pre-class check list - uwgb.edu...for assignment 2, you will be asked to research and report on...

| A p p l y i n g t i m e l e s s w i s d o m t o m o d e r n c o m m u n i c a t i o n c h a l l e n g e s

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Pre-Class Check List

Sign up for the Social Media Strategy Newsletter at

www.amazingSMstrategy.com

Rate the Social Media Fails on www.amazingSMstrategy.com See Fun tab.

Locate SMS book chapter resources, flash cards, and quizzes on www.amazingSMstrategy.com

Review the syllabus on the following pages. If you are up to the challenge,

then proceed to the next item.

Purchase the textbooks for the course.

Craft an “Instruction Manual” describing your personal “operating instructions” (Consult Prof. C’s website for examples www.uwgb.edu/clampitp click on “advice” or click on “guides” at http://www.drsowhat.com/).

http://www.amazingsmstrategy.com/



http://www.uwgb.edu/clampitp

http://www.drsowhat.com/


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Strategic Social Media Issues

Instructor: Phillip G. Clampitt, Ph.D., Blair Endowed Professor of Communication Office: MAC C336 Hours: TTh 10:45-11:30, T 3:30 – 4:45 and by appointment Phone: 465-2324 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.uwgb.edu/clampitp; www.DrSoWhat.com Twitter: @DrSoWhat

Course Overview: This course focuses on the application of social media strategy to contemporary challenges such as promoting an event, developing social media policies, and crafting training videos. The course revolves around four major assignments/projects: For Assignment 1, you will be asked to read and apply social media strategy concepts to your professional career. For Assignment 2, you will be asked to research and report on relevant studies that you will use to resolve a major social media challenge. For Assignment 3, you will be asked to synthesize your strategic insights and research to resolve a major social media challenge. This assignment represents the capstone project for the course. Assignment 4 completes the learning process by asking you to briefly analyze and critique your colleagues’ social media projects. The course is highly interactive. Your professor will guide you through the entire process by coaching you or your team through the process to craft a high-value, strategically sound, and launch-ready final project.

Textbooks and Readings:

• Renegades Write the Rules by Amy Martin (M) • Social Media Strategy: Tools for Professionals and Organizations by Phil Clampitt (C) • Current articles on social media

Read & Apply SMS Concepts

Research & Report on SM Studies

Synthesize & Resolve a SM Challenge

Analyze & Critique SM Projects

http://www.uwgb.edu/clampitp/ProfessorBio.htm

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.uwgb.edu/clampitp

http://www.phils7questions.com/

http://twitter.com/DrSoWhat


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Course Objectives: Students will be able to:

• Identify the characteristics of effective and ineffective social media strategies • Explain the 5 Cs of social media strategy to organizational leaders • Identify and summarize relevant social media research • Craft a high-value project grounded in sound strategic principles and contemporary

research • Assess the effectiveness of social media projects

Course Policies:

Timeliness – students are expected to meet the deadlines; in fact they are encouraged to work ahead in order to adapt to their personal and professional obligations.

Plagiarism - all work should be the product of the student's individual effort.

Written work - all daily work and major papers should be typed and conform to the UWGB writing policy guidelines. This is one mark of professionalism.

Extra credit - we do not assign and will not grade extra credit.

Grading: Your class grade is based on the following components:

Item % Description Assignment 1 10% Read and apply social media (SM) concepts

Assignment 2 30% Research and report on SM studies

Assignment 3 40% Synthesize and resolve a SM challenge

Assignment 4 20% Analyze and critique SM projects


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Grading Scale: All grading will be done on a "0 - 100%" scale which translates into the following letter grades:

A: 92% + C: 72 -78%

AB: 89 - 91% CD: 69 - 71%

B: 82 - 88% D: 60 - 68%

BC: 79 -81% F: Below 59%

Communication: One of the most important skills students learn at the university is how to effectively communicate with busy people. One key communication principle is to "select your communication channels based on your purpose and the attributes of the message." Therefore, we will use a variety of methods to communicate during the semester including:

Email: I check email ([email protected]) on a regular basis and should respond within 24 hours of your question. If not, then assume the message was lost in cyber heaven and re-send. This is my preferred method of communication for most “lean” items. Phone: If we need to have a richer communication forum, then a phone call would be advisable. Please email me the times you are available and I’ll give you call. Office Visits: I will always be available to discuss the right issues (e.g. rich issues involving confidential concerns, complex issues, personal advice, etc.) in the face-to-face channel. Please use email to set up a time.

mailto:[email protected]


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Tentative Schedule

Week Major Activities*

1 • Read Renegades Write the Rules by Amy Martin • Read SMS by Phillip G. Clampitt, (1-4) • Complete Quizzes and Quiz Commentary (1-4). Due Sunday 7 pm

2 • Read SMS (5-7) • Complete Quizzes and Commentary (5-7). Due Sunday 7 pm




6 • Prepare for Assignment 2 • If applicable, select & coordinate with colleagues for Assignment 3

7 • Post Research Spotlight 1 Due Sunday 7 pm



10 • Work on Assignment 3



13 • Work on Assignment 3 Due Sunday 7 pm

14 • Read colleagues’ posts

15 • Complete Assignment 4 Due Sunday 7 pm

*Note: Use email to coordinate with professor for coaching throughout the course


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Assignment 1 “Read & Apply” Social Media Strategy Ideas

Purpose: Over the years I’ve discovered that students learn best when they actively reflect on their progress. Crafting a brief commentary on your quiz results encourages that kind of reflection. Although I want you to do well on the quizzes, I’m less concerned with the your “grade” than I am with what you learned from the results. For a more complete explanation of the process please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HFEDAhNChY&feature=youtu.be Process: This is how I would approach this task:

1. Take the online quiz after you read the chapter 2. Review the score you received 3. Reflect on the answers you got correct and determine what helped you learn that

material 4. Reflect on the answers you got incorrect and determine the reason(s) for getting the

question incorrect 5. Briefly summarize your “reflections” (Bullets points work fine). The following format

works well: a. Statement of your scores (“I earned a 9 out of 10 on quiz X”) b. Statement about your correct answers (“The reasons I scored well on this quiz

were x, y, z”) c. Statement about your incorrect answers (“I missed questions 1 and 2 because I

misunderstood x, y, z”) d. Statement about how the ideas in the chapter apply to you personally and

professionally 6. Submit the document to the appropriate Dropbox at the D2L website

What You Can Expect: Remember that I’m looking for you to demonstrate that you are “learning how to learn” the material. Some examples of what NOT to do: 1. “I aced this quiz. I feel great!” (Comment: I love the emotion but there is no reflection.) 2. “I bombed this quiz. I just don’t get it.” (Comment: The emotions are understandable

but there is no reflection on how to improve.)

Evaluation: Your Quiz/Commentary grade will be determined by two factors: 1. Timeliness – Did you meet the deadline? (See schedule, usually 7 pm Sunday) 2. Successfully met criteria 5a – 5d above

Notes: A) Your grade is NOT based on the score of your quiz. B) I will read every response and will provide short feedback online. C) Grading is simple: 95 = Met deadline, successfully met criteria 5a – 5d above. 85 = Missed deadline by 12 hours and/or failed to complete 5a-5d. 0 = Completed after deadline.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HFEDAhNChY&feature=youtu.be


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Assignment 2 “Research & Report” on Social Media Ideas

Purpose: Research and report on social media scholarship that can be used for Assignment 3. For example, if your project is about developing a protocol for managing organizational crises via social media, then you would search for relevant scholarly articles or research studies that might be helpful in crafting your protocol. Or, if your project is to develop a 3-minute video on how your organization can optimize the use of Instagram, then you would want to identify relevant research about Instagram. Rationale: This is exactly what great social media strategists should do when tasked with a major challenge: they should find relevant studies and research, and then distill the key ideas from each research study into core, applicable ideas. The next step (Assignment 3) is synthesizing the research and your strategic know-how into resolving a particular organizational challenge. Major Activities: 1. Select one social media challenge from the list below. A couple of notes:

• You will be using the same challenge for Assignment 3 • You may do Assignment 3 with a partner, but Assignment 2 is to be done individually. If

you work with a partner, coordinate so that you’re not reporting on the same articles.

