Social Media: Communication for the Multi-tasker

By: Ashley Rogers

It’s hard to believe less than twenty years ago, communication was simple. It was a phone call, a personal conversation and maybe an email or two. We often hear that life was easier or parents comparisons of the “good ole’ days.” However younger generations were born into a society that embraces technology, especially those that advanced personal connections.

History of social media: 2010 - part 3

A lot has happened this year that involved social media: site redesigns, lawsuits, casting calls, #TwitterProm, and even passion crimes. See below our selection of memorable moments in the evolution of social media in 2010, and please tell us what we forgot.

What other events would you include?

History of social media - part 2

More memorable events related to social media. And yes, that really happened!

2007
May 2007: SECOND LIFE. Sweden became the second country, after the Maldive Islands, to open an embassy in Second Life, the virtual world developed by Linden Lab. The Swedish Institute, which promotes Sweden’s image and culture, runs the embassy. More countries followed suit, including Serbia, Estonia, the Philippines, Albania and Israel. The embassies host virtual discussions and lectures about their countries.

History of social media: some highs and lows - part 1

Social media and social networking sites have been around for roughly 5-6 years, but already offer a rich trail of wow-did-that-really-happen moments. Journalism students studying social media have recently put on research hats and identified some of these moments. Listed below are some events that, for better or worse, are linked to the invasion of our lives by social media.

Online methods for online readers

By Klara Esposito

Interview with a journalist: Tanya Napold - Grad Journalism student/ News Roots Journalist Intern

Tanya is a graduate from USF, and is continuing her education in the Masters' program. She has been recently interning at NewsRoots, which is a community based online news paper. Tanya has a few articles published in NewsRoots. She has explained that Facebook has helped grow their online newspaper. 

Social media and journalism

By Anthony Nicholas

Over the past week I took some time to study the twitter accounts of some of my favorite bloggers on the web. And wouldn’t you know it I still know very little about their personal lives.

Journalists use social media for advertising

By Marissa Baker

With Social Media websites taking over the net, it is no wonder that journalists are using it as an essential advertising tool. I analyzed the social media pages of three different journalists in order to examine the ways in which different types of media personalities are using sites like Twitter and Facebook. Each uses their social media websites in different ways to promote their work as well as to connect with their audiences. 

Journalists using social media

By Taylor Gaudens
@TaylorGaudens

I took a few moments to analyze and compare a few journalists' social media profiles. What I discovered is the interaction (and lack thereof) with their followers or friends was interesting.  

I looked that the Twitter profiles of Kyra Phillips (CNN headquarters news anchor), Dorothy Pomerantz (Forbes magazine) and Judith Lewis (a journalist at Technology Weekly).

Journalists and social media

By Jared White

I recently have been wondering what type of social media journalists use and how often these journalists use it. I turned my sights toward using Twitter and comparing how often these three journalists update on the social media network.

Journalism's adoption of social media

By Leigh Armstrong

Social media is becoming a huge part of the journalism industry with many publications learning to take advantage of the things like Twitter and Facebook. Given the huge cultural change that's upon us with the revolution of social media, taking the opportunity to look at three different types of journalists and how they use social media seems as though it may yield some interesting results. I chose to look at a famous technology journalist who works online, an older pop-culture journalist at a major newspaper and a more recent college graduate who works at Spanish newspaper.

Different tweets for different peeps

By Judson Gourley

@ReverendKong

Twitter. In only a few short years it has gone from being an online novelty to a necessary tool for celebrities, musicians and most importantly journalists to use in order to promote their work and interact with their fans. After analyzing the Twitter profiles of three journalists, I discovered some interesting trends that reflect both social status and work production.

Social media solving crimes

By Jade McBride

Don Winner is a self-made journalist. He created Panama-Guide.com, which he currently owns and operates. He may not realize what he does with social media on his website when using comments and posts as an active tool. He regards to Social Media as primarily Twitter and Facebook, and although claims he doesn’t use, if you follow his website you can understand that he does. When he responds to emails and postings he recovers information that is otherwise impossible to obtain. True words from people in locations that he needs information for and he creates contacts and friendships with those people. More personal to him rather than the audience but he uses it as a social media platform unknowingly. He is more of an investigative reporter in his local area, uncovering the truth and capture of criminals. Mr. Winner's website shows that determination and a little digging and journalism ethics can discover many things.

