Class Photo - COM 130

For any students still checking this blog, I thought I'd post the class photo we took on our last day. Enjoy your summer, and when you return, this website will have a new look!

Getting Started on Your Tweets

By April 17th, I would like for my COM 130 students to have a Twitter account, and be familiar with how it works. On that day, the Keyword Search Assignment will be about social media. As a media professor, I feel I would be doing you a disservice if you did not understand Twitter by the end of the semester.

I'm giving you some lead time, because, unlike Facebook or Myspace, Twitter takes some time to really get involved with and understand. You'll need to check in on the "tweets" from the folks you've chosen to follow for a while. You'll need to understand "replies", and ways to "brand" your tweets.

Here's a short video featuring Twitter creator Evan Williams on how Twitter evolved. It's from TedTalks (one of my favorite websites, by the way):



While there's no shortage of Twitter information available online, I've selected a few websites and articles I think you'll find helpful. I hope they help you get started on your Twitter journey:

PCMag's Top 10 Twitter Tips for Beginners

Twitip - a blog dedicated to using Twitter

Problogger's 35 Twitter Tips from 35 Twitter Users

Once you set up your account, look for me @jillfalk. Then, check out who my followers are and start adding familiar names. Good luck my Tweeps!

Your Personal Brand

Today in COM 130 we discussed the concept of "personal branding". While there's no shortage of information available via a Google search, I thought I'd leave a few links for you, should you be curious to learn more.

Here is the Slideshare presentation we used in class today from personal branding guru Dan Schawbel. What did you take away from this discussion?

View Upload your own

For a good laugh, check out this SNL skit the blog Sheer Brandage wrote about. On a more serious note, see how these journalists are prepping for a job by developing their personal brand using these kick-butt websites. Also, here's the link to Doug Kamm's website, the Lindenwood University student who has created an easy online portfolio.

I’ll leave you with three key ideas from my very good friend and former colleague, Kammie Kobyleski, who is a strong believer in personal branding (follow her on Twitter @KammieK):

"My biggest advice would be to keep 3 things in mind:

Authenticity - Be who YOU are and be it LOUD and proud (focus on your strengths).

Clarity - Be crystal clear who YOU are, "niche thyself"...don't try to be everything to everyone...Guy Kawasaki says "polarize people"...some will love you some will
not, it's OK...build your tribe and leave the rest.

Consistency - Once you've identified your strengths and values, be it over and over...the way you dress, write emails, correspond by phone, in person is ALL a reflection of brand YOU."

I believe the key idea for college students like you to keep in mind is...DON'T WAIT! I swear I feel like your mother, er, I mean big sister, repeating this caveat of knowledge constantly - DON'T WAIT! In other words, define and design your personal brand now.

The walls between the college classroom and the real world are imaginary. You are already in the real world.

Are You Gen Y?

The Millennials - Due Wednesday, 2/4

COM 130 students, Monday in class we discussed your generation, "The Millennials" or "Generation Y". Here are the links from today's presentation:

What generation are you? Take this media test from Penelope Trunk, blogger for the Gen Y network, The Brazen Careerist. I would encourage all of you to visit their site, and check out the bloggers.

In class, we also watched these two segments about The Millenials from 60 Minutes. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.

I'm sure all of you have opinions about your generation. So, here's what I'm curious to know and to read about in your blogs:

•Is this you?
•Do you agree with these assumptions made about your generation?
•What do you disagree with?
•What advice would you give older generations to effectively reach out and communicate with you?

In your 500-word response, add some hyperlinks and video of your own Internet research to share with the class. See the assignment sheets for information on using TurnItIn.com.

International Student Interview

International Student Interview - Due Friday, 2/6

COM 130 students, one of your next blog assignments involves interviewing an international student on campus. Chapter 1 of your text discusses how media is essentially the United States' leading export. Think movies, books, television shows, etc. How many young people in other countries learn about us through our media that we export? The text also discusses the "free press" we enjoy here, compared to government-controlled press in other countries.

