Class lectures for Comm 399: Fundamentals of Social Media, Fall 2012, Department of Communication, Shepherd University.

1. Strategic Social Media:
Intro to Social Media
Monitoring
Professor Matthew Kushin, PhD
Shepherd University | Department of Mass Communication | 2012

2. To make use of them, we
must understand them:
So how do social networks function?

3. 1) Social Capital

4. Social Capital is
 'the number of people who can be expected to provide
support and the resources those people have at their
disposal”
 Taps “goodwill” available to a person/group.
 Can be converted into economic gain
Image: MixTribe Photo

5. Social Capital
 Is not simply who you know
 But who you have access to via who the people you know.
Image: MixTribe Photo

6. Social Capital is
 Reciprocal
 Your capital is directly tied to the capital of others
 You gain social capital by giving
Image: ~dip

7. Social Capital
 Bonding Social Capital - strong ties with kin and close friends
that offers social support, builds collectivity, and is shared
among people with similar values and goals (Lin, 2005;
Putnam, 2000).
 Bridging Social Capital - is goal-oriented and offers
networking opportunities and access to external resources
via extra-community ties (Gittell & Vidal, 1998; Putnam,
2000).

8. Strong & Weak Ties

9. Right now!
 With your team:
 Discuss the following problem and arrive at an answer (along
with your reasoning)
 Which person is more important for spreading NEW
information to as many people as possible
 A) Telling 1 of your 5 best friends
 B) Telling an acquaintance in class

10. Strength of Weak Ties
Ties
 Groundbreaking study by Granovetter showed:
 Similar people tend to form strong ties
 These ties tend to share similar information
 Cause a lot of overlap in info exchange
 Therefore
 Weak ties most important ties in social networks
 Responsible for transmission of info between people

11. Granovetter states: Ties
 “Intuitively speaking, this means that whatever is to be
diffused (shared) can reach a larger number of people, and
traverse greater social distance when passed through
weak ties rather than strong.”

12. Ties that Bind
 Weak Ties
 Can Become
 Strong Ties
 But it is not necessary for them to for you to have success!
 Weak ties are critical to info diffusion
 But more & new strong ties, means new weak ties
Image: Carolyn_Sewell

13. Social Object

14. Right now!
 With your team:
 Find a social object in the room (or that someone has with them)
 Construct an explanation as to why this is a social object

15. Social Objects
 Social networks are built around social objects, not vice
versa.
 “The social object is the reason people are talking to each
other” – Hugh MacLeod
Image: marc wathieu

16. Socialization
 Socialization is not random, it is purposeful
 Humans seek social connection
 We find it via social objects
 What the object is may not matter
 It is a vehicle for connection

17. Social Object Example
 Apple iPhone
Example Source: MacLead

18. Connecting via social objects on Social
Media

19. Cultural “social objects”: Memes
 A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or
practices.
 Transmitted from 1 person to another
 Analogous to genes
 Self replicate
 Evolve & mutate
Source: Wikipedia

20. Meme examples
 Hitler Meme
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOQvsuJ5wIA
 LOL cats
 http://images.google.com search: LOL cats

21. Social Object
 The conversation happening around object is what’s
valuable
Image: marc wathieu

22. Project Upcoming
 Class after the exam we will begin Project 1
 Spans 3 class periods
 Projects will be completed in class
 Must be present to get credit for each portion of the project
(3 portions = 3 days)
 Bring notes, book, & any other course material you want.

23. Exam Review