Professionals in the field

By Ingie Al-Nakhlawi

I looked at three different journalists from different organizations. The most aspect that they have in common is their frequent updates of the latest news in their area or in their field. I also noticed that they only had twitter sites and personal web-sites available to the public.

Incorporating social media into journalism: three profiles to check out

By Ashley Rogers

To be a journalist into today’s technologically advanced world, one must embrace the concept of social media profiles. SM profiles help to gather a following of readers, interact about societal issues and allow journalists to broadcast their stories with a click of a button. I searched for three journalistic profiles that are currently available on Facebook and Twitter. Each journalist had a list of varying credentials and followers.

A Writer's Use of Social Media

Larry Livermore - Former Writer/Editor of Lookout! Magazine and current blogger
Livermore's career began with a simple, homemade magazine called Lookout! Magazine in 1982. It later
grew to a small independent record label of the same name. From 1987 to 1994, he was also a columnist for Maximum Rock and Roll magazine and then later became a columnist for Punk Planet.
In total, Livermore has been writing for over 40 years. His main medium of choice is online where he hosts his own website and blog.
"I use twitter, Facebook, now. I used Myspace and Bloggspot for a while, until I started runningmy own website."
At least 15-20 hours a week are spent on his social media platforms that he uses to put his name and content in the open.
"My first involvement (in social media) would have to have been on AOL message boards and news groups in 1992. New sites have dramatically enhanced my ability to reach out to my readers, as it's pretty much essential if you want to communicate with people in the present environment."
His results are measured in readers/critics responses.
"I pay attention to the number of readers I have and the number of links generated from othersites."

The Twitter angle in journalism

By Namreh McGee

Many times we watch news programs and it seems pretty cut and dry on a variety of topics. The who, what, when, why and how in current events. Then we wait hours later for another round of news worthy events. If you're a news reader you may get a little more information about a story you heard on the news the night before. On Twitter look up a journalist from one of your favorite news sources and you may find a more interesting view of a story.

Journalism in a social media world

By Kayla Fletcher

John Wetzel is a writer and photojournalist for 24/Seven Magazine. He has been working with the magazine since the first issue was released in 2001.

A journalist reflects on social media

By Amanda Sebastiano

I chose to interview Janet Keeler, Food and Travel Critic for the St. Pete Times. Many of you know her from the courses she co-teaches at USF. She's been in the field a long time, so I thought she could provide some really good insight as to what some of the journalists that haven't grown up with a laptop attached to their hip, or their cell phone to their ear, are thinking about this new SM craze.

Social media and journalism: together in harmony

By Austin Arias
@austinarias

It is safe to say that today's media has been infected with the social media bug. Media organizations and freelancers alike have been turning to popular networks like Facebook and Twitter to spread the news. In an effort to understand this recent phenomenon, I took the time to research journalists who call social media a "second home" of sorts. I wanted to analyze their profiles on Twitter and see how they use it to reach their audience in a new way.

Twitter is not just for celebrities

By Dayra Rodriguez

@dayraduhhh

I recently observed the Twitter profiles of three completely different journalists from different publications and observed their use of social media.

The independent reporter's guide to social media

By Christina Barron

After countless efforts in trying to find a mainstream journalist to interview about their uses of social media, I found Jason Straud. After we met in 2007 in Pamplona, Spain for the San Fermine festival (the running of the bulls), I hadn’t heard from him or knew of his whereabouts. However, during a reunion party for the same trip to Spain I had taken 3 years ago, Jason was in attendance and I was in luck. With my laptop in hand, I drilled Jason on his years in journalism and how he keeps in touch with the States while he’s exploring the world, searching for his next story.

Journalists are even on Twitter

By Nicole Salvino

Social media users can be anyone really, but since there has been such a recent jump in popularity with social media journalists are jumping on the band wagon of social media networks. Journalists are using social media networks as a way to produce content about their writings, beliefs, or even just publicity to become recognized. I have analyzed three different journalists twitter pages and have found some very interesting information about what they are using social media for based upon tweets and information found on their pages.

Journalist makes media fashionable

By Sarah Miller

Stephanie Hayes is a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times.  She is a graduate of USF and started with the Times in 2003. She is a feature writer and is one of the Deal Divas for the Times style blog. 

When journalism meets social media

By Stephany Reihing

Social media has overtaken the world so it's no surprise that journalists are joining websites like Twitter and Facebook to promote their stories and gather information. If done right, it means more clicks on a story and a wider audience who is viewing it. Not all journalists are using social media and it takes a certain level of dedication to grow your Twitter followers by responding to replies, promoting your stories, and maintaining a personal touch to your profile. 