You are the interviewer, you ask the questions! Let your own curiosity guide you through the interview. Make your post at least 500 words. You also need to submit your post to TurnItIn. Don't forget to add hyperlinks, pictures or videos to enhance your storytelling. Perhaps, there is a funny commericial you'd like to show us!

If you are an international student at LU, you can certainly interview a student from a different country if you want to. However, it would be fine for you to answer the questions yourself on your blog about how the media in your home country differs from the United States' media, and observations you have made since living here.

Three Ways to Impress Me With Your Final Project (COM 130)

First, let me say how excited I am about your final project ideas! I cannot wait to read your blogs! They will actually make grading fun, to say the least. Since we only have one more day together, :( I wanted to write a post that gives you a little more advice and information about your project, in particular, what will impress me.

Use Your Voice - the YOU Factor

The hardest part for any media creators like you is to find your own voice. There is no shortage of information available to you online about your given topic, but what do YOU have to say? What can YOU contribute? What knowledge do YOU have to give your classmates? And don't say, "none", because we all are experts on something! Don't sell yourself short.

Many of you wanted to do a fan-type blog, and that is fine too, tons of people have chosen that route in the blogosphere today. I'd like to reiterate that if you do make a fan site, be sure to add a disclaimer somewhere, and be very careful about using copyrighted content. But most importantly, what can YOU add to the conversation? What about YOU makes you the right person to provide commentary on the television show or musician you have chosen?

Using Lists in Your Posts

One way to jazz up a blog entry is to include a list. For example, "Seven Ways to Impress Professor Falk" could be a title of a post, followed by numbered examples and information in your blog. This does two things for you. First, it makes your content easy for your readers to quickly digest. Second, it helps you organize and hone in on your blog topic for that day. Of course, while this is a great idea for some posts, be careful not to overdo it. Your readers may get annoyed. Here are a few other examples off the top of my head:

"Ten Ways to Avoid the Freshman 15"

"Five Things I Learned My First Semester in College"

"Six Ways to Help You Wake Up for 8:00 Classes"

You get the idea...

Multimedia Elements

You've heard me rant about these all semester...audio, photographs and video!  Anytime  you can incorporate these elements and add to your discussion, it only enhances what you are trying to say.  It shows me you have done research on your topic to see what else is out there.  I can always tell who is going to earn an "A" on a blog post--I typically end up spending forever checking out their links!

Just a reminder, on Friday (our last class day), I will explain how to add a LinkedIn badge to your page, as well as how to use Google Analytics.  There will also be some time to work on any technical issues you may be having.  See you then!

COM 130 - Four Blog Tasks

1 - Sign up for a Gmail account (no tutorial needed here)
2 - Add RSS or subscription buttons to your blog
3 - Sign into Gmail, and practice subscribing to the class blog by clicking "Reader" in the upper left corner and typing this blog's URL in the "add subscription" box. We'll add your classmates' blogs later.
4 - Add the class calendar to your Google calendar

Meantime, why are we doing this and what the heck is a feed reader?

COM 130: Student Guinea Pigs Needed

COM 130 students, I need some volunteers to test two new social media outlets for me:

Twitter

BlogTalkRadio

On Twitter, sign up and follow "lusurvey". That's me, and I've created it for COM 130. For BlogTalkRadio, visit the link above, sign-up for an account and test it by posting your voice on your blog. Just talk for about a minute or so about whatever you want that has to do with our course material.

You have until Thursday afternoon at 3:00 to complete this. E-mail me when you've completed one or both. Ten extra credit points are possible for the BlogTalkRadio experiment.

Good luck!

COM 130 Blog Prompt: Presidential or Vice Presidential Debate Reaction Post

For COM 130 students next blog post assignment, I would like you to watch one of the presidential or vice-presidential televised debates and write a blog about it. For more information on debates, visit the Commission on Presidential Debates website.

