If social media presence is all or part of your professional role, your online presence is going to be intertwined. It can be tricky to balance the two when you’re “on the job”, answering customer inquiries, being present in the community, participating and creating content.

Balance is possible, but it will always be a little imperfect. You’ll have to make choices and judgment calls about what to say and how to say it, and sometimes, that might mean saying nothing at all. Here, let’s discuss a few guidelines for keeping your personal and professional presence online in harmony.

Choose Which Doors are Open

When you’re a professional in social media, you’ll figure out where your customers and community are, and where they’re reaching out to you online. If it’s a forum or Twitter or blogs, you’ll need to have a profile in those networks where you can keep the door open for questions or outreach, and where you can respond and engage in a professional manner.

Sometimes, you can use a single profile if you’re willing to keep some filters on, and maintain an even keel. That might mean keeping the sharp political or religious conversations to yourself, or exercising good diplomacy. It’s a choice. Because if all of your personal and professional stuff is piled into one, they reflect on one another. That’s just reality.

You’ll have to decide where and when you’ll keep the doors open for people to follow or friend you on a professional basis, and where you’re able to keep your networks more closed for personal purposes. Maybe your answer is to have separate profiles on Twitter, and keep your professional interactions on Facebook to your Page instead of your profile. But whatever combination you choose, you have to balance being available and accessible to your community, and finding homes for personal discussions or interests that you might not want to mix with work.

It’s Okay To Not Talk About Work

It might sound like I’m suggesting you never mix personal and professional, and that’s not it at all. In fact, it’s okay to not always talk about work. The people that interact with you professionally often appreciate seeing the human side of you. As we’ve well learned from social media discussions, the Official Corporate Voice isn’t very welcoming or friendly. And you want your customers and community to feel welcome and at home when they talk with you.

So, share your victory at last night’s Ultimate Frisbee game (our Radian6 team rocks, by the way). Share the picture of the dog or the kid if you’re comfortable with that. Talk a bit about music you like, or what you did on your summer vacation. A blend of personal and work-related stuff can help you feel more approachable, friendly, and “one of the gang” to your customers. That helps build trust, which is definitely what you want.

The trick is really in the stuff that’s either super personal, or potentially really polarizing to your community. You’ll have to make your own judgment call about which of your personal interests, beliefs, experiences, or opinions are better suited to more closed audiences. Each company will have different tolerances, each individual will have different comfort levels. And your customers just want to know that when the chips are down, you can shift into professional mode and help meet their needs.

When In Doubt, Leave It Out

It’s like email: if you’re not sure, don’t send it. Better to err on the side of caution if your job involves a public online presence. After all, people are paying attention.

Is that hard sometimes? Sure. If I’ve got a vehement opinion on a topic, or someone says something I find patently offensive, it’s so difficult not to pop off and say what I think.( After all, if you know me, you know that I’m one to speak my mind.) If I’m having a hard day, it can be tempting to dump it all out onto Twitter in search of support.

Things like selective Facebook lists (groups where you can post an update just to that selection of friends or family members) can help. Or a private Posterous where you can let it all hang out. Building selective filters outside the realm of your “on duty” places online can make it a little easier.

But here’s the difficult truth: If you’re working online (and we all are, more and more, in some way or another), your personal actions and behaviors will impact your professional presence and reputation, and vice versa. So we’ve each got to decide what facets we want to be part of that multi-dimensional online presence, and which might be expressed elsewhere.

Above All, Be Approachable

In a professional social media job, you’re often the front lines. The face of the company, the first person people think of to go to when they need a hand or attention or a question answered. If you pursued this line of work, that’s probably part of what drew you.

If you’re not in social media as a profession but if it’s part of your communication set – like customer service, let’s say – you’ll still need to be present, available, friendly, findable. You want people to come to you every bit as much as you’d want them to feel free to email you or pick up the phone and call. That’s what your customers are looking for; a human being that they can virtually tap on the shoulder and know that they’ll get a welcoming response.

It’s the online equivalent of a common office dynamic. When someone walks up to your desk, do you sigh in exasperation for being interrupted, or do you turn around, say a warm hello, and ask how you can help? Are you the person they’re always afraid to come up to, or is your presence always a comfortable, open one?

It’s Not Easy.

There’s no doubt that this isn’t nearly as clear cut as we’d all like it to be. We’d love to have a set of “do this, don’t do that” guidelines that guarantee that we’re engaging and interacting in the best way possible. But there’s no such thing.