A new journalist's experience with social media

By Jordan Weber

@JordanCWeber

Below is an interview of an on-air reporter and anchor for Bright House Sports Network, Brooke Bennett (@FitnessBrooke). She started as a freelancer in April 2009, was offered full-time October 2009 and was out 12 weeks due to a car accident. Her first day, on a 3-year contract was January 4th. (9months) 

Journalists enjoy using social media

By Kerry Schofield
@obsesscreative

I recently compared three journalists on Twitter for their use of social media. I was interested to learn how they interact with others, what kind of posts they make and their general use of the social media site.

Journalists use social media sites well

By Angela Moneck

After analyzing three different journalist and their social media sites, it’s become obvious that all three do a good job in promoting themselves and their work on their social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. 

A reporter's journey through SM

By Jennifer Israel

St. Pete Times Reporter Rebecca Catalanello of seven years, talks about her professional uses of social media:

Peer into a photojournalist's perspective

By Jennifer Israel

St. Petersburg Times Photojournalist Lara Cerri of 10 years, talks about her professional uses of SM.

Social media: are there benefits?

By Kayla Fletcher

Social media seems to exist everywhere as people of all ages utilize different forms of social networks to their own personal advantages. In order to get a grasp on the personal opinions and benefits of people using social media, I conducted a survey to see what people really think about social media and how it has had an impact on their daily lives. I interviewed ten people with the demographics of various ages between 16 and 50 years old. Seven of the interviews were with males and the remaining three were females.

Caught you with your hand in the mailbox

By Sarah Miller

I have been checking my mail everyday for a week and still nothing!  My cousin from Ohio said she was sending me a letter in the mail, I spoke with her on the telephone yesterday and she said she sent it two weeks ago. Seriously?  Um...No!

Social media: how much do you use it?

By Jared White

Let us all face the facts. As a society we are driven to communicate with each other. Every person has the need to talk with other people and express themselves. Most of this is done through social media.

Social media: it's an obsession

By Angela Moneck

I interviewed 13 people for this social media survey, nine girls and four boys. The youngest person taking the survey is 19 and the oldest is 25. After studying the surveys, I think the age of these people shows a lot about young adults when it comes to social media. I think I would have gotten completely different results if I interviewed more adults.

Why hide on social media?

By Jade McBride

Social Media is used as an attempt at keeping personal relationships active in a technologically advanced world.

The Bad and The Good

By Klara Esposito

Most of my interviews were conducted on Twitter and Facebook. I found people spending their time on social networks out of shear boredom. When asking “which sites do you mainly partake in?” the popular answer was Facebook. Many individuals connect with Facebook because of their features. Facebook is notorious for its chat, profile, status updates, and pictures. A lot of the people I interviewed also explained that they would be spending their time on a social network during work.

Social media: a disconnect from reality?

By Judson Gourley

Before getting in to the findings of this brief study I feel it is relevant to go over the demographics of those interviewed. Of the 10 people interviewed, six were male and four were female. They were all between the ages of 19-21 years old.

Are you a social media addict?

By Taylor Gaudens

@TaylorGaudens

Social media.  Two words that dominate hours of our day.  But how much does it affect our lives?  We check our computers and phones about as much as we drive our cars. And sometimes we even check our phones while we drive.  Face it, life is not simple, but social media does help us to keep up with friends, family and celebrities.  Staying connected seems to be at the top of everyone's priority list these days.

Social media: everyone's a user

By Nicole Salvino

While researching people who use social media I found that mostly all age groups and genders use some type of social media. Social media sites consist of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc. I tried to get a very diverse group to interview which I found to be the most successful for this experiment. I interviewed about the same number of males as I did females and found out some very interesting facts.

The 2010 generation and social media

By Ingie Al-Nakhlawi

In this age, the social media has become a part of our everyday life. Whether used daily for personal use or professional use, most our interaction has become dependent on social media. Almost all organizations and businesses have made groups on Facebook or Twitter for loyal customers to follow them and to be kept updated daily on their current news; as well as to attract new followers.

Social media survey responses from those closest to me

By Amanda Sebastiano

I found 10 friends, seven boys and three girls to take this survey. The males were mostly between the ages of 18 and 25, with one in his mid 30's. The females were all between 20 and 23.

