As the success and growth of social networks has proved their importance in society, the need to use them more effectively and productively has emerged. Currently, different social networks like Facebook and MySpace are mainly being used for entertainment and, to some extent, for marketing and advertising. These powerful tools can be used in a much more specialized way. Businesses can use them to find opportunities and universities and colleges can use them for to better educate their students. Similarly, common users can use these social networks to build a positive public image. Therefore, universities are adding different popular social networks like Facebook and MySpace to their curriculum to teach people how they can use these tools effectively and productively.

This announcement has been greatly welcomed by students. Studying social networking as a subject is not only exciting but necessary as well. Social networks have transformed into specialized and complex applications and it requires skills to use them correctly.

Importance for students

Social networks like Facebook and MySpace are very popular among students. Universities and colleges students frequently use these social networks to connect to teachers and peers to discuss class lectures, get assistance in doing assignments and projects, and to share informative study materials. Learning Facebook and MySpace as part of their syllabus will teach students to use these tools as an effective educational tool. Open Education blog has published an interview of Prof. Michael Wesch in the post, Social Media - Facebook and MySpace as University Curricula. This interview highlights the use of Facebook as an effective education medium.

“Facebook is not only great for expressing your identity, sharing with friends, and planning parties, it also has all the tools necessary to create an online learning community. Students are already frequently visiting Facebook, so we can bring our class discussions to them in a place where they have already invested significant effort in building up their identity, rather than asking them to login to Blackboard or some other course management system where they feel “faceless” and out of place.”

Importance for marketing professionals

Social networks like Facebook and MySpace have become an important way to find business opportunities and to connect to potential customers. Therefore, companies are hiring experts to manage successful social media marketing campaigns. This announcement is of great value for marketing students. They will learn the best ways to use this new marketing strategy - social media marketing. These courses will also be a great opportunity for marketing professionals to polish their skills and to deliver better services.

Importance for everyday users

Using different social media tools in a specialized way is also important for general users. Although it seems that most people use these networks to simply socialize, their online profiles have an impact on their professional life. Companies often look up prospective employees’ online profiles to find out more about them. Therefore, creating a positive public image is very important both for your personal and professional life. If you see that a social networking course is part of your university syllabus, know that you will learn the ways to use these social tools for personal branding. These courses will also help students learn to write content for blogs, post comments, create and add videos to sites, and more.

I think adding this new subject is a good decision. Currently, the course is being offered only for mass media students. Due to its diverse use and importance for different groups of people, it should be open to all students who want to take it.

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