What’s interesting about the public nature of engagement is that it puts our judgment skills on display in a way they haven’t been before. Using good judgment was something that we’ve always had to do, but we haven’t had to do it on a public, visible stage. And now we do.

But if we want businesses to evolve and become more human, we individuals have to contribute to that equation through our own decisions and actions. It’s a give and a get, and as tricky as the change might be sometimes, it’s all part and parcel to this new world of communication we’re building.

I’m on board. I’m learning every day, and my future online personal and professional self will undoubtedly be shaped along the way.

What challenges do you have balancing personal and professional when you engage online? What questions can we answer, or what input can we provide? Looking forward to hearing from you in the comments.

image credit: nzgabriel

Do you know I moved across the apartment complex two months ago?

Do you know I inquired about brand X five times before I purchased?

Do you know I purchased because I received a recommendation from another one of your customers?

Do you know that I purchased brand X for myself and gave as a gift to my husband, our two children and my best friend in Dallas, Texas?

Do you know my favorite color is purple because I bought all color coordinating accessories for brand X?

Do you know I shop online on Fridays and only shop or have physical interaction with your organization when I purchase brand Y or have issue Z?

Do you know ME?

Do you know ME whether I shop online, by phone or at your physical location?

Do you know I spoke to a customer service person yesterday via Twitter and again on IM today regarding issue Y?

I know ME and I expect if you have a presence online, offline or both, you should know ME too.

Over the past month, we have talked about forming a solid engagement strategy and how-to engage. But, before you have an exchange with someone, it is helpful to know a bit about them. Monitoring, exclusively, will not give you the insights you need to better know your customer base or community. Actively listening to customers/community will help clarify an immediate interaction, but will not give you a holistic view of their relationship with your organization.

How can you go beyond listening at the point of need to engaging at the point of need, knowing exactly who the customer/community member is and deeper context surrounding their transaction or issue?

What is missing?

The power of observation.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to observe is:

“..to watch carefully especially with attention to details or behavior for the purpose of arriving at a judgment.”

Judgment is based on data over time. It is essential to learn the language of data to properly extract actionable insights. Do not dismiss the need to monitor or passively listen before engaging with your community. But realize there is an extra step between monitoring and listening. Observing. Use the time while monitoring to understand the people within your community. Just as an anthropologist would, study the behavior of the community in their natural habitat without the direct influence of your organization. Observe their habits, conversations and circles of trust.

Data tells a story. It is your job to observe and find the patterns and connections that matter so your organization can answer, “Do you know ME?”

How do you take the data you glean from online monitoring, observation, and any active listening between you and community and weave this information into existing data infrastructure?

Dr. V discussed the the use of Web 2.0 in a series of undergraduate public relations courses taught at Clemson University. Web 2.0 tools were deeply integrated into the courses. Dr. V explained how each tool was introduced to students and used, the rationale for using it, and presented data about the impact each tool had on student learning, motivation, teacher relationship and career success. Unfortunately, we were unable to record the webinar because the data shared has not yet been published. However, if you are interested in receiving a copy of the study once it has been published, please complete this form.

There is a lot of debate, and not nearly as much evidence, about using Web 2.0 in the classroom. We need to know whether we can we use Web 2.0 in the classroom in ways that actually benefit students. This session demonstrated how one instructor weaved Twitter, social networking, and the blogosphere into several college courses, and presented assessment data about the impact of these teaching strategies on student learning, motivation, and career success.

As Dr. V stated during the webinar, “the world is your classroom.” Learning is a personal experience and just like any health or fitness regimen, there is no excuse not to find the time to make it happen. If it matters to you, take charge of your own destiny, and find the time to keep your brain young and keep learning.

Thank you to Dr. V and to all of you who listened to the webinar! Spread the inspiration. After all, it the future of our industry we are talking about…

But, where can we start?

Social media has made it possible for numerous agency people – whether its PR, advertising, marketing communications or research/analytics – to come together and discuss best practices in their blogs, on Twitter and even publish use cases. We are now connected daily with people that at best, we might have seen from afar at a professional conference.  Some agencies share in-depth client news, and it’s interesting to take what they say as a practice and see where it is applied in that client.

With this type of public information, many agencies seem to worry that they are giving away more information than holding in. In a world of NDAs (non-disclosure agreements), is it practical to ask that we educate each other on best practices and share information? Will it change the new business pitch and how it’s executed?