Social media, family trees and finding friends

By Kerry Schofield

@obsesscreative

I asked a group of social media users several questions about their use of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. Users in the group say they are on Facebook and Twitter more so than MySpace. But one user has been on MySpace at least one year longer than Twitter or Facebook. The group overall has used social networking from one to four years.

It's more than just for fun

By Colin O'Hara

The objective of the survey I conducted was to explore the variations of users of social media. The results yielded a unique range of information. Six of the people I surveyed were fellow students of mine at the University of South Florida, ranging from the ages of 18-23 years old. The general consensus was that people of that age group have been using social media for about anywhere between one year to eight years. I noticed that when the people claimed they spent eight years on social media, they either started at myspace or a blog while in middle school. Of the surveyees, 100% of users claim that they do multi task while on social media, whether it is at work, school, or home. Most people say they use facebook at home or school and are watching television, doing homework, talking on the phone, or another online activity other than using social media.

Social media users and their media motivation

By Christina Barron

When I try to picture someone who uses social media networks I sometimes get a blurred vision of a nerdy teenage boy constantly in front of his computer screen uploading and downloading content like a mad scientist. Who exactly are social network users and is there really a category that they can be placed? And is social media use really that detrimental to society as most argue it is? My answers from multiple interviews showed me that social network members span through a wide variety of traits and that online activity can actually promote involvement in the real world.

Social media is a way of life

By Austin Arias

@austinarias

A few years ago, one would wake up, shut off the alarm, get ready for the day, grab some food and head out the door to school, their job or out. Today, one does all those same things - but makes time to sit at their computer or smartphone to check their accounts on popular social networks. Taking that 10 - 15 minutes extra first thing in the morning is proof that "social media is a way of life."

Just log off

By Dayra Rodriguez

How hooked are we really to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter? In this day and age, it’s very difficult to escape social media, we more often than not see people everywhere talking about what happened on Facebook and what he or she tweeted about. I recently took a survey about eight women and three men and their day to day usage of popular social media (SM) sites; focusing on how social media plays a role in their life. I found that interviewing my peers to be an interesting experience, reading their responses were fascinating because they all had different things to say about social media sites and yet, they had similar views.

The social media network experience for adults

By Namreh McGee

I wanted to find out what users thought about their experiences on social media networks. So I interviewed 10 people ages 25 - 50, four men and six women. I found that majority of the women have been active on social network sites for 2-5 years. All of the men interviewed have been active 1-2 years. All six women are active users of more than one site such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace.Only one of the men interviewed used more than one social media network. All of the subjects used Facebook and visited the site most often. I noticed that the younger persons checked in to their sites at least once a day, while the eldest checked in once a week. Usually prompted to visit after checking their email accounts.

Social media has impact

By Stephany Reihing

Social media is where we get our news. It’s where we chat with our friends. It’s where we look for romance. It’s where we educate ourselves and connect with people. It’s a craze, but not one that looks like it’s going away anytime soon. For the purpose of this blog, I surveyed a handful of social media users in their mid- to late-twenties. All of the users have personal blogs with. All of the users except for one use Twitter and they all use Facebook. One girl reports using the new website, DailyBooth, a photoblogging website where users document their lives by taking a picture of themselves daily. Another girl uses DailyMile, which is a fitness website where people update their exercise progress by posting how many miles they ran, walked, swam, etc. Users can follow other users and post motivation and comment on their profiles.

Social media: could we live without it?

By Jordan Weber

Social media has “taken over the world”, so to speak, with its applications ready and able for anything from phones, to iPods, to able to work on anything with internet access. After talking to some people about their social media habits, I realized more and more just how much people depend on their social media outlets and how, if those outlets were taken away, they may not know how to function correctly.

Why the hype?

By Jennifer Israel

What's all the fuss about? Social media is everywhere. It is intertwined in our lives as a daily routine used in personal and professional settings.

I interviewed ten people (7 females/ 3 males) about how social media (SM) plays a role in their lives: one female teenager, three male young adults, three female young adults, and three female adults.On average, study participates have been SM users for about five years. Half are users on multiple networking sites, while the others only use one. Facebook is the most popular SM for all ages and genders, followed by an occasional Tweet on Twitter or update on MySpace. Blog sites are used by 50 percent of the surveyed young adults. There is also one Linkedin adult user and one young adult gamer.

Welcome to class

What better day to start learning about social media than the rainiest day of the entire summer! This is our class blog, where all of us will post ideas, comments, thoughts and rants about social media and this class.

This class will be similar to driving a cab!