Social media blurs communication lines

By Ashton McKinnon

ATHENS, Ga. --What is your Twitter account? Are you on Facebook? Can I have your e-mail address? These questions are heard commonly among students on campus, but would you be surprised to hear a professor ask this? What if you log on your Twitter account and find that your middle-aged professor is "following" you?

These questions have become embedded in everyday conversations, and the answers are only shocking from the mouths that say "no."

Online social networks are changing the way people communicate. Twitter is a real-time information network powered by people all around the world that "follow" what’s happening now. Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. And e-mail, has become an efficient way to send and receive messages.

These digital media have transformed interactions between students and professors, between employees and bosses and between companies and customers and are continuing to grow and change rapidly.

Twitter attracts 14 million U.S. visitors alone and currently has an estimated number of 6 million registered users, according to a 2009 report by eMarketer. eMarketer research firm predicts these numbers to continue to increase and for Twitter to host the "what’s happenings" of at least 18 million registered users by the end of 2010.

Some University of Georgia professors are even encouraging their students to have a Twitter account. John Soloski, a professor in the Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UGA, uses Twitter in his Journalism 3310 class of over 200 students.

"We were watching a movie and someone in the class tweeted for Professor Soloski to dim the lights. Professor Soloski just said ‘oh sorry’ and the lights went down. No one ever has to raise their hand. It’s pretty cool," said Jason Eicholz, a 22-year-old accounting major from Savannah, Ga. An account holder of Twitter, Liz Sowa, 21, a consumer economics major from New Orleans, La. tweets on average four times a day but said, "That doesn’t mean I’m not on it for much longer than that."

She prefers Facebook, because she believes more people have it; making it easier to keep up with friends and family. However, Sowa said she tweets, "to stay updated on celebrity gossip, world news and to see what the daily happenings of famous people look like." While Sowa may not be an expert, she is correct in her assessment of the number of users on Facebook.

Facebook, in 2009, had more than 200 million active users, according to an eMarketer report. On Feb. 4, 2010, Facebook celebrated its sixth birthday. In his blog, the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg said, "This week there will be more than 400 million people on Facebook." Zuckerberg believes there is a human need that inspires us to innovate and build things that allow people to connect easily and share their lives with one another.

By sharing with friends, family and strangers on the internet, there is a risk of forgetting the intimacy of conversation. While many arguments to the downside of social media claim personal relationships have revolutionized to mere impersonal exchange of electronic text, Sowa said that her face-to-face relationships have not changed at all.

"I do think that communication has become more technologically based and dependent," Sowa said. "I would say that there is a benefit to the use (of technology) because most people have it other than not."

The Economist published a special report on social networking on Jan. 30, stating many corporate executives expressed concern that employees would use the technology to chat with friends rather than doing their jobs; which points out another downside to social media.

However, social networks are more robust than their critics think, and though not every site will prosper, social-networking technologies can create considerable benefits for the businesses that embrace them.

Jayne Mathews of Saint Simons Island, who works in human resources for Rich Products, said e-mail is her preferred method of communicating with employees, but she also sends text messages when she wants an immediate response.

Lauren Statts, of Los Angeles, and director of online marketing and promotions for Epic Records, said she prefers texting, especially when she is at an event because she always has her phone. However, she also said her office utilizes instant messaging, or AIMing, as primary means of communicating with co-workers because it lets her know when they are in their office.

Although many major companies, such as Ford, Pepsi and Southwest Airlines use to social networking as a resource for hiring potential employees and communicating with customers, Mathews said Rich Products does not.

"I can’t make a decision based on what someone posts on their Facebook or Twitter," Mathews said. "I don’t look at those because I don’t want it to affect my hiring decision."
Mathews suggests using other professional sites such as, LinkedIn, and advises students to have a professional e-mail address.

LinkedIn is a network of experienced professionals from all over the world, representing 150 industries and 200 countries. You can collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals, as all Fortune 500 company executives do as LinkedIn members, according to its website.

There are educational, corporate and communication benefits to embracing social networking. Social networking teaches the skills necessary for keeping up with advancing technology. It allows professors to connect with students on a different realm, businesses to interact with employees as well as develop partnerships through "at your fingertip" communication. Social networking isn’t just about socializing anymore.

Edited by Marlyncia Pierce