Social Media @ GSSW

The Boston College Graduate School of Social Work uses several social media websites to promote social and professional networking, as well as GSSW news and events. Below is a list of GSSW social media websites and ways you can learn and share with these tools.

GSSW Social Media Sites

Facebook

http://www.bc.edu/gsswfacebook

Facebook is a social networking website that connects people with friends, family, colleagues, and others. The site offers a variety of messaging tools, and members can share links, photos, and videos with each other. The GSSW’s Facebook page aims to brings together alumni, current students, faculty and staff, offering the latest in School news, events, and online discussions.

Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/BCGSSW

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service for people to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. People write short updates (often called “tweets”) of 140 characters or fewer. These messages are posted to your Twitter home page and your followers’ home pages.

The GSSW’s Twitter page includes news and events that are published on our website as well as updates that are not included on our website, such as student updates, meetings, social events, special promotions, and trending topics related to social work and GSSW.

http://www.bc.edu/gsswlinkedin

LinkedIn is the leading career networking website. It allows users to create a free, professional profile to showcase their work experience and expertise, forge meaningful business connections, and share career opportunities. It also allows users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. The people in the list are called “Connections” and users can invite anyone to become a connection. These connections can be used to gain an introduction to someone you wish to know through a mutual, trusted contact as well as to find jobs, people and business opportunities recommended by someone in one’s contact network.

The GSSW LinkedIn Group page offers online discussions, news, job postings, and group updates.

YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/BCGSSW

YouTube is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through the Web. It allows people to easily upload and share video clips.

The new GSSW YouTube profile (a.k.a. “channel”) will soon list videos from recent events, including lectures and presentations. People can search for specific topics or browse channels that interest them.

Boston College Social Media Sites

BCshare

http://www.bc.edu/bcshare

BCshare is Boston College’s personal web resource for students, faculty, and staff, providing simple tools for sharing class information, photos and ideas within the BC Community. In addition to creating wikis and group forums, you can easily post your resume, create a blog or photo album and web pages.

View BCshare documentation and FAQ’s

FAQ's

What is Social Media?
Social media refers to the sharing of content, including writing, video, audio, and photos. People have been sharing content online for a long time through email, instant messaging, and others, but what makes social media new is the more advanced technology and delivery methods that make content more accessible. Some examples of social media sites include: blogs, online forums, social networking, social bookmarking, photo and video sharing, and wikis. Specific social media sites that are commonly used in higher education include: blog sites, iTunes podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Delicious, YouTube, and Flickr. But there are many, many more.

What is the difference between social media and social networking?
Social media and social networking are often used interchangeably, but social networking really relates to a form of social media that works to expand one’s business or social contacts by making connections with other people. Examples of social networking include Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace.

If I use social media will people be able to see my private information online?
Privacy is very common concern regarding social media, particularly in higher education. It’s important to understand that you have control over what personal information, if any, is published online. Facebook, for example, has extensive privacy settings which allow you to control who can or cannot see your profile information. By default only people you choose to befriend can see your profile. You can opt to extend that by making your profile public to anyone or you choose to not befriend anyone and keep your profile hidden.

With that said, it’s good practice to treat social media like you would any other form of electronic communication, such as email. Once you send an email message you lose control of that information, which can potentially be copied or forwarded to someone else.

Where can I learn more about social media at GSSW?
The following are some great introductions to social media:

Just What is Social Media, Exactly?
Description: What is social media, and is social media actually media in the traditional sense of the word?
Source: Mashable.com, a social media news blog covering new websites and social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube.

Social Media in Plain English
Description: A simple story by Common Craft that illustrates the forces shaping social media.
Source: YouTube.com

10 Must-Try Social Media Sites for College Students
Description: 10 must-try social media sites that will help students network, collaborate, communicate, and make their daily college tasks a bit easier.
Source: Mashable.com

If you have additional questions about how the Graduate School of Social Work is using social media, please email us at gssw@bc.edu and include "SOCIAL MEDIA" in the subject line.