The 13 Social Media Categories - According to Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

This semester, I am focused on how professors and other higher education professionals can incorporate easy-to-read and understand infographics to help others understand potentially complicated information.

Here's the information that could be perceived as a complicated concept. If you've ever read the Social Media Bible book, I know that you've discovered the various social media categories introduced in the book. This book has not been updated in awhile and social media is changing DAILY. This means that I had to make my own list of social media technologies.

Here it is!

This infographic represents an updated list of social media technology categories to reflect the changing social media landscape.

by Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards - @drjtedwards

Executive Director of the Texas Social Media Research Institute & Associate Professor of

Communication Studies at Tarleton State University

Here's the text copy of the infographic.

1 - Multi-Focused Social Media

This category includes social media incorporating three or more of the social media categories listed below as primary features for users of the technology. Example - LinkedIn, Facebook (pictures, video, live-casting, commerce, gaming-focused)

2 - Photo-Focused Social Media 

Example - Instagram, Pinterest

3 - Video-Focused Social Media

Example - YouTube, Vimeo

4 - Audio-Focused Social Media

Example - Soundcloud, Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora

5 - Social Media for Content Curators

Example - Flipboard, Stumble Upon, RSS Feeds

6 - Blogging

Example - Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr

7 - Microblogging

Example - Twitter

8 - Commerce-Focused Social Media 

Example - Amazon, EBay, Offer Up, Varage Sale, LetGo

9 - Rating-Focused Social Media

Example - Amazon, Yelp, Trip Advisor

10 - Anonymous Social Media

Example - Livewire, Yik Yak, Sarahah

11 - Gaming-Focused Social Media 

Example - MPORG - MultiPlayer Online Role Playing Games

(World of Warcraft, Minecraft, League of Legends)

12 - Learning-Focused Social Media

Example - Coursera, Lynda, Udemy, Blackboard

13 - Business-Focused Social Media

Example - Asana, Slack, Yammer, Sharepoint, Basecamp

References

Aichner, T. & Jacob, F. (2015, March). Measuring the Degree of Corporate Social Media Use. International Journal of Market Research, 57

Safko, L. (2012). The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success. Wiley Press.

Please let me know what you think!

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

My Social Media Channels!
Of Course You Follow Me on Twitter! @drjtedwards
I Am Also on Instagram! http://www.instagram.com/drjtedwards/
Have You Subscribed on YOUTUBE yet?
Become a Fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook!
If You Love Periscope as Much as I Do...Follow Me There! - http://www.periscope.com/drjtedwards/
Email Me! I am PR Friendly! - jennifertedwards@gmail.com

University Faculty - We Have an Easier Way to Take Attendance!

Virtual attendance? Sign me up! I enjoy the Student Success Collaborative system to take attendance and I wanted to encourage others to do the same! It also functions as an early alert system.

If you take attendance on another system, the data just LIVES on that system and no one can know if a student is experiencing difficulty in multiple classes. The Student Success Collaborative system is a game changer for faculty who are concerned about student success.

Here's the email that I sent to faculty:

[University] Faculty,

We are excited about the new Student Success Collaborative system at Tarleton State! Through this system, you can:

- Raise early alerts for undergraduate students in your classes without logging into the system
- Take digital attendance
- Create events for undergraduate students in your classroom and remind them of the event via email/text.
- Send proactive email messages to your undergraduate students.

After you complete this form (and watch the video), we will provide you with access to log-in to the Student Success Collaborative system. - http://tinyurl.com/SSCFacultyAccess

If you have any questions, please email jtedwards@tarleton.edu or send a message to @drjtedwards on Twitter (at anytime).

Please share this form with your colleagues.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
Assistant Vice-President for Student Success and Multicultural Initiatives
Tarleton State University

In English

The Result

We had a great response (viewers on the YouTube video) and accesses to the EAB platform. I am totally focused on academic analytics!

Have you adopted a similar campaign? Do you have any suggestions or questions for me?

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

My Social Media Channels!
Of Course You Follow Me on Twitter! @drjtedwards
I Am Also on Instagram! http://www.instagram.com/drjtedwards/
Have You Subscribed on YOUTUBE yet?
Become a Fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook!
If You Love Periscope as Much as I Do...Follow Me There! - http://www.periscope.com/drjtedwards/
Email Me! I am PR Friendly! - jennifertedwards@gmail.com

Higher Education Technology Campaign - How to Print Your Schedule and Email Your P

This semester, we are utilizing the Education Advisory Board's Student Success Collaborative software to communicate with students. I definitely love this software for communication campaigns! I mean, I LOVE the advising scheduling feature, but I completely admire the ability to message specific groups of students.

When I discovered that some students experienced difficulty accessing and printing their schedule, I jumped at the opportunity to incorporate the scheduling feature in the Student Success Collaborative software as a back-to-school campaign! I also made sure that the videos were captioned and in English/Spanish.

On the first day of school, I sent the following email to all FTIC students at 8:05 am:

Do you want an EASIER way to check (and print) your schedule for this semester? Log on to http://tarleton.campus.eab.com/

Watch this Video for Step-by-Step Instructions in English
How to Print Your Schedule and Email Your Professors on SSC@Tarleton State (English)
https://youtu.be/GfCAoFZMo5c

Watch this Video for Step-by-Step Instructions in Spanish
How to Print Your Schedule and Email Your Professors on SSC@Tarleton State (En Espanol)
https://youtu.be/WQtbHNkgADo

For more information, please contact Student Success and Multicultural Initiatives (968-9480) or just reply to this email.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
Assistant VP for Student Success and Multicultural Initiatives

In English

En Espanol

The Result

We had a great response (viewers on the YouTube video) and accesses to the EAB platform. I am totally focused on academic analytics!

Have you adopted a similar campaign? Do you have any suggestions or questions for me?

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

My Social Media Channels!
Of Course You Follow Me on Twitter! @drjtedwards
I Am Also on Instagram! http://www.instagram.com/drjtedwards/
Have You Subscribed on YOUTUBE yet?
Become a Fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook!
If You Love Periscope as Much as I Do...Follow Me There! - http://www.periscope.com/drjtedwards/
Email Me! I am PR Friendly! - jennifertedwards@gmail.com

Teaching Social Media to Graduate Students - A Syllabus Preview and Blackboard Course Review

I absolutely love working with graduate students - especially graduate students who are interested in working in the social media industry. I teach courses each semester focused on social media. These courses include:

- New Communication Technology
- Applied Social Media
- Computer-Mediated Communication

This semester, I am teaching the New Communication Technology course. I finally finished my graduate syllabus last night and I am proud of the progress. Also, this is the first time that I have not required a research paper. I am aiming for full-impact coursework and for a fun process for me.

Click the image of the syllabus to view the ENTIRE syllabus from this semester. I always update the same Google Document each semester to avoid updating links on Blackboard. Updating external links is great! I am very excited about this syllabus and I cannot wait to make the course navigation video. Here's the course navigation video from last semester:

If you have any questions for me, please ask away. I am happy to help!

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

My Social Media Channels!
Of Course You Follow Me on Twitter! @drjtedwards
I Am Also on Instagram! http://www.instagram.com/drjtedwards/
Have You Subscribed on YOUTUBE yet?
Become a Fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook!
If You Love Periscope as Much as I Do...Follow Me There! - http://www.periscope.com/drjtedwards/
Email Me! I am PR Friendly! - jennifertedwards@gmail.com