Strategies & best practices in

implementing social media in

public relations courses

Karen Freberg, Ph.D.Assistant Professor Department of CommunicationUniversity of Louisvillekaren.freberg@louisville.eduTwitter: @kfreberg

National Communication Association Annual ConventionNew Orleans, LANovember 17 – 20th, 2011

Overview Public relations continues to play an essential and changing role in

society, requiring the regular reassessment of the education of future public relations practitioners.

The demands of the current economy and the ever-changing digital environment is challenging public relations practitioners and scholars to constantly evolve their research and practices in the discipline to meet the expectations of their stakeholders.

Having social media incorporated throughout the public relations courses will allow professors to feel more connected and up-to-date with their students.

Social Media in the

Classroom

Growing trend in implementing new technology into the classroom as well as engaging in conversation outside the classroom

Understanding new technologies that focuses on how to communicate to various publics like social media does also creates a link to theoretical foundations and applied principles of PR. This paper will explore the background of both social media

and public relations while discussing the strategies and various activities that can be used in the classroom.

Overview of strategies and assignments to implement social media into courses for future PR professionals

Purpose of Paper

Setting up Course Tumblr site

Spring 2011; Dr. Courtney Childers & Karen Freberg Course: Social Media for

Advertising and Public Relations

Social Media sites for Course: Tumblr & Twitter (@490Social Media)

Hyperlinked Student Blogs Students contributed one

post related to the week’s discussion for the week

Were to provide at least two comments to each weekly post by the other students

Wide range of assignments and activities during course

Course structure Undergraduates and graduate students Sample of Topics

covered: Intro to Social media, ethics and legal implications, Privacy, social

networking, microblogging, visual and video sharing, social gaming, crisis communications, virtual worlds, augmented reality, mobile technologies, and small business / politics in social media to name a few.

Assignments Personal blog Managing online reputation Foursquare Assignment Presentations Campaign Proposal

Personal blogs“No matter what, the very first piece of social media real estate I’d start with is a blog.”

Chris Brogan, New Marketing Labs

Student Personal Blog for Course The students were all asked to maintain and

personalize their own blogs during the course of the semester.

One of the more established forms of online media presently among advertising and public relations professionals are blogs.

During the class, students were asked to create their own personal blog to write insightful, well-researched, and thorough blog posts on topics related to social media in advertising and public relations.

Requirements for Introduction to Blog Assignment (New Bloggers)1.Set up a Personal Blog on either of the following platforms: 1) Blogger (http://www.blogger.om) 2) WordPress (http://wordpress.com/) or 3) Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com) 2.Create a name for your Blog and claim your domain name (ex. www.karenfreberg.com)3.Choose a template and theme that you like and reflects your personality and reputation. (Choosing a Blog Theme for WordPress)4.Set up an About Page for your Blog where you have a:

Professional picture of yourself Email Address Twitter Username (ex. @kfreberg) Brief Introduction of yourself (ex. education,

professional interests, etc)5.First Blog Post: Write an introduction post on your blog introducing yourself, where you are from, goals after graduation, areas of interest in PR / Advertising, goals for the upcoming semester in Social Media Class, and what are your long term goals for your blog – will you continue it after this class and graduation?

Optional: Can also do a video blog introduction of yourself and embed video in blog post.

6.Set up a Sitemeter Account (Traffic Analyzer) for your blog (http://www.sitemeter.com/) - Free Account Option.Optional: Card.ly widget (http://card.ly/) Set up a Sitemeter Account (Traffic Analyzer) for your blog (http://www.sitemeter.com/) - Free Account Option., Twitter feed (if you have a Twitter Account), or a LiveFeedJit Feed (www.live.feedjit.com ).Optional: Create a blogroll where you list five advertising and five PR blogs you would like to link to your blog this semester.

Requirements for Introduction to Blog Assignment (Veteran Bloggers)

1.Write an introduction post on your blog introducing yourself, where you are from, goals after graduation, areas of interest in PR / Advertising2.Reflect and discuss where you see your blog going for the upcoming year – what are areas you want to focus in on for your blog topics? How does your blog reflect your online reputation? What are your long term goals for the blog (ex. recognition in the industry, profession, school, etc)3.Set up a Sitemeter Account (Traffic Analyzer) for your blog (http://www.sitemeter.com/) - Free Account Option.4.Add an additional widget for blog such as Card.ly widget (http://card.ly/) , Twitter feed (if you have a Twitter Account), or a LiveFeedJit Feed (www.live.feedjit.com ). – or embed a video introduction of yourself in your introduction blog post for the class.Optional: Card.ly widget (http://card.ly/) Set up a Sitemeter Account (Traffic Analyzer) for your blog (http://www.sitemeter.com/) - Free Account Option., Twitter feed (if you have a Twitter Account), or a LiveFeedJit Feed (www.live.feedjit.com ).Optional: Create a blogroll where you list five advertising and five PR blogs you would like to link to your blog this semester.

