Media: A look back and forward

While I have been part of media since the late 1970s, I have witnessed the evolution of ideas, norms and tools of the media. My first introduction to media occurred in elementary school when I was a Girl Scout reporter and I handwrote a column called the “Girl Scout News”. It was a thrill to see my byline and my story in “print.” At the time, I earned my Girl Scout badge for “The Scribe”. Over the years, I learned how to transform my writing from hand to typewriter to word processor to linotype to Compugraphic to personal computer.
By the time Apple came out with its first computer I was a journalist banging out copy on a Royal typewriter and even quite journalism when I was forced to input more than 1000 inches of copy into the Radio Shack TR-80. (It has one line of copy running across a monitor and you transferred it via a modem.) At this time, I still only had taken a few classes at the community college and did not have a college education. In 1987, it was a thrill to have FAX machines. Just think, I didn’t have to drive to get a contract signed. It could be signed and faxed. However , thermal papers did dissolved over time.
In the 1990s, I went back to school and embraced creative writing and instructional technology. I learned how to use a variety of programs and even did an analysis on what it would take to convert a television station to digital. I saw it coming---this digital age.
By the late 1990s, I was continuing my education and learning as much as I could about software, HTML and other programming codes in hope of changing my career path online. It would take until about 2005 before I had enough skills and understanding to embrace the entire digital concept.
As a journalist, I saw the decline of print, so I have studied online media, video, social media and other online techniques. Much of what I have learned is through my classes with Richard Beach. (Thanks!)
I am an avid fan of Facebook and I use it regularly to interact with classmates, co-workers, unknown friends and business acquaintances. I even have created groups that I would deem successful. For example, I created “You Know You’re From Philomath, Oregon if”…within about six weeks it had about 700 members. (the town has about 4,000 populations, so I think this is great.) I have also created other groups for business. One such group is “My Referral Network.”
I use Facebook as a networking tool, so my persona is professional in nature. However, I know many people who have “fake” profiles, so they can be whomever they choose to be online. I don’t have a problem with this unless they are attempting to scam someone out of time, money or emotions.
For business, I have created and manage several business pages including: Wink’s Old Town Grill, Warm Mineral Springs, Help-U-Sell Corporate and others.
From my research, I have found that more and more people use Facebook for both social and business purposes. It is still in the infancy stage, so there is a lot of work to be done in researching how people use it. (I have written a paper on this topic, which I will share with you.)
As for using Facebook to teach, I do. I use Facebook to teach my students about a variety of things. For example, corporations can use Facebook or Facebook-like social media to collaborate. I can point at media trends to my students and also encourage them to become virtual community leaders with groups and other pages. It is also quite interesting to see how social norms change online. For example, remember when you met someone and you were not interested in pursuing the relationship, you just said, “Let’s be friends.” Everyone knew what that meant. Today, people can say, “Let’s just be Facebook friends.” What does that mean? I would think it is a big slap in the face in the virtual world to be relegated to being on someone’s list (probably hidden) on Facebook. Something to think about!
I also do train Realtors how to use Facebook as a tool for their business. Of course, the goal is to move the prospect off of Facebook into a sale funnel, but to get social media to work for you, it’s important to offer fresh, relevant content to keep the folks coming back for more before moving them to the funnel.
I see Facebook as a tool for communication. It is engaging, addictive and a fun way to keep up in this very busy world.