Facebook 'face' by facebook.comInternet Explorer logo compliments of grenlec.com
Image by Nick Nelson
It was just two years ago. When I was a sophomore, I didn't know what a blog was. I was reading them on collegehumor.com every day, just didn't know it. When I was a sophomore, I didn't have a Facebook account. The closest thing was AOL instant messenger. When I was a sophomore, I had never heard of YouTube. I was more into "stupidvideos" at the time.
My how things have changed. I've since ditched all of those "juvenile" sites and upgraded to keep up with the rest of the cool kids. Now I can't go a day without using any of these, whether it be for a class or for personal interest. Just two years later, an advanced media class actually requires me to type out a weekly rant and share it with everyone on the Web.
Maybe I was just out of the loop, but we've come far enough that sophomores nowadays are going to know how to use these tools. Let's teach students how to use them as journalists to get people's attention and inform.
Teach them to separate the newsworthy blogs and posts from simple entertainment. Assignment number one: have everybody bring in a newsworthy YouTube clip. Then the class can discuss whether it's actually newsworthy or just entertaining. Viral vid isn't necessarily news. Or is it?
As for facebook, discuss how you can use it to reach people. It can also be used to see what people are talking about. There's no better tool for story ideas. Talk about new facebook groups that students have seen pop up that they noticed are gaining popularity, and what that means.
The Daily Show does a great job finding the real news and making light of it. Watch an episode in class . Talk about why it's so popular. Is it because people actually want to be informed by this type of show, or strictly for entertainment? Both?
So, sophomores of the Journalism School, consider yourself lucky. You're going to learn how to use these online networks to your advantage. If your roommate's giving you crap about being on facebook for such a long time, just tell them you're doing homework.
Leave a comment