Meantime, here are the dates of the next three:

October 2nd - Vice Presidential Debate (this one takes place at Washington University in St. Louis) - 8:00 pm Central Time

• October 7nd - Second Presidential Debate - 8:00 pm Central Time


• October 15th - Third Presidential Debate - 8:00 pm Central Time

For the assignment, pick one of the three you want to watch and analyze for your 500-word post. This is a critical thinking post. I want you to "review and react" to the debates. Here are some examples of questions you can (but are not limited to) answer:

• Did you agree with the questions?


• Which channel or news network did you select to watch the debate? (all networks and cable news channels will carry the debates - NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, PBS) If you watched it on the Internet, what website did you choose for debate coverage?
• What did you think of the candidates' responses?


• In your opinion, did the debate have a clear winner or loser? Which quotes did you find most memorable? What will you remember the most about this debate? What will go down in the history books?


• What can either candidate do to improve his or her demeanor in these debates? In other words, what can they do in the future to "come across better" to voters?


• Finally, have you made a decision about who you plan to vote for? If you feel comfortable sharing, please do. However, you won't lose any points for not claiming a side, or explaining that you don't like either candidate.

The blog post is due by Friday, October 17th. That's two days after the last televised debate. You will also need to submit your post to TurnItIn.com. This post is worth 30 points, because you are doing extra work by watching the debates. Isn't that nice? I'm rewarding you for paying attention! :)

Extra Credit Alert: You Weigh in on the First Televised Presidential Debate

All classes, from now until Monday at noon, leave your comments about Friday's debate between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. I'll give you five extra credit points.

Here are my immediate thoughts:

Sen. McCain dominated the military conversations, Sen. Obama took the lead on the economy. Obama kept calling McCain, "John". Meantime, I didn't hear McCain calling his opponent, "Barack".

To me, McCain seemed to answer most of his questions in a narrative format, meaning several answers were more like stories. Obama had a hard time interrupting McCain on a number of occasions, as McCain seemed to take over.

Overall, I thought it was a good-spirited debate, not overly contentious. Both sides are in turbo-spin mode. Both sides claim victory.

Also, I'd be curious to know if you watched any of the news coverage afterwards, and what your thoughts were. I, of course, flipped around (and at this hour, still am flipping because I'm a news nerd). CNN seems to have 25 people commenting, Sen. Biden is in spin mode...Where's Sarah Palin? Fox News and MSNBC have their usual suspects. The talking points I keep hearing are: Obama said a number of times he "agreed" with McCain. Meanwhile, McCain repeated the phrase "you don't understand" to Obama several times.

A Gen Y note...both respective YouTube channels already house propaganda videos from tonight's debate. (Obama, McCain)

Okay, that's enough from me...now it's your turn.

What do you think? In your opinion, who won? What lines did you find memorable? In addition, are there relevant issues you didn't hear discussed that you think should have been? Do these debates matter to you?

COM 130's LTTGYE Links

Hey, I'm just trying to be like you with the acronyms...

Anyhow, here are the links to today's COM 130 articles. We used these as material for our mini-speed presentations for Let's Talk Tech and the Gen Y Effect. All five are fab and all five are from AdAge.com.

Surprise! You text more than you talk!

Does the iPhone have competition now?

Shia's new movie, follow on your phone

KFC monitors 90210

Better late than never in the social networking world, MTV

So, tell me, did you like this second installment better than the last time? I think we were talking about SpinSpotter and campaign ads then. I tried to keep a marketing to Gen Y theme today. You tell me...what kinds of topics to you enjoy debating the most?

International Student Interview: What's the Media Like in Your Country?

COM 130 students, your next blog assignment involves interviewing an international student on campus. Chapter 1 of your text discusses how media is essentially the United States' leading export. Think movies, books, television shows, etc. How many young people in other countries learn about us through our media that we export? The text also discusses the "free press" we enjoy here, compared to government-controlled press in other countries.