Content Sharing

We have tools at our fingertips to share content, provide insight and discuss with each other. You really never know who is watching your stream or blog – it could be a client, it could be the competition, it could just be a friend. If we are telling our clients to participate in a certain way, why aren’t agencies? You can be selective with information shared or blogged about. Positioning yourself as an educator and partner to clients needs to be shown in that first impression – sometimes when they just Google you. Are you sharing the content you want to be judged on?

Education

While working in the agency world, I was a part of online “brain trust groups”, which was made up of 3-5 people that would share ideas and discussions related to specific topics. These topics ranged from application, trends and forecasting as it related to our specific fields. One brain trust group specifically focused on breaking down silos, and how each could work together. We never discussed strategy, objectives, new business pitches or how we would use the knowledge discussed.

Call to Standards

At the end of the day, the ones bashing industry practice should be listened to. What they say is important – many journalists and clients have voiced frustration in the past. It’s up to the industry to listen to what is being said, pinpoint what happened and if its accurate and true. We are held accountable for every action executed, and the industries should start at its foundation and create change. Not everyone will. Trying a few different solutions can help.

1. Create a council made up of  five people – one from each professional organization (PRSA, IABC, 4A’s, AMA, SPJ) to review concerns annually, what has been instituted to fix, and how it can be changed. It’s important to not silo the organization, but work together as an agency industry whole.

2. Have a Standards workshops available in webinar form for free – and anyone can access them at anytime. There are new people entering the field daily, and sometimes one just needs a reminder. If rules are set, show how they can be used in the daily workforce. Hold people as accountable as possible.

3. Issue an open invite to all agencies (large, boutique, mid-size) to participate in semi-annually discussions around the state of the industry and best practices at a high level. Dependent on volume, groups would be formed of 6-7 people. They would then post takeaways so that everyone can see what was discussed.

Those are just a few ideas of how the agency industry can work together to be better – whether its in the daily work cycle, how they can improve as an agency or apply to the new business pitch. What would you add? How can agencies engage in the social media and traditional landscape?

Drivers Education

For teens that want to drive, drivers education is a mandatory class that they must take before they’re allowed to get their permit. Drivers ed prepares potential drivers by giving them a guided tour of driving. What are the rules (both on the books and off) that they must follow? How should they learn to drive? What are some important things to keep in mind as they work toward getting their license?

In many ways, an internship resembles drivers education.

An internship:

• Begins to teach an intern how to successfully work for a company
• Helps the intern understand a bit about corporate culture
• Gives an intern the freedom to learn with a strong guiding hand
• Provides a taste of what “the working world” is like

The Learners Permit

The moment a teen gets their learners permit is where the rubber starts to hit the road – literally. The teen is responsible for driving the car, but only under the direct supervision of an approved parent or guardian.  For many teens, the year that they spend learning to drive is a lesson in calculated freedom. They can make their own decisions, but any misstep is swiftly corrected. Nothing goes unseen.

Businesses can learn from this concept. The purpose of an internship isn’t to fill your intern’s time with coffee runs and copying duties. Instead, an internship should always aim to teach the intern how to work as an adult, encouraging progress and delivering praise where praise is due, but also keeping a close watch on their duties and behaviors while at work to help correct any mistakes as they happen.

Scott Westerman wrote a thought-provoking post about interns and social media, and some of his key points are included below.

1. Define what you need
2. Hire with care
3. Fully train them before turning them loose
4. Include them
5. Coach them
6. Celebrate them
7. Fight for them

An internship is an opportunity for both the company and the intern to learn.  Instead of placing an intern in charge of your outreach and engagement full stop, treat the internship as a learners permit.

In lieu of direct engagement, interns can learn how social media works by becoming involved with other areas within an organization during the course of their internship.

