DOGgone Social Media

This past week, our Social Media class was lucky enough to pay a visit to the Nebraska Humane Society. Not only were we enthralled with the adorable doggy, Baxter, but we also learned a thing or two from a Creighton alum named Elizabeth.

Elizabeth explained to us in the simplest way possible, that the social media world is to be thought of as a mountain, or journey. Not using the cliche “social media expert” phrase, Elizabeth made clear that this new mysterious world of technology hasn’t even been around a decade, so how can anyone be considered an expert? I definitely agree with this, though I have never thought of it that way. Elizabeth, like Danny, are both young and at the top of their game. They are lucky they got such a jump start on the social media world, this is something you have to get started with early in order to be successful with it. Although aspirations of becoming an expert are unrealistic, you can still work hard to become one of the top dogs in that area. We learned the importance of being as socially connected and active with your audience as possible, because this establishes relationships and reliability. As Elizabeth said, she makes sure to reply to almost all comments posted on the Humane Society webpage, making it a constant job. However, it’s worth checking in on it all day long so that people realize how committed you are to them and their questions/comments. Being connected on mainly Twitter and Facebook is a good idea, so that you can start small and really get into that application. Later on, you can become involved with other things, like Silicon Prairie did, and get in touch with Linked In, Four Square, and other social media sites. Both Danny and Elizabeth explained the importance of monitoring the info being put on your page. Whether it is negative comments or unnecessary input, you have to learn how to deal with it and what to do in specific situations. All content posted should be taken into consideration so you can better what you’re doing and make changes as needed. Taking in all input for constructive criticism, will only help you down the road. Both speakers enlightened us with the importance of getting on the social media bandwagon now, so that we won’t be left behind later.