Develop a SM-based Campaign to…

Develop a 3-Minute Training Video on…

Address an Administrative Issue by…

• Promote an activity • Publicize an event • Promote a team • Build brand

awareness • Promote a blog • Manage a crisis • Promote an

organization • Sell a product

• Optimizing the use of two SM platforms

• Resisting SM propaganda • Building your personal

brand on SM • Identifying the difference

between a good post and bad post

• Preventing SM failures • Healthy SM use • Unhealthy SM use • Legal issues pertaining to

SM

• Developing a SM policy for an organization

• Crafting a SM triage system

• Developing a system for monitoring SM

• Creating guidelines for curating content

• Developing a SM measurement system (selecting the appropriate metrics)

• Creating a SM report • Crafting a SM assessment

process


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2. Create a pool of at least 10 potential articles to read. (Note: You’ll need at least 10 articles for Assignment 3.)

3. Select the three most useful articles. Note: If you are going to do Assignment 3 with a partner, then you need to make sure your team reviews six different articles.

4. Prepare a Research Spotlight brief similar to the one on the next page. Note: you’ll be doing three in total; one for each article.

5. Submit your Research Spotlight on the appropriate D2L dropbox.

6. Post your Research Spotlight on the appropriate D2L bulletin board.

7. Read your colleagues’ Research Spotlights on the bulletin board and comment when appropriate.

Requirements: • Three Research Spotlights posted on three successive weeks • Three comments on colleagues’ posts (one comment/week)

Evaluation:

• Utility of insights – Can the ideas in the brief be applied to real-world problems? • Depth of analysis – Does the brief indicate that you thought deeply about the issues? • Quality of insights and rationale – Does the brief go beyond the standard

recommendations advocated by self-ordained “social media gurus”? • Professional style - Does the brief adhere to professional standards (e.g., well organized,

one voice, proper design, well written, proper citations)?

Cautionary Note: One major question, of course, is “What counts as a scholarly article or research study?” Use these rules of thumb: a) avoid mere commentary or opinion pieces, b) try to find articles in journals, and c) check out the book website for the research abstracts as examples. This is exactly the format I’d like you to use for your 3 briefs on scholarly articles. And, you can always email your professor if you are unsure if the article counts as a legitimate research source. Helpful Hint: I discussed the issue of search with our reference librarian, Anna Merry. She provided the following insights about your search for relevant research:

I would recommend searching in Communication & Mass Media Complete or ABI/INFORM for “social media” in quotation marks, and using the limiters in the sidebar of the results page to select only scholarly/peer-reviewed articles and limit the years to whatever you consider recent (5 years?). For articles that do not have full text immediately available on that page, clicking the

https://libguides.uwgb.edu/COMM

https://libguides.uwgb.edu/ABI


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Find It button will tell you if we have full text available in one of our other databases, or allow you to request it through ILL which normally only takes about 2 days for an article to arrive digitally. The searches I described above will get you about 20,000 articles, so you will probably want to find a way to narrow your focus. This could be adding another keyword on a narrower topic to the search (i.e. “social media” AND privacy) or selecting the relevant subject terms in the sidebar (“social media” in Comm & Mass Media or “social networks” in ABI/INFORM) which will eliminate articles that may be more tangentially related to social media. You can also search “social media” in Search@UW and limit as I described above. All articles that show up in this search should be immediately available. However, Search@UW’s filter for peer-reviewed/scholarly articles is not as accurate as the other databases, so you/students would need to evaluate any selected article yourself to verify that it is indeed scholarly.

“There are three principal means of acquiring

knowledge… observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.”

Denis Diderot

http://www.uwgb.edu/library/


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Sample Research Spotlight September 2017

“Social Media Adoption in Business-to-Business: IT and Industrial Companies Compared” By Celine Veldeman, Ellen Van Praet, and Peter Merchant International Journal of Business Communication, 2017, 54(3), 283- 305 Research Question How do Belgian business-to-business (B2B) companies perceive and react to social media? Methods The researchers surveyed 92 Belgian companies about their social attitudes and activities. They also conducted in-depth follow-up interviews with 11 of the companies. Key Findings

• 42% of the companies were experimenting with social media without a specific social media strategy or action plan

