UB University of Baltimore
Merrick School of Business


INSS 797 - Web 2.0 and Social Media Technologies for Business
Summer 2012
DRAFT

Professor Al Bento

office BC 473 v-mail 837-5272
e-mail abento@ubalt.edu URL http://home.ubalt.edu/abento

(assignments)(review paper)(project)(outline)

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The objective of this course is the study of Web 2.0 and Social Media Technologies for Business. This course will teach students how to make effective use of web 2.0 tools and techniques for business, in areas including marketing, management, entrepreneurship, operations, accounting and finance. Topics will include Social networking (Facebook and Linkedin), Communications (Blog, Wikis, Podcasting, Twitter and Skype), and Multimedia storage (YouTube, Flickr, Dropbox). The use of these tools and techniques on mobile devices will also be studied: including, for example, Apps that let users scan a bar code and compare prices while shopping, and Apps that let users receive feeds from selected businesses with the latest tips.

The course is designed for the general business student: no prior technical expertise is required.

When you complete this course you will have:

  1. your presence in diverse social media outlets: Blog (Wordpress), micro-blog (Twitter), social networks (Facebook, Linkedin), etc.
  2. the experience of modifying or creating an organization's strategy and presence in social networks to market their products or services.
  3. learned how companies are using Web 2.0 and Social Media Technologies to market their products and their successful strategies to promote their businesses.
  4. learned how companies are providing on-line customer support in a world-wide basis using this new media.

Each class meeting will be comprised of two parts:

  1. technical aspects of Web 2.0 and Social Media Technologies. You will do five hands-on exercises on these technologies.
  2. business aspects of Web 2.0 and Social Media Technologies: detailed study of how to develop and run an online business. You will work in a group to create or modify an organizational social networking presence, comprising a strategy and implementation of this strategy.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

Assignments (5) 50%
Review paper 20%
Project 30%

Assignments

All assignments are to be done individually. The purpