Home » social networking (Page 12)

Category Archives: social networking

Fri Fun Fact: Managing Social Media Time

Posted on by | Leave a comment

I’m at #BlogHer for the next day or so, and I think it’s appropriate to share some facts about how I manage my social media time. I’ll speak to while on a working vacation and then during the normal part of the year…

1. I read newspapers, while I have my breakfast. Real legacy papers as part of the start to my day.

2. I also read newspapers and news sites online.

3. I’m an avid Twitter user and find that most of the news is posted there first. I also read my Twitter feeds during breakfast.

4. If something is worthy of chiming in or sharing, I grab my phone or a post it (old school still works) and share it or jot it down for later.

5. I make it a point of reading papers in the city that I’m visiting. This isn’t hard in California, as I am familiar with the papers.

6. When I’m not vacationing, I start with my iPhone for news, shower, eat breakfast and read the papers ( #TimesColonist and #GlobeandMail )

7. I use two monitors at work and have one open on email and the other has Word, Twitter, and other Social Media sites. I can’t work with one monitor. Even now at a friend’s house I have my netbook and iPad open ad am using both within moments of the other. Is this multi-tasking?! Maybe.

8. I follow people on Twitter or Google Plus that I’m really interested in. I always say that we are only as smart as our own networks and I do believe it.

9. I work and then will take a stretching/body break and before I get back to work I’ll check Twitter and other sites.

10. Sometimes all of the above works and other times it doesn’t. Students will see me walking about campus with my iPhone in hand checking in to social media or FourSquare!

Moms Clean Air Force: Air Quality Concerns

Posted on by | 1 Comment

The Moms Clean Air Force (MCAF) is a great example of a community-project that is fighting for the environment. The group is composed of mostly moms and some dads and they work in concert with the Environmental Defense Fund and other organizations to ensure that we don’t experience roll-backs in public policies that will harm people and the environment. Their mission is simple: Fight for clean air for our kids. After being in Southern California for a few weeks, I can attest to the fact that they have their work cut out. You can see the brown layer of smog driving into the Los Angeles Basin. Sure, it’s not as bad as it used to be, but there will still work to do.

The website provides a wealth of information about laws and efforts to protect the environment. For more information check it out here: http://www.momscleanairforce.org/. My favorite part of the website is the call to action–What You Can do. It is so common to feel powerless, but want to get involved and MCAF is a great example of a group who are taking it to the web, writing letters, and attending events in hope of making a difference. What this means is that the organization is part of a long history of parents taking charge in order to make a difference. We can look to other organizations like the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and even the The Woman’s Christian Union (WCTU) as sister organizations that attempted to instill change. MCAF is more akin to Women Strike for Peace, though, via their different efforts. I would argue that MCAF is a proto-feminist, environmentalist organization based on their mission–they are concerned with Human Security and Human Rights via ensuring clean air. I don’t think that this is too much of a stretch.

Funny enough–I wonder how many of the participants would even think of themselves as activists. What might happen is that the activism is so fluid, you want clean air and all the benefits that come with it. And, you might not think of yourself as an activist, but it just happens. MCAF is an activist organization that is fighting the fight at the grassroots level. Who said that social movements are dead?! As a feminist parent, I enjoy finding out about organizations like MCAF, so that I can connect with the organizations and also share the information with others. We can use social media for more than monetization.

On Saying No and Setting Limits/Guest Post

Posted on by | Leave a comment

This is another guest post via Breathe Now by the especially talented Janice Mansfield. This post resonates with all the busy women. It is OK and necessary to say no and set boundaries. It can be hard to do so, but it is something that we all need to get better at doing! This post was originally published on July 3rd at http://breathenow.ca/2011/07/on-saying-no-and-setting-limits/. You know the axiom–if you want something done– ask a busy woman! Well, busy women (and men for that matter) need to not feel guilty at occasionally saying, no! 

Sometimes you just need a big karmic bitchslap before you’ll sit up and pay attention.  That’s kind of what this week has been like!

I’ve been feeling stretched thin the last little while, and had agreed to stretch myself a little thinner than normal by taking on a favour which I was hesitant about, but didn’t want to say “no”.  My husband did give me a little warning “… are you SURE you should be taking this on?” — should’ve probably listened to him, but the universe obliged with a little firmer follow-up later in the week.