• 41% of IT companies (software, web services) were developing social media strategies • Only 27% of industrial companies (construction, engineering services) were developing

social media strategies • Most companies deem social media a good tool for a) cultivating brand awareness, b)

sharing a company image, and c) recruiting • “… deciding how to use social media in the right way to achieve set goals is considered

to be very hard” (p. 293) Advice for the Field

• Recognize that a customer’s, employee’s, and potential employee’s expectations about a firm’s social media presence is highly influenced by the dynamics of the industry sector

• Avoid treating social media as a “stand-alone” communicative endeavor divorced from other essential organizational tasks

• Acknowledge the difficulty of crafting a useful social media strategy and encourage experimentation

Researcher Approved Summary Pending Research Spotlight Author: Phillip G. Clampitt, Ph.D.

http://amazingsmstrategy.com/the-author/

http://amazingsmstrategy.com/the-author/


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Assignment 3 “Synthesize & Resolve” a Social Media Challenge

Purpose: Synthesize your strategic insights and empirical research to resolve a social media challenge. Your strategic insights emerge from the 5 C framework; the empirical research is based on research articles related to the particular social media challenge you selected for Assignment 2. Synthesize your strategic insights and research to craft the content and approach for your video. Rationale: This is exactly what great social media strategists should do when tasked with a major challenge. The bonus: you’ll create a launch-ready product that you can add to your portfolio. Major Activities: 1. Using the social media challenge you selected for Assignment 2, create a list of 100 facts

based on your research. You must cite at least 10 original articles on the topic.

2. Synthesize the research along with your strategic insights to develop an approach for resolving the challenge. This is the stage where you are crafting the underlying logic or approach. It is the essence of strategic thinking.

3. Craft your final “deliverable” or product. This would be the video, policy, or recommendation you selected as a challenge in Step 1. Develop the related roll-out plan for your deliverable.

4. Develop a three-part paper including: a. Your challenge b. Your approach based on the synthesis

of your strategic insights and research c. Your final product and response to the

challenge

5. Submit your report to the appropriate D2L dropbox.

6. Post your report on the appropriate D2L bulletin board.

Requirements: • Professionally prepared written report. If you worked with a partner, only one report is

required.

SM Strategic Insights

SM Research

Launch-ready

Project


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Evaluation: • Synthesis of key ideas – Does the report synthesize key insights from personal

experience, research, and class readings? • Utility of insights – Can the ideas in the report be applied to real-world problems? • Depth of analysis – Does the report indicate that you thought deeply about the issues? • Quality of insights and rationale – Does the report go beyond the standard

recommendations advocated by self-ordained “social media gurus”? • Professional style - Does the report adhere to professional standards (e.g., well

organized, one voice, proper design, well written, proper citations & appendices)?

“A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back to its

old dimensions.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.


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Assignment 4

“Analyze & Critique” Social Media Projects

Purpose: Analyze your colleagues’ social media projects and critique them in terms of illustrating strategic principles, integrating research findings, and demonstrating potential utility. Rationale: Thoughtful and respectful evaluation is vital for continuous improvement. Major Activities: 1. Review all the projects posted on D2L

2. Use four criteria to evaluate the projects:

• The project made effective use of strategic

principles in the book

• The project effectively integrated research

• The project has high potential to be useful

• The project was presented in a professional manner

3. Based on the criteria above, select the top two projects and write critiques about each one. Craft 1- page critiques of each of your top two projects. Include the following three sections: • Rationale for selection • Strategic principles illustrated by the project • Suggestions for improving the project

4. Identify five errors or missed opportunities in the projects you did NOT select

5. Craft a 1-page summary of five common social media project errors. Include the following:

• Succinct statement about the error • Example(s) of the error • How to avoid the error

6. Post your document (2 critiques, 1 project error summary) to the appropriate D2L dropbox

(Note: this will be one document with all 3 parts)

Project Evaluation

Strategic Principles

SM Research Utility

Professional Presentation


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Requirements: • 2 critiques of top projects • 1 project error summary

Evaluation:

• Synthesis of key ideas – Does the work synthesize key insights from personal experience, research, and class principles?

• Utility of insights – Can the ideas be applied to real-world problems? • Quality of insights and rationale – Does the work go beyond the standard

recommendations advocated by self-ordained “social media gurus”? • Professional style - Does the work adhere to professional standards (e.g., well organized,

one voice, proper design, well written)?

“The only relevant test of the validity of a hypothesis is comparison of prediction with experience.”

