Social Media Community Group

The group will explore the implications of the integration of social media throughout higher education for an array of purposes (e.g., teaching, recruiting, advising, and more). Social media, for the purposes of this group, is defined as media which is used to build social networks and connections for sharing information via a mediated channel. It also is considered user-constructed media that is shared through social networks. In some cases, social media has been referred to as social networking sites (SnS) or tools or Web 2.0 technologies. More specifically, Boyd and Ellison (2007) describe "web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system" (para 4). Examples of social media may include Twitter, Facebook, Second Life, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, and more. This group meets at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference and uses the electronic discussion list to discuss issues throuhout the year.