The irony was that myself and one of the other Breathe Now co-founders found ourselves talking with Rona Maynard, one of our keynote speakers about the direction for her keynote address, and I found myself having to physically take a moment to calm down — mind and mouth racing in two directions at the same time with all the madness of the week going on.  The good news is, the moments spent with Rona on the phone did provide a little oasis of calm.  The bad news is we finished the call, and I launched right back in the crazy-making of the week — a week made busier than need-be due to my not saying “no”.

This week culminated in a high followed by a complete low point!  The high point being my friend Aaron Hall, asking me to film an episode of his new food show Delicious, at my house!  An honour, and quite interesting to see all that goes on behind the scenes!  The low point being the favour I had agreed to do, completely falling through into a complete sh*# show (sorry, no nice way of putting it!).  As I said, sometimes the universe just decides you need a giant kick in the rear before you’ll get it!

So the upside of this week is a giant re-realization that

  1. I should probably heed my intuition when I’m feeling like I’m overextending myself, or a “favour” does not line up with my business goals.
  2. I should probably also pay more attention to my husband when he gently reminds me of (1).  Thankfully, he has just shaken his head, and not given me the “I told you so”!

Of Heroes and the Fellowship of Women/Guest Post

Posted on by | Leave a comment

Today’s post is a guest post via Breathe Now. I am one of the four co-founders for Breathe Now. Our conference will take place in Victoria, BC on Friday, Sept 30th and Saturday, October 1st. This conference is geared for college aged women through women established in their careers. This particular post penned by the lovely and talented Janice Mansfield was posted on April 18th on http://breathenow.ca/2011/04/of-heroes-and-the-fellowship-of-women/.

Thanks to the powers of Social Media, I was alerted last week to the fact that Marilyn Waring was going to be speaking at the University of Victoria as part of the Centre for Cooperative and Community Based Economy‘s Distinguished Speaker series.

Marilyn Waring is a distinguished economist, researching and exploring issues of gender balance and the impact it has in the traditional economic paradigm.  Her work also extends to analysis of environmental issues, governance, human rights, and economic valuations of public goods or “the commons”, and she regularly contributes to international discussions on economic measurement and valuation.

As an economist in my previous career, I have to say I did a quiet squeal at the prospect of listening to her latest.  Her groundbreaking work in the latter 1980s on public accounting practices and their omissions of subsistence activity (much of it by women) in developing countries was front and centre in my bookshelf.

After the Thursday evening talk, my friend Dr. Janni Aragon invited me to come as her guest the next day for an afternoon of tea and talk with Dr. Waring — an exciting prospect indeed to meet and talk with someone who has had such an influence and impact on my thinking early on in my career.

The following day, we gathered around a table with tea with Dr. Waring as a small group of women, seeking fellowship and connection.  The first thing Marilyn said when we sat down was she seeks out opportunities to listen to what other women are interested in and researching, as she spends so much of her time on the road talking.  The thing that struck me through the afternoon was the genuine interest with which Dr. Waring had for areas of work being undertaken by each woman in the room — and a diverse group indeed (Political Science, Environmental issues, Cooperative Economic models, Womens Studies …).  Dr Waring has such a wealth of knowledge and experience, she spoke to each woman with an equal level of expertise, but was also making notes through the afternoon of things that piqued her interest, and provided some great guidance and feedback for the undergraduate students who had joined us.

Janni and I had the chance through this discussion to share the fact that we are two of the co-founders of the Breathe Now conference — an opportunity for all women to connect, decompress, enjoy the fellowship of each other and talk about substantive issues they are dealing with in a supportive environment.  While neither of us remember the exact quote (I have to confess being a little starstruck!), she was quite interested in the conference, and remarked that it was such a such great idea to bring women together to support each other.   Dr. Waring is a mentor in the truest sense of the word, and the afternoon with her and other like-minded women was a priceless experience.

It struck me after, that this afternoon of tea and easy conversation was a micro-version of what we are hoping to achieve through Breathe Now — mentorship and fellowship with some goodies on the side!