• Listening Interns have the unique advantage of growing up in a truly digital age. Use that to your advantage and empower them to listen for important conversations across the web. They may have ideas about what your current listening programs are missing, and they’ll learn how personal conversations differ from business-related conversations in return. They shouldn’t be the only ones listening to what’s going on, but they can provide another ear to the ground and a new perspective. In return, they’ll be able to learn how businesses listen to the social web and pick up a good amount of knowledge about how to use tools that they may have not been exposed to already.
• Planning Campaigns require a lot of planning.  From direct mail campaigns to integrated multi-channel efforts, planning is key.  An intern can help plan the execution and follow-up of the campaign, as well as be involved in strategy and brainstorming sessions.
• Executing Don’t be afraid to let an intern help with execution. Many companies have expanded their editorial calendar to include content schedules for their social outposts including the company blog, Twitter and Facebook.  There’s a large difference between letting an intern create that content carte blanche and allowing an intern to brainstorm some of the content. Let your intern learn how the content is shared and encourage them to watch as conversations develop.
• Reporting An intern can be an asset and used to dig into your measurement tools and pull together the first draft of your regular reports. The intern gets to discover the in’s and out’s of your reporting practices, as well as learn the tools which they may need to use once they graduate. In addition, they’re allowed some guided freedoms with data access, and are hopefully encouraged to use their own initiative to point out new information or create new reports to better support and justify your social media activities.

The Graduated License

Much of what happens to teens when they get their graduated license goes unnoticed by their parents.  They test the limits of the rules and are sometimes met with severe consequences. Others understand the dangers of the road and become responsible drivers from the beginning.

A good internship includes measured amounts of freedom with a large amount of oversight. The companies that hire interns into positions like this gain new perspectives, an employee who is eager to please, and a student who wants to learn. Direct engagement on behalf of a brand isn’t required, and the company and the intern can benefit greatly even if the intern remains off the front lines.

What’s your take on The Great Intern Debate? How do you involve your interns with your social media activities?  Are they involved on the front lines?

Your organization is built of many unique individuals. All have personalities and skills that keep your organization humming. As you build an engagement strategy, are you making sure you these people are noticed, so they may help facilitate the relationships you seek? Who is telling your story? A faceless narrator does not invite engagement.

Go beyond the one dimensional avatar

As Katie stated last week, storytelling and engagement do go hand-in-hand. Take a page from a storyteller, and build your organization’s personas as you would characters in a novel. No need to fictionalize your avatars…just look within your organization for those who are not flat and lifeless, but stir our souls to respond. Authors are told to write from life; take the same advice and harness the talents of your real-life workforce to embody the three dimensional character you need to succeed in online engagement.

A one or two dimensional character is simple and does not require or warrant explanation. These characters are not identified as individual people with thoughts or emotions. These characters fall flat because they lack human connection. They are predictable, isolated and lack creditability.

Avoid being the stereotypical organization online with your company logo avatar and legalese lingo. A stereotype is never a three dimensional character. Seek out those in your organization who draw others into their circles, who make the impossible possible, and ordinary extraordinary. Through these connectors, followers will experience your organization’s story and learn valuable lessons.

A three dimensional character goes beyond the one dimensional avatar and demonstrates their internal motivations, desires, fears and ethics while externally displaying their habits, personality attributes, mannerisms, cultural tendencies and style. The three dimensional character is thus believable because of the human attributes (thoughts, emotions and actions) displayed. There is no trick to creating the three dimensional character. Be real.

Thoughts

Characters with no dimension are boring and will be written off. Such one dimensional characters are often found in jokes or fables in which the character serves the single purpose of being the conduit of which the punch line or lesson is related. These characters are a means to an end.

So, if you create an organizational presence online that lacks original thought and only serves to engage the customer or community with the end goal of a sale, this false identity will be seen for what it truly is. Readers or your community will not be able to stomach or communicate with an unbelievable character who has no flaws. People do not associate with faceless organizations, but with people who think and feel like them.

Emotions

The successes and failures do not belong solely to your organization, but matter to your readers, your community at large. A three dimensional character is believable and makes a connection because they have history, feelings, thoughts, strengths, and weaknesses. Your organization has all of these items in spades.

Share these collective and individual emotions with your community so they find it easier to relate and engage. Build a framework with which to engage by sharing the history and personality of your organization and workforce. From this natural fountain, let flow your tone and word choice for engagement.

Actions

No story is complete without action. To add true dimension to your character(s), allow your community to ask numerous and detailed the questions. Why? So you can actively respond and engage! Actions are based upon decisions and responses and asked or requested based upon thoughts and feelings, which stem from attitudes, shaped by individual philosophies. Your community would not inquire or give suggestions if they did not care.

Through your online three dimensional character, show you care by responding and acting upon feedback. Of course, this does not mean you will be able to say yes to every person or prove every suggestion valid, but this engagement will prove you are listening and acting in the best interest of your community.

People connect with three dimensional characters because they have flaws and failings. Do not pretend to be the organization to have all the answers. Be the organization you truly are…one made up of many dynamic three dimensional characters who are eager to share their story…your story.