Milton Friedman


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Seven Questions to Guide Your Thinking

Questions Explanation

Have I relied on reasonable evidence to reach my conclusions? Provide evidence for your claims.

Have I properly identified the implications of the facts, ideas or situation? (So what?)

Discuss the implications of your facts, ideas and situation.

Have I made reasonable assumptions?

Identify the premises underlying your notions.

Have I properly identified the pattern(s)? Identify underlying trends.

Have I properly defined effectiveness? Decide how you will measure success.

Have I considered all the logical alternatives and selected the proper course of action?

Describe the alternatives and actions you can take. Justify your choices.

Have I considered the ethical impact of my decisions?

Determine whether your actions are morally sound.

See www.DrSoWhat.com for further explanation. These questions should guide your decision-making while writing your paper.

http://www.drsowhat.com/


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Prof. C’s Instruction Manual Almost every new product you buy has an instruction manual. Why doesn’t someone issue a similar manual for the people we work with most frequently? In an attempt to bridge the gap, I’ve constructed a manual of tips for working with me. Characteristics So What? I’m a thinker. (“T” on the Myers-Briggs scale)

• I like to hear both sides of an issue before making a decision. • Link your rationale to enduring principles.

I’m an innovator. (“P” on the Myers-Briggs scale).

• Show me new ideas based on sound principles. • Expand on pre-existing ideas and avoid repeating exactly what I say

in a lecture or article.

I focus on the big picture. (“N” on the Myers-Briggs scale)

• Talk to me about strategy and then discuss your tactics. • Show me the links between your main points or ideas (e.g. illustrations,

diagrams etc.). • Occasionally I get impatient with too many details.

I’m a former debater. • Show me a clear organizational structure. • Give me evidence to back up your claims. • Don’t assume that because I make a counterargument that I disagree

with you. • Don’t assume that if I push you to defend your ideas, I disagree with

them.

I read a lot. • Be ready to answer questions about links to current events and ideas (e.g. Business Week, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Harvard Business Review).

• I appreciate well-written papers and clever phrases.

I have some introvert characteristics.

• Give me some time to get to know you. • Sometimes I may seem standoffish but that will disappear in time.

I’m busy. • Come prepared to meetings. • Focus your communication on high-value items. • If the matter can be handled through lean channels, then use them. • E-mail is often the best way to make initial contact with me or give

me project updates. • Don’t assume that time constraints mean I’m uninterested.

I like to have fun and be challenged.

• Sometimes I’ll spontaneously veer off-track, for a moment, in a lecture.

• I get bored quickly. • I’ll often “joke around” with people.


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Special Note on Early Supporters of This Course

This course would not be possible without the background research provided by several proud UWGB graduates (Hannah Johnson, Jena Richter, and Logan Hendricks). The course is dedicated to John and Dorothy Blair for their generous support of the UWGB Communication Department over the years. If he were with us today, he would have been one of first to recognize the possibilities of social media.

John Blair

John Blair was a Chicago native and graduate of UW-Madison. An early pioneer in the field of communication, John Blair began his career in newspaper advertising sales, and later became an agency executive. Using money from his life insurance policy, in 1935, John Blair founded John Blair & Company – a radio advertising company that was one of the first of its kind. Throughout the growth of John Blair & Company, certain revolutionary practices were developed, such as the selling of spot television advertising. Eventually, John Blair and company came to own 120 TV stations, 196 radio stations, and had additional affairs in printing and mailing business segments.

John Blair and his wife, Dorothy, were strong supporters of UWGB even in its earliest days, and received the Chancellor’s award of merit in 1972. In 2003, Dorothy visited UWGB and was impressed by the rigor and commitment to excellence in the Communication Department. As a way to memorialize and pay tribute to her husband’s numerous contributions to the radio and television advertising business, Dorothy donated a substantial amount of money to UWGB in order create the John Blair Endowed Chair of Communication, the first endowed professorship of its kind. Photographs of John and Dorothy are not readily available but in MAC Hall there is a painting of John Blair in the hallway above the entrance to the tunnel between MAC Hall and the University Union. John Blair passed away in 1983, and his wife Dorothy followed in 2008.

pre-class check list - uwgb.edu...for assignment 2, you will be asked to research and report on...

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