Fri Fun Facts

Posted on by | Leave a comment

In the continued spirit of sharing quirky thoughts, here goes another Friday Fun Facts.

1. I am going to Comic Con in San Diego this month ( #SDCC11 ) with @pipsipirate and lots of other people. No, I’m not dressing up in a complete outfit or uniform. Yes, I might take my Gryffindor polo. I’m going as a Participant-Observer. I’m going to get more information about fandom studies for my Poli 433: Politics and Popular Culture course. Fun.

2. I am also going to BlogHer and this will also be in San Diego, but in August. Again, I’m looking forward to a work related event to network and have opportunities to learn more about women and technology. I am hoping to offer a new course in 2012 or 2013 related to Social Media and Politics. I don’t have the snappy title worked out yet, so it’s currently SMP in my mind.

3. Since I really dig my job a working “vacation” is not a problem. I’m going to two conferences for research, teaching, learning and network. Not too bad!

4. I was really lucky that the Western Political Science Association’s 2011 meeting in San Antonio, TX coincided with the annual Popular Culture conference in the same city. I attended panels related to Young Adult literature (Harry Potter, Hunger Games and Twilight), as well as other panels related to Pop Culture and Politics. Yet another example of how Political Science is a vast field that include this sort of work and interests. Yeah, that’s right–we do more than analyze election results. But, hey, that is important, too.

5. Next year, Weedonverse is at UBC in July 2012. I think I’ll be there.

I hope that you enjoyed today’s Fun Facts. And, for all the Canadians out there–Happy Canada Day!

Community Building Via Social Media

Posted on by | Leave a comment

I am revisiting this post from the three years ago and want to comment on how positive my experience has been with engaging more in the local community and higher ed community in general. In the Fall 2009, I decided to make a concerted effort to get more involved in my communities. I have already blogged some about this, but this blog will speak more so to the consequences. What have I learned? Who have I met? And, has it been worth it?

Maybe I should first say that I enjoy networking and I’ve been pretty good and successful with networking within Women’s Studies and Political Science. I have lots of friends and contacts in the US and Canada and I really do feel like I am part of the academic community. Given the teaching focus of my job that I’ve had for almost two years, I have had a chance to meet others with similar interests in the Scholarship of Teaching  and teaching and technology. But, I wanted more–I wanted to meet more people in different units across campus and in the city in general.

Somehow I came to this realization that I wanted to expand my networks in academe and in my local community in Victoria, so I joined FourSquare (I broke up with FourSquare eventually), Twitter, and stepped up my involvement in local community related events in Victoria. I also made a point of contacting others in Vancouver or other parts of British Columbia. I don’t want to be one of those academics that is so niche focused that I miss out on other opportunities and connections. This led to leading workshops and giving various talks in the community.

I’ll start with FourSquare. I like the game aspect of it–it’s fun. And, I’ve actually met people from the FourSquare hits. In a previous post, I noted that I’ve attended some of the High Noon Hump Day Meet Ups and these are usually focused on iPhone apps, FourSquare, iPad apps and the like. Frankly, these have been fun–lunches and chats about technology. I am such a nerd at heart and admit to it. Big smile. Well, this lasted for a few years and eventually I broke up with FourSquare, as I got a bit obsessed with it and there was no real benefit.

My Twitter use has been a two-fold win. I’ve used it in the classroom and personally. I have made more friendships than I can count and here I am referring mostly to the people that I have met in real life (IRL). However, to be honest, I have also “met” some wonderful people in higher ed, other Latinas, YA Lit readers, political junkies, and academics on Twitter, who I might never meet IRL. We have shared journal article suggestions, URLS, statistics, book suggestions, recipes, and gripes about everything. I connect with prospective, current, and former students on Twitter. I have also made professional connections with others.

I guess this post is my evangelism about social networking and social media. Yeah, I’m sold. Yeah, I’m an enthusiast. Professionally and politically stepping this up has led to blogging for Equality 101, the University of Venus, the Globe and Mail, as well as speaking opportunities. I have also found that my profile on my campus and network of friends and contacts is wider and it is rewarding.