So, is your organization a one dimensional avatar or a three dimensional character online?

That doesn’t mean we don’t have reason to venture outside Twitter, though — there’s a fair share of mentions on blogs, forums, and other online outposts that need our attention. We also strive to participate in a number of industry/vertical conversations where mentions of Radian6 are nowhere to be found.

Seeing as there’s much more to the engagement equation than Twitter, how about we chat over some of those additional points here? If there are any questions left unanswered, please feel free to leave them in the comments and we’ll be sure to address them.

Blogs/Forums

Radian6 receives a good number of shout-outs in blogs and on forums. Most often those mentions are embedded in posts lauding the value of social media monitoring, reviews of multiple social media monitoring platforms, and content of that nature. While many of those are passing mentions, it’s imperative that we say thank you for each and every one.

Acknowledging those references to us is part of the Radian6 company culture, so we’ve set guidelines for response that directly accommodate that. This “rule” covers mentions big and small, positive and negative, blogged, forum’d, or otherwise. Who a comment or post is assigned to for response is based on a few factors including depth of post topic and type of mention.

In general, we will not respond to mentions that are posted on forums or sites that require someone to sign up for an account to comment. We will, however, sign up for those accounts and respond if the mention is a complaint or customer support issue.

Facebook

We treat mentions on Facebook similar to those on privacy/account-protected sites. If a comment that pops into our feed is a complaint or obvious need for support, we will jump in.

On our own Facebook page, we get involved in conversation to drive engagement and leave all comments alone unless they’re defamatory, inflammatory, or attacking of others. Pretty simple.

Proactive Industry Outreach

Reactive outreach has been a huge part of the Radian6 engagement strategy for as long as we’ve been, well, engaging. But the company has hit a level of maturity that demands we start seeking out industry conversations and identifying new communities that could be valuable for us to get involved in.

This proactive outreach initiative is tied into our engagement processes. Members of the Community Team have individual profiles set up in the Radian6 dashboard around our niche areas of interest and expertise, to hone in on meaty conversations that we want to dig into. We also monitor a general “social media” feed that picks up a variety of posts that don’t mention Radian6 but are valuable to read through and comment on. We have individual and team goals set around this proactive outreach and have incorporated search and response into our online engagement activities.

Note that these processes truly are a part of our daily work routine. Engagement isn’t optional here at Radian6; it’s part of the company’s mission, and we’re working regularly on expanding engagement past the bounds of traditional thinking, not just for our external community but for our own purposes, as well.

You’ll also see that there’s no place for canned responses in our engagement playbook or guidelines. Say ‘thank you’, say ‘how can we help?’, but say it in your own words — this caveat is invaluable to note and stay aware of. While response and engagement are part of the Radian6 brand promise, so is our human tone and emphasis on individuality among employees. That tone and individuality cross the bounds of social networks and extend offline, too (which you’ll notice when you meet any of us at an event).

For Radian6, engagement process framing was a natural progression because of how deeply steeped we are in the online space. How about you? We strongly encourage you to review your engagement processes and expectations and lay them down on paper. How do you want to see your employees handling online engagement? Do you think you need to set expectations? If so, how detailed do you believe your expectations and processes need to be?

Brands have social media guidelines that include disclaimers. But, brands are also running into how to offer disclaimers and be as transparent as possible when it comes to the agencies that represent them.

Agencies are currently working with brands throughout planning/research, development, strategy and execution. They are sharing client information approved for public consumption, all while providing unique tidbits and facts.

Disclaimers are important to decide on in the planning and development phase because of how a consumer might react. First, evaluate who will be conversing on behalf of a brand, and decide if all employees must abide by social media guidelines. For an agency, you have the added thought process of if you should only disclaim for clients you work on, but for all agency clients as well.

In this stage, make sure to list out:

• Who officially represents the brand
• Who indirectly represents the brand
• Where the information needs to be disclosed
• When the information needs to be disclosed
• Benchmarks for when it will be re-evaluated

Once those stipulations have been set, you can be

gin to flesh out the where, when and why of the agency social media disclaimers. The areas that you disclaim can be broad or specific, depending on the brand.

