The First Steps Toward Social Media In Higher Education

A few days ago, I met with a group of educators and early adopters of Social Media from North Carolina Central University. The purpose of the meeting was to initiate a discussion on Twitter in higher education classes. As the informal conversation evolved, we found ourselves talking about Facebook, Lazyfeed, LinkedIn, and the best practices surrounding their use.

As the meeting came to an end, we agreed to come back together after the holidays and hold a brown bag lunch. The idea is to begin bringing social media into the forefront of our university and identify other supporters and active participants.

My homework assignment was to create a Facebook group and invite the other three people. From there, we would begin connecting other supporters on campus.

In order to create a Facebook group, I would have to have a group name. Unfortunately, we didn't have one yet. I asked for some ideas during the meeting, but it was obvious that none of us thought that far ahead.

In my mind, I was already thinking about the Triangle Social Media Club and all the work they've been doing in the area. I thought we could make a connection with them and save ourself some time trying to establish something new. Additionally, there might be a naming convention for higher education.

To my surprise, the Social Media Club was already working on connecting colleges and universities. As of today, there are only a handful of schools listed but the dialog is well on its way. So far, there have been a number of online chat sessions between the Social Media Club and university representatives.

Many of the issues and ideas shared between university representatives were focused on educating decision-makers and implementing curriculum within the classroom. For me, the first order of business was to create a name. So, for the time being, assuming everyone agrees, I created a Facebook group named Social Media Club Education - North Carolina Central University (SMCEdu-NCCU).

If you're interested in supporting the cause, feel free to stop in and join us. Additionally, I would love to hear your thoughts on developing a social media user group in a university setting? What are your issues? Ideas? Recommendations? Talking points? Successes? Let's talk in the comment section below.