Panelists discuss social media at VCU

A VCU student, recent college graduate, professor, recruiter and tech blogger all brought different perspectives to a panel discussion about social media this week at Virginia Commonwealth University.

 

"Tweet That!" - a two-hour question and answer session - explored social media's potential in the realms of career, branding, community building and education.

 

Marcus Messner , an assistant professor in VCU's School of Mass Communications, moderated Monday's discussion, which featured four panelists.

 

“I think social media is here to stay,” said panelist Trevor Dickerson , a 21-year-old VCU student who has already established a media services company.

Social media such as Facebook and Twitter are expanding rapidly into the realms of education, career building and branding, making them a hot topic among educators and businesses.

The technological aspects and future of social media would be enough material for a semester-long class, said panelist Generra Peck, a recent graduate of the University of Richmond with a degree in administration/marketing.

Web-based social networking now plays a large role in career development and company recruiting, said panelist Candace Nicolls, the recruiting manager at Ironworks Consulting.

Ironworks Consulting, a consulting firm with a focus on Web-based technologies, often employs social media outlets for finding new employees.

“I use LinkedIn more than anything,” said Nicolls, adding that for recruiting, she prefers the professional networking site to Monster.com and other résumé-posting and job-hunting services.

“You attract what you project,” said panelist Jolie O’Dell, a tech blogger and consultant to publishers, entrepreneurs and advertising and marketing agencies.

Panelists also offered tips to professionals and students who are seeking to build an online profile that will appeal to prospective employers.

“Recruiters are Googling you,” Nicolls reminded students.

At the event, sponsored by the Social Media Club EDU-Richmond Chapter, panelists suggested that you should:

• Control what content is out there about you (this includes photos)
• Keep your audience in mind when posting things about yourself online
• Be the best version of yourself online
• Research your industry and see where professionals hang out online
• Produce content that a future employer could see

“If you’ve been drinking, you might not want to be tweeting,” said Dickerson, who runs a news Web site called Downtown Short Pump.

But being professional online does not mean that you can’t be personal or fun, said Peck, a social media enthusiast interested in the use of social media in higher education and marketing.

“You can be personal without being embarrassing.”

Despite social media’s growing importance in the career field, 54 percent of companies still block social media, Nicolls said. This means that an Internet presence can never replace the need for face-to-face interaction.

“[Social media] is important,” said Nicolls, “but it’s not everything.”

Speaking to the future of social media, the panelists agreed that, though “fluid and evolving,” online networking is here to stay.

Dickerson anticipates more convergence among social media, meaning that different online applications (like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter) may become more integrated so that content can be easily shared among them.