Social Network Bios

With grey areas in the FTC regulations, it is always safe to disclose the company that you work for.  If you are contributing to a blog that is not your own, you need to disclaim where you work, especially if it’s on a client blog. For Facebook, keep your professional information up to date, and on Facebook Fan Pages, detail out exactly who is talking. This could be in the form of “You’re chatting with Lauren at Radian6″ or “Community Manager Lauren Fernandez” so that it not only a.) humanizes the brand, but b.) let’s people know exactly who they are talking to.

On Twitter, it’s easy to update your bio to reflect @COMPANY, with your title being optional.

Twitter Lists

Twitter lists are great to show which clients you work for and which clients your agency represents. Creating Twitter lists titled “Brands I Work With” and “Brands AGENCY represents”, so that at any time, a person knows who you work for, what clients you work on, and who the agency represents. This information is usually available on a brand or agency Web site, so it’s safe to disclose this type of information.

Some agencies will even put the actual client name in their bio. An example of this is “I work for BRAND, these views are my own.”

[client] [cl] [disclaimer]

A trend across Twitter, Facebook and blogs is to put a small disclaimer at the end of any tweet to indicate that it’s a client; at the end of a status update; or at the end of a blog post as a sentence. For this, many debate on whether it’s applicable to only clients you work on, or all agency clients. On one side of the debate, many believe that if they have a Twitter list, talk about the brands enough, and they don’t directly represent, it’s not needed. Others say that a client disclaimer is always needed, no matter what.

“These views are my own”

Many blogs and bios express this small line. Does this automatically separate a personal and professional brand, or is that depending on the consumer too much? Is there ever any separation between the two when dealing with social networks? These are questions that the agency and brand need to work on in the planning and development stages.

So, what do you think? Which disclaimers would you use, and would you add any? Let’s discuss in the comments.

*Disclaimer: Mullen is a Radian6 client.

Advertisements always try to tell a story.  Perhaps the story is something as simple as how a mom solved a household cleaning problem with a new product, or perhaps it’s more involved – like the stories Levi’s shares with their new campaign. Whatever the case, the power of a good story can’t be denied.

Storytelling is the big picture stuff. It’s the fuel that drives your advertising campaigns, the content that’s included on your website or in your collateral, and the foundation of what your executives share when they talk about your organization.  It’s the stuff that sucks us in, makes us want to learn more, and urges us to share with others.

Engagement is focused on the micro level. It’s the follow-up to the story that was shared, including absorbing and responding to the reactions.  It’s the action of connecting with someone that was affected by your story in one way or another and the potential beginnings of a relationship with that person. Engagement can often unearth new stories, which then starts the cycle all over again.

Teresa’s first point in her recent post brings up a great point regarding engagement and storytelling. “Listen and absorb what people are saying about your brand, products, services, and your general market.”

Listening is the first step for both storytelling and engagement, and these two activities greatly support each other.

The stories are the opportunities, and the engagement is the follow-up.

Gavin Heaton recently posted a presentation he delivered about storytelling for social media, and one of his closing points really struck a chord: “It’s about creating the coincidences that lead to an emotional connection. Something that you can share with the players in your personal playground.”

To continue Gavin’s analogy, it’s like shooting hoops with a partner that always gives you the ball back to try again. Storytelling and engagement combine to form a cycle that never really ends.

Do you have stories to share about companies that pair storytelling with engagement well? Share them in the comments!

It’s that time again. The textbooks are being purchased, the classes are being registered for, and the professors are…well, they’re hosting webinars about the use of social media in higher education.

That’s right, our Senior Community Manager and resident higher education expert Lauren Vargas will be hosting Professor Mihaela Vorvoreanu, Ph.D., an assistant professor in Computer Graphics Technology and Organizational Leadership & Supervision at Purdue University, who will be discussing the use of social media in the higher ed classroom.

Professor Vorvoreanu studies the socio-cultural impact of new communication technologies, and will be discussing her experiences weaving social media tools into multiple undergraduate public relations courses she taught during her tenure at Clemson University. She’ll also be sharing her findings on the impact the use of these tools and teaching strategies had on student learning, motivation, and career success.

Additionally, Lauren will be chatting with Professor Vorvoreanu about some of the finer points of her presentation as well as the greater implications of social media use in higher education. Toward the end of the webinar we’ll open up the conversation to our audience to answer any questions they might have.

The maturation of today’s digitally immersed generations makes the research that Professor Vorvoreanu is doing – and the experimentation and conversation surrounding it – an increasingly essential piece of the higher education and teaching framework. So join us next Friday for what’s sure to be an enlightening and valuable discussion!