Announcing: The Social Media & Networking Challenge

On November 5th I am giving a presentation to NASA MSFC – a primer and introduction to using social media and networking.  As we start a major push toward using social media here, we want to make sure everyone is speaking the same language and is somewhat familiar with what it is and why we might use it.

At the end I will give a challenge for those who want to learn more and get some hands-on experience without diving into a deep, unknown world alone.  The invitation is open to everyone.

This challenge consists of 7 weeks of learning starting on Monday, November 9th.  Each week is a new topic.  Each day I will post information and resources on the week’s topic with a ‘To Do’ at the end for everyone to try.  The posts are designed to take a minimal amount of time while delivering the learning intended.  Here is the schedule:

Week 1: Blogs
Week 2: RSS
Week 3: (Week of Thanksgiving, M-W only):Forums
Week 4: Wiki
Week 5: Facebook, Linkedin
Week 6: Twitter/Yammer
Week 7: (Week of Christmas, M,T only) Social Bookmarking

This could have been done internally to NASA, but I decided to open it up to everyone for a couple reasons.  First, the more those participating can share this with family, friends and coworkers, the more personal it will be to them.  The more personal, the more they will learn.  It is kind of like a support system – if you share this challenge with any family/friends and they do it too, it will mean more to you as you go through the learning.  Also, if there is someone who you feel should learn more, send them here (and we all have family and friends who SHOULD learn more!).  Second, why not open this to anyone?

Many people understand and use some of the above already.  Most don’t use all and don’t know why to use them.  For example, you may read blogs, but not understand why YOU might write one, or why Twitter even exists.  Feel free to join in on the weeks that will help you the most.  HOWEVER, the feedback and perspectives from those who already use each of these would be very valuable.

More details to come…