Changing the View - Using Social Media for Real Results

I always enjoy the opportunity to speak to college and graduate students. In particular, I challenge myself to get them to view the world in a slightly different way. This morning was one of those opportunities. The Brown School at Washington University invited me to speak to their course Social Work Practice with Organizations and Communities course.

My part was to discuss the impact of technology and social media on the non-profit. While all were users of social media, most had not made the leap to understand the benefit of using in a work situation. We discussed the need for strategy, how real time knowledge can be gleaned from the internet in general and Twitter in particular, how real organizations are incorporating digital into the ways they engage their stakeholders, even showed some examples of funds raised using these tools.

Understanding of the tools requires a foundation of knowledge and a measurable objective. Helping today's graduate student understand how they make the transition from personal social media user to savvy employee who leverages social media is the challenge! I hope that my presentation helped to change their view of social media from incredibly personal to one of strategic opportunity!