Managing Online Reputation

One of the important elements in being a social media professional and practitioner is not only being aware of your corporate or business online presence, but also being aware of your own online presence as an individual and professional in advertising and public relations.

In other words, students in public relations have to be aware of their overall online personal and reputation rather about what ideal self they strive to be.

A reputation has many attributes, but for the most part it is a latent construct that encompasses the “character, conscience, or credibility” of the individual or entity in question (Jackson, 2004, p. 43). Social media such as Facebook and Twitter have become tools for managing

reputation online, with both positive and negative outcomes.

Overview of Managing Online Reputation Assignment: Discuss your overall goals for your online reputation management practices for this class and beyond. Some examples can be establishing credibility and trust as a resource in social media community on specific topic or industry, engaging in online community by sharing expertise and knowledge, get mentions and other references to blog from others, managing proactive reputation to obtain a job after graduation, etc. Make sure to state specific objectives that you have set in regards to your online reputation management efforts.Personal Reputation Online Overview: Discuss and analyze your online bio presented through social media sites – blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. This includes providing the bio that you list yourself on each of these sites. This can be visualized through a table in your paper.

Online reputation monitoring and analytics: Reflect on your overall traffic and mentions on blog posts, Facebook, Retweets, Followers on Twitter, LinkedIn connections, etc. How many mentions have you had on your blog, comments, or site visits over the course of this semester so far, Klout score (www.klout.com).

Reflections on online reputation building: Discuss how your blog and the information you are sharing with others through social media is enhancing your online reputation – both personally and professionally.

o Discuss the characteristics that you consider you possess that has helped build your online reputation (ex. personality characteristics, information sharing behavior, engaging consistently and professionally with followers and others through social media, etc).

o Think about future trends and goals you have for your online reputation for the rest of the semester and once you graduate, etc.

o What were your perceptions before and after this assignment in regards to online reputation management?

Other: Items to include in your paper: 1) List of profiles on social media 2) Tables and screen shots displaying social media traffic or influence via social media; and 3) Tables listing URLS and Profiles of Social Media Outlets (ex. Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Blog)

Other Assignments Foursquare Assignment

Analyze local business or company using Foursquare from a critical perspective + addressing potential issues and challenges (privacy and ethical consideration)

Interview professional in charge of Foursquare account (PR and Marketing professional)

Graduate Student Presentations Graduate students in course presented 30 min presentation on topic of

the week Video recorded presentation + made copies for students to bring to job

interviews or show employers their potential in discussing and presenting on social media topics

Incorporated into personal blog + online portfolio

Crisis communication and social media scenario activity

Campaign Group Presentations & Proposals

Future assignments Infographics (Resumes / Topics) Guest blog posts Mobile apps / augmented reality applications for PR Data mining

Best Practices Integrating research and practitioner perspectives with social media.

Provide students with real examples and professionals to come into class to talk about social media implementation. PR / Advertising / Consultants Face-to-face / Skype & Google+

Being part of the online community – Social Media Club.

Online reputation management practice and exposure.

Being an expert in social media means living, breathing, and tweeting it every day. Take same approach with looking at technology trends like the local, national, and international news.

Stay on top of latest trends – evolve and change syllabi accordingly (ex. mobile technology and case studies related to this).

Don’t be afraid to test new assignments and ideas in course.

Best practices, cont. Promote participation-collaboration environment in and outside of class.

Technology is indeed changing, but it is also changing how we teach public relations. Content is still king and defining the experiences among our key audiences, students, and ourselves in the profession.

Importance of exploring avenues and mediums that shape and influence perceptions and experiences for audiences within PR.

Viewing social media and networks as your personal switchboard and operating system – all medium channels are interconnected across networks and mobile devices

Participation in curating and co-creation of knowledge and experiences to share relevance

Provide students with resources they can use beyond the class.

Evaluate and measure opinions and attitudes in class throughout class

Keep in contact with students after class – job opportunities and internships based on course work and presentations

Conclusion

Overall – in order to be successful with social media in PR courses….

“There are no magic wands, no hidden tricks, and no secret handshakes that can bring you immediate success, but with time, energy, and determination you can get there.”

Darren Rowse, Founder of Problogger

Any questions or comments?Thank you very much.

Karen Freberg, Ph.D.Email: karen.freberg@louisville.edu Website: www.karenfreberg.comBlog: www.karenfreberg.com/blogTwitter: @kfreberg

Social media resourceswww.karenfreberg.com/becomingsocial.htm