differs from a Facebook page). As part of this week's assignment, I would like you to join at least 5 groups that are related to your professional field of interest. Provide me with a screenshot of the groups you have joined.
College Status UPDATE
As you may already be aware, the college is making decisions on how to move forward with the semester as they received updates from the health and higher education authorities. Please note that, given that this is an online course, I will continue to post assignments as initially scheduled. With that said, I will be using Spring Break as an opportunity to get caught up with the feedback that I may owe you. Please do not hesitate to reach out should you have any questions or concerns. Please also be sure to check your Bristol email, ongoing, for additional updates.
Homework #6 (due March 14)
This week I would like you to begin working with Twitter. Research the way that Twitter works and submit a summary of your findings as a new blog post. In your post, explain how Twitter can be a useful social media tool. You should also identify any drawbacks that you find either on the tweeting or following end.
Create a professional Twitter handle. This should reflect your full name (i.e. @BobSmith). You are also welcome to create a personal Twitter handle, but please be sure to remember to use each one for their intended purpose (personal vs. professional).
Begin following individuals, groups, and businesses that you would like to connect to on a professional level. You should be following at least 10 Twitter handles by the end of the week. Add a follow up to your Twitter blog post (as mentioned above) explaining and identifying the Twitter feeds you are following and how/why you feel they would be beneficial to you on a professional level.
Please send me a screenshot of the connections that you have made as well as screenshots of your Twitter Profile (minus any passwords, secret question answers, etc. that would be relevant only to you).
Homework #5 (due March 5)
Part 1: This week, I would like you to take some time to revisit your WordPress site. In your "About" section / tab, I would like you to update it with content relevant to yourself, your goals related to your major, this course, as well as current / potential future jobs.
Part 2: Additionally, now that you have a grasp on how some of the social media networks function as well as how they may assist you as both a personal and profession way to build your network, I am going to ask you to start building your social media connections throughout the next several weeks. This will not only help you connect to people, groups, and businesses in your field of study but will also help you stay up-to-date with current trends in your chosen career field.
To begin your social media footprint, I would like you to create a LinkedIn account (if you do not already have one). Please see the following resource to help you optimize your profile.
Once your profile has been created, begin developing your network of contacts. As part of this, I would also like you to connect to my LinkedIn profile. You should have at least 10-15 connections by the end of the week. Please send me a screenshot of the connections that you have made as well as screenshots of your LinkedIn Profile (minus any passwords, secret question answers, etc. that would be relevant only to you).
In addition to the screenshots that you will be submitting, I would also like you to post a summary to your blog explaining how LinkedIn, as a social media tool, can help you professionally.
NOTE: Please keep in mind that each of the account profiles that you are creating are not intended to begin and end the week that they are assigned. From this point forward, you will be expected to keep up with your social media connections throughout the semester (and, ideally, beyond this course) to help you in your future endeavors.
Part 3: To help you keep me posted with your progress, I would like you to add a new page to your blog called Social Media Connections. This is where I would like you to give me a weekly update on your social media connections. For example, you can post about the new connections you have made through LinkedIn, the new rending topics that you have followed, tweeted / retreated about and how they relate to your field of interest, etc.
Additional Resources
Homework #4 (due February 26)
Now that you have had the opportunity to do research on some social media networks, I would like you to start thinking about the business end of these tools and more specifically about businesses that have both successfully and unsuccessfully used social media as a means to grow their market-base.
This week I would like you to research at least four businesses that have used any of the different social media tools that you have researched thus far. You should highlight at least three different forms of social media. If possible, I would like you to find businesses in your field of interest (related to your major). This report should be at least three pages long and identify key issues / milestones as well as discuss what went right / wrong?, What alternative forms of social media might have been a better / worse option (Why)?, etc.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Homework #3 (due February 18)
Online Communication
- Research the following forms of online communication: blog, discussion board, wiki, and website.
- Identify the purpose of each of these forms of online communication and differentiate between them - compare and contrast them (i.e. Why would someone create a blog rather than a wiki, website, or discussion board? List some of the differences between them.)
- Identify at least two examples of each and provide the appropriate references for your research.
- Upon completion, email the link to your post within your WordPress site. Please be sure to use the course required email subject upon submission.
Homework #2 (due February 11)
- Research the difference between symmetric and asymmetric social networking.
- Clearly define the two, identify the benefits and drawbacks of each, as well as provide examples of each. Explain when and where it would be beneficial for someone to utilize each form of social networking.
- Have you, either now or in the past, utilized either symmetric or asymmetric social networking? For what purpose have you used it i.e. personal, business related, etc.? In what ways would one approach be better than another for the purpose of promoting a new product?
- Find examples of businesses that use these forms of social networking. Have these forms of marketing been proven effective? Explain and provide examples.
- Using the WordPress site that you created last week, post your findings and responses to the questions above. Be thorough in your responses and provide effective examples where appropriate, as well as cite your references via active links. Email your WordPress URL to me for review upon completion.
Homework #1 (due February 1)
- Read the CIT 134 Course Syllabus
- Research Tutorial (Reading): Read the
Search Engine Tutorial
- This will give you the skills that you need to refine your
current knowledge of how to conduct effective online
searches. Note: You not need to complete any of the assessments posted to the tutorial website.
WordPress
- Do some research on WordPress. Be sure that you understand the difference between a .com and a .org WordPress site and include your explanation of the difference between the two as a part of your first post.
- Create your own FREE WordPress.com website. You are not required to spend any money to create your site as part of this course. If you choose to upgrade your WordPress site, you may do so of your own volition, but again are not required to do so for this course.
- Once your WordPress site is created, based on your research, summarize the purpose of WordPress (in general and in addition to the .com and .org comparison), as well as how it is commonly used. Email your WordPress URL to me.
- Additional Research: Compare and contrast Diigo, Digg, and Pinterest. Use this as your second post to your WordPress site. Provide the appropriate source references.