These days it is extremely likely that you are already on Linkedin looking for that future prospect whether you are already employed, a graduate or still in university. However, some individuals currently don’t realise the importance of social media in … Continue reading
So a week ago today I took the next step in “growing up” and moved into my new flat with my boyfriend. After a lot of looking, a lot of debating, we finally found “the one” and decided to take the leap and move in as quickly as possible. For the last few weeks we’ve been acting a lot like Goldilocks really… some flats were too big, some were too small and after a long search, we found this one, which is just right. It’s in the perfect location, it’s the perfect size, it has the perfect kitchen and not surprisingly overall, it’s just perfect!
As you can imagine, the last week has been crazy! We have spent (what felt like) days in IKEA, we spent hours sitting on sofas in showrooms trying to find the perfect “lazy-boy” and now it’s all starting to come together and look like a proper home and somewhere we can relax at the end of the day (but we still haven’t found that sofa…)
Last week I had a really good week with my trip to London for Our Social Times Social Media conference and it really opened my eyes to the world of Social Media. I wrote last week about my experience of the workshop on the Tuesday and how important I felt that Social was to the younger generation. I’ve been thinking about it more really and I thought what a great opportunity schools have to make Social Media and its importance of measuring and monitoring a part of the school curriculum and into something that students should learn about when they are in education as part of IT. I know what you’re thinking, a Social Media lesson would be dreadful with no focus but that’s where you’re wrong. As much as people say that I have the greatest job in the world because all I do is “Sit on Facebook and Twitter all day”, Social Media is much more than that. It’s all about Social data, trends and consumer opinions which are vital to improvements in customer service and advances in NPD for all businesses.
In addition to its importance, it could be suggested that with parents being scared of Social Networks and what they contain it may be useful to bring social media into schools so that children/students could learn to use the channels effectively and maybe spot the sign of a potential “baddie”. I’m not sure whether that would help but it would certainly be a start as children are becoming more fluent on tablets, computers and mobile phones nowadays and therefore I feel it would be useful for them as young adults to learn about one of those most effective marketing tools in the world.
With that in mind, it’s interesting to look to the future and think about what is in store for the world of Social Media. The internet itself is growing, but social media is growing even faster with 96% of 18-35 year Old’s now being on a social network (Kiss Metrics, 2012). For businesses, Social is becoming more important and that’s no surprise as it has been found that 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations, which is one of the main consumer uses of social media and its “sharing” aspect.
Obviously this is my own take on Social Media and how it can be introduced into the Education system and I am aware that everyone will have differing opinions on this subject.
So… what do you think?
It's a Grad's World After All... 
