Experience Matters

Social Media Mayhem?

We can all agree Social Media is here to stay. It has been fascinating to watch the evolution as it has naturally become common place for individuals and organizations globally. There are countless examples of the great things the social space brings; reuniting old friends, tying people with like interests together, career networking and meeting new friends are just a few. Businesses are tapping into the social media space and continuing to find new ways to make it a stronger marketing tool. The technology is there to allow most anything and that’s exactly what we’re witnessing.

Take last week’s news report out of Ryerson University in Toronto. A student has been accused of cheating by his engineering faculty for running an online study group via Facebook. If the student is found to be in the wrong he faces potential expulsion. For details on this story please view CBC’s story.

You don’t have to look very hard to find many student “support” groups on Facebook. They are there for high schools, colleges, universities, you name it. While at University I relied on study groups (big and small) for support and direction (wink, wink). Looking back, these study groups were very “manual” and quite boring when compared to those now on social sites like Facebook. What has not changed is the simple fact that both groups now and then have the same result – students were able to share work, assignments, answers, etc. Facebook just makes it 100% public, instead of just being between students. Social sites like Facebook also make it much easier to share information - AKA - Cheat?

Class “support” groups are all over the social media scene:

This news piece has instigated a major debate. The outcome of this one incident will conclude with a decision by the academic institution. It’s really not much different from the issues cell phones and PDAs posed a few years back for these same institutions. Information is going places and it’s not going backwards – institutions like schools, colleges and universities need to get in the game. Information can be transferred fast and can be accessed via many emerging methods. At the same time students need to think about all the eyes out there. The net will likely be an increase in private networks (Ning, CrowdVine, etc.) being developed by students – social sites like Facebook may not be the best place to post solutions to assignments going forward. Public online activity is not protected and safe just because it’s occurring “online.”

Class assignments, homework and cheat sheets are easy to locate:

In the midst of this garboil, do not lose sight of what’s most important – social media is still maturing. This one example demonstrates this point very well. Underneath the immediate facts (student rights vs. academic rules) lie many other areas still to be fully tested and sorted out; privacy, digital rights, plagiarism to name a few. How social media is used by individuals and corporations is still being tested and will continue to be tweaked and adjusted until it fits the given situation or occasion.

Although it is not a 1-to-1 comparison, businesses should be paying attention. As the space continues to emerge and mature there will be many more “car wrecks” to watch and learn from in the social media realms.