Can you build community via social media? Yes. How are you building community? I am using the usual subjects–attending events and meeting people, but social media and social networks are definitely part of my arsenal.

Thinking about International Women’s Day

Posted on by | Leave a comment

This centenary in honor of International Women’s Day was unlike any other that I can recall here in Canada or the US. As Joe Biden might say, “It’s a big fucking deal.” Yes, it is a BFD. On March 8th, I posted in the afternoon on my Twitter feed, @janniaragon: Could you imagine if 10% of the discussions about #IWD today took place on other days. I think that 10% of my overall tweets or more are about gender or women specifically, so it might prove too much different for me. However, I’m thinking of the overall media focus and online presence of the celebration of women and it was no doubt pretty amazing.

What would it take to have this heightened focus and response on the vulnerable (poor or aged) or other groups? What would it mean if we could focus so strongly on the environment for a day or more? What could it mean to the lives of undocumented peoples if we tried in earnest to help them? It would make a difference. Some people live this way everyday of their lives. I see some of the students on campus do this with their commitment to social justice, for instance. I see people posting on Twitter, their blogs, their books, and other networks to this effect. I point here is that I don’t want us to give up on women or other causes. It was wonderful to see so many posts on #IWD but lets make sure that this continues.

“The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one’s work seriously and taking one’s self seriously. The first is imperative and the second is disastrous.” Margot Fonteyn, English Dancer

Some Career Advice~ From the Undergrad Advisor

Posted on by | 6 Comments

You’re in your last year of university and getting nervous as the school year starts, hits the half way point or is ending. But, for the sake of ease, let’s pretend it’s mid-way through your last year of university. I’m going to make some suggestions for you. And, these are my opinions alone and not endorsed by my employer. This advice comes from my own university experience, 14 years of teaching, and years of advising unofficially and officially.
1. Get yourself to the Career Center or the Career offices. Your campus should have an office with extremely competent staff who are there to help you. But, understand that they aren’t there to help you get a job, rather they are there to give you the skills so that you get yourself that job. They will empower you, but it’s all about your own skills and your own file.

2. Speak with your departments Undergraduate Advisor. Believe it or not, s/he might have some good advice to give you. The advisor might know of additional job boards in your area of interest.

3. Speak to trusted peers who are in your situation or who have recently graduated. Your peers are a useful resource, too.

4. Confer with other faculty or mentors that you have in the campus community or community at large. Now is not the time to feel shy. You have to reach out and make some effort.

5. If it works for your field (and which fields does it not work for?) get on social media. Yes, join Linked in and establish your profile there and meet others on the platform. Ask people questions—especially those in the industry that you’re interested in.

6. Are you blogging or on Twitter? Will these platforms be useful for you? If so, then do it. But, always be very careful with your digital footprint. Google yourself and see what is out there. That photo of you in residence engaging in naked beer sliding—might need to be deleted! OK, you really don’t have compromising photos, but do take a look and see what photos and status updates you’ve had so that you won’t have a future employer “creep” and find something that they don’t like.

Particular to Victoria, I suggest to students that they not only look at the local job boards (BC Public Service, municipality job boards, and UVIC’s U-Hire, but also VIATEC’s. You never know what you might find in many of these. I also explain to students that they most likely won’t get hired right out of their undergrad as a senior policy analyst. The truth is that you’re going to have to work your way up and this might mean that you’re working in a position that requires data entry, filing, and “gofer” work. You have to cut your teeth in a job and be prepared for this.

If you’re interested in working in Victoria, I suggest that you keep abreast of when there are Chamber of Commerce events (Victoria or Westshore) and attend some of the events to network and meet local members. Note that members of this organization aren’t only local business owners, but government types, elected officials, and just regular people who are interested in the community. Also, attend other local events and get to know the community. This might mean registering with Meet Up and looking for events that will allow you to meet other like minded people. The thought of doing this might make you feel uncomfortable, but you need to get out and meet more people and realize that the limited discomfort can pay off with a mentor, community building, contacts, and possibly a job connection.

I have seen students take 4-8 months to find work after they graduate and this is pretty common. The students who are willing to take risks or start at the entry level position are the ones who have been the most successful. What are you doing to do?