Social media creates business opportunities

By Angela Penny
The Guardsman

A sophomore computer science student at Harvard University named Mark Zuckerberg launched thefacebook.com out of his dorm room six years ago.

Originally designed as a way for the students at Harvard to communicate with each other and share photos of themselves, Facebook has grown into the largest social network with over 350 million users and over 1,000 employees. Forbes magazine estimates Facebook’s minimum worth at $7.9 billion.

Like Zuckerberg, people in social media often create their own jobs by recognizing a need and filling it.

College students often don’t realize that they already have marketable skills such as texting and creating Facebook profiles, which, with a little polish, can be applied to the business world.

The Social Media Club, founded by Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells in March 2006 in San Francisco, unites people interested in making careers out of their social media use. There are now more than 72 chapters in nine countries.

Heuer and Wells recently hosted Social Media Camp at the Presidio Officer’s Club where 150 online networking professionals met to discuss, among other topics, how and why to use social media tools in industries like public relations, customer service and product development.

Christopher Allen, co-author of “iPhone in Action” and associate faculty at The Bainbridge Graduate Institute, led a discussion about social media and higher education.

“Students feel two ways about social media,” he said. “Half of them love it and half of them think it’s a big commercial waste of time. The first thing I do is teach them the importance of personalizing their experience and ensuring that they reflect what they are passionate about. They come around and see the positive opportunities that social media can bring.”

Social media democratizes the process of marketing by creating a conversation between marketers and consumers, instead of commercial products being broadcast through one-way communication. Non-profit endeavors benefit greatly from this since they often do not have large budgets for traditional marketing.

The Red Cross raised over $10 million for survivors of the Haiti Earthquake through a text message campaign, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Wells shared some insight on how college students might transition into a communications career using social media tools.

“A critical piece in social media education is teaching students the difference between texting your friend and texting a business professional,” she said.

City College student David McFarlane created a job for himself after hearing Chancellor Don Griffin speak a City College Inter Club Council meeting.

“I was very impressed by his speech,”  McFarlane said, “and realized that hardly any students would hear or even know about what he said. I thought social media could help him communicate directly with the students.”

Griffin hired McFarlane to help him with his outreach using online networking tools.

“I will help him and the Board of Governors send texts and video messages directly to the students’ phones. I’m going to set them up on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, for example,” McFarlane said

President Barack Obama is currently seeking a Social Networks Manager. The position requires knowledge of social networking Web sites. Applicants must also be able to “craft messages that move people to act, and know what actions will achieve the right impact at the right time,” according to a job posting on the president’s Web site.

“In this ever changing world of communications, tools come and go daily, so a key trait in any role will require someone who can respond quickly to change,” Wells said.

The City College Continuing Education department offers a computer course called “MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn: Get Connected” focused on creating and maintaining profiles, setting up a blog and integrating social networks.

For more information about the Social Media Club please visit their Web site at http://www.socialmediaclub.org/.