I’m assigning myself the same assignment I give to my students in most of my classes at the end of the semester: Write a reflection on what you’ve learned, what you liked, what you didn’t like. What could be better in this class? Students also fill out confidential evaluations, but I ask them to be […]
I always learn something from my students. I love having my students write blogs because I think it’s good for their professional portfolio and because I can learn so much from them. I just finished grading a group of freestyle blogs — no prompt from me for the assignment. Write about what you want, preferably […]
I’d call it one of the best ideas ever for Animal Planet. A Puppy Bowl. Two hours of puppies playing. And all of the puppies are from shelters. But Animal Planet didn’t stop there. Now there are tail-gating dogs. A waterbowl cam. The National Anthem with police dogs. A sideline re-parrot-er tweeting during the game. […]
What’s my sentence? That’s the question I asked my social media students to ponder for their assignment this week. I wanted to join in because I think it’s an important exercise to distill what you want and who you are. I am lucky enough to work at a job I love with people I enjoy […]
I am a Twitter advocate, someone who loves the ability to converse, communicate, get information, links, jokes and, yes, snark. It’s my early warning radar for news and for pop culture. I understand its limitations and drawbacks. I don’t mind the fire hose, but I probably do spend too much time on it. (New Year’s […]
A new Pew study about Twitter use wasn’t surprising to me, an avid Twitter user. Certainly my experience as a college journalism professor bears out the findings that Twitter users are young, mobile and educated. The research showed 8 percent of people on Twitter get their news there. What did surprise me was the statistic […]
Social media is full of snark and worse. It can be a waste of time. But there are moments when the connection and communication makes it all worth it. Sports Illustrated writer Richard Deitsch tapped into those moments of connection and sharing by asking a simple question: How many of you have a photograph of […]
The question is a continuing one: How often should one tweet in the course of a day? How much is too much? On the face of it, it’s a difficult question to answer. It depends. But it’s actually an easy answer. Tweet when you have something to say, something of value to add to the […]
I love social media. There. I’ve said it. I think it’s important for my job to figure out what’s here and what’s coming next. While I don’t pretend to be able to figure out the future of journalism, of news, I am confident there will be a social, interactive element. I don’t love all social […]