You are the interviewer, you ask the questions! Let your own curiosity guide you through the interview. Make your post at least 500 words. It's due Monday, 9/8. You also need to submit your post to TurnItIn. Don't forget to add hyperlinks, pictures or videos to enhance your storytelling. Perhaps, there is a funny commericial you'd like to show us!

If you are an international student at LU, you can certainly interview a student from a different country if you want to. However, it would be fine for you to answer the questions yourself on your blog about how the media in your home country differs from the United States' media, and observations you have made since living here.

Can You Identify With Gen Y?

COM 130 students, Friday in class we discussed your generation, "The Millenials" or "Generation Y". Here are the links from today's presentation:

What generation are you? Take this media test from Penelope Trunk, blogger for the Gen Y network, The Brazen Careerist. I would encourage all of you to visit their site, and check out the bloggers.

In class, we also watched these two segments about The Millenials from 60 Minutes. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2.

I'm sure all of you have opinions about your generation. So, here's what I'm curious to know and read about in your blogs:

•Is this you?
•Do you agree with these assumptions made about your generation?
•What do you disagree with?
•What advice would you give older generations to effectively reach out and communicate with you?

The Millenials blog post is due on Friday, September 5th. As for how long it needs to be, I say make it a full page (double-spaced) in Microsoft Word, for example. Don't forget to jazz it up with hyperlinks, video or photographs that may pertain to your post. This should also be submitted to TurnItIn by 9/5.

Also, now that your blogs are linked to this page, take time this weekend to visit your classmates and comment on their passionate posts.

How To Set Up Your New Blog - Due Friday, August 29th

I bet you can't wait to start blogging, COM 130 students! I've set up some links here, and created a video to help you get started. The first thing you'll need to do is decide which blogging platform you want to use. There are three free blogging sites I can recommend for you:

Blogger
Wordpress
Vox

All three offer free and easy set-up. Check them out and decide which one you like the best. Personally, I find Blogger to be the easiest. For those in the class a bit intimidated by setting up the blog, I recommend they use Blogger. It's the platform I'm most familiar with, and the one I'll be able to help students troubleshoot the most.

For those experienced bloggers in my class, feel free to use another blogging platform besides the three listed above (like if you already have a Typepad account, for example).

Here's a short 3-minute video I made to demonstrate how easy it is to create your first blog. (Please forgive the video quality here, you'll be able to see the layout of the set up pages, but the typing is out of focus)




After you've set up your new blogging account, experiment with the layout and design. Here's a link with info to help you as you start out. Add information to your profile. Remember, you are not required to use your last name. Have fun! Change things around until you feel comfortable managing the content on your blog. It's probably a good idea to change the time zone from "Pacific" to "Central".

Finally, it's time to type your first post. You'll have to type it first in Microsoft Word, because that's how you'll submit it to Turn It In. The topic of your first post is to write about something you are passionate about. Anything. The Olympics, quilting, checking your Facebook account...just make sure it's a topic you can write plenty about, and find hyperlinks pictures and video for. It's up to you, this is mostly a post to get you familiar with blogging, and with Turn It In.

Type a post equal to the length of this one. When you're done typing your content in Word and submitting it to Turn It In, copy and paste your words to the "posting" area of your new blog. Be sure to add hyperlinks, pictures and even video, just to play around. If you can't figure out how to do these, try using the "Help" menu, or Google it. Any help you need managing your new blog is available on the web somewhere. I also request that you add a "subsciptions" option to your blog, so I and your fellow classmates can get regular updates about your work. Check out the first item on the right side of this page if you need an example of what a subscriptions button looks like.

When you've completed all of this, e-mail me the web address of your brand new blog. I'll link it to this home page. Check my profile and the class syllabus for my e-mail address.

Happy blogging!