s cial age By: Lily Ly & Darren Isomoto
The Social Age is a new column that shares the opinions and ideas of two Social Media Coordinators. Whether you're enthused as much as we are about the world of Social Media or want to learn more, The Social Age is where you can join in on the conversation. Social Media is a part of everything we do: Work. Play. Live. It’s 8:15 in the morning as I’m stepping out of my car to embark on my journey to the office. First, I pull out my iPhone to secure my reign as the “mayor” at Cal Poly Pomona Foundation on foursquare. Check-in. Next, I refresh my Twitter feed to see what’s hot this morning. Looks like #OscarBuzz is trending, let me share with my 169 followers what I think about this year’s nominations … “I’ve only seen Moneyball but would like to see War Horse.” Tweet. I’m still only halfway on my walk so I start scrolling through Instagram. Looks like my friend bought an expensive watch from the looks of an artsy sepia-toned photo he shared. I’ll double tap the adorable heart icon next to his photo. Like. Well, that only took less than 15 seconds. Now I’ll open up Facebook. A student asked what time the Bronco Bookstore closes today. I love easy questions. I answer with, “6:30 PM and we’ll open tomorrow at 7:45 AM.” Post. This is the life of a Social Media Coordinator. We refresh, check-in, share, tweet, like, post and upload. Whether we’re at our desks or simply walking, we’re constantly communicating. And that’s what it boils down to: social media is simply communication. As users, we catch up with old friends, share interesting stories, discover the latest trends, and meet new
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people. As marketers, we leverage social media as a valuable tool to engage and connect with our audience. Not only do we represent Foundation through various social media networks, we’re engaging in conversation with individuals on a personal level. In a constantly changing world, it’s difficult to stay afloat with the latest technologies. This is why we created this column – to help you grasp a better understanding of what social media is. It isn’t fancy digital jargon or something that only “kids these days” are doing. It’s all around us. As long as you have an interest in sharing your story or learning about the world around you, you too, can utilize social media. Let Social Age be your starting point. Here, we’ll put together posts about our work, our ideas and share the latest stories that interest us to you. I’m now approaching the office and as I’m about to open the door, a tweet chimes in from a movie critic in Chicago in response to my tweet earlier. He recommends War Horse but predicts that The Artist will take home the Oscar. Two more notification alerts pop-up. My friend just shamefully admitted that his expensive watch is a replica and that student thanked Bronco Bookstore for providing him with the information he needed. It’s 8:18 in the morning and I’ve reached out to 172 people. My day is just getting started.