Get Connected- WVNCC Blog

Getting Connected

Get Connected – Everyone’s doing it!

When people think of social media, they usually think of sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter.  Most people do not take social media and these sites too seriously; they think of them as a way to connect with family and friends or as a way to kill boredom while browsing the internet.

This is really no longer the case.  West Virginia Northern’s New Martinsville campus realizes this and is finding new ways to connect with students using these tools, whether it is by alerting students of important information such as class or campus cancellations through Twitter and text messaging or whether it is by telling the students about important campus events through this blog.

Students are not only seeing the importance of these tools through the campus Twitter feed and blog though, but they are also learning more about the power of these tools through a new social media course offered Thursday nights in Room 110 from 6-8:45 PM at the New Martinsville campus.  Mr. Thomas Myslinksy, instructor of Northern’s new Social Media course, wants his students to think of more than just the basics of social media sites.  Mr. Myslinksy will not only have students covering the “hows of all the social media tools but more importantly the whys.” Students will discover that social media is to “utilize through the web, the ability to make connections and learn…making people want to be part of your community.”

Students will learn the importance that social media tools can have when it comes to spreading the word about businesses.   And although students will be using and discussing popular sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, one other site that will be discussed and used in the course is Linked-In. Linked-In is a business/career oriented site for people who want to learn and make connections.  Users are able to join groups and connect with former colleagues and classmates.

Another surprising aspect of Myslinksy’s course is the blog that is used for the course.  Students will be accessing a WordPress blog on the web at http://smwtwvncc2011s.wordpress.com Here, students will find general course information, the syllabus, assignments, required text readings, and other important information about the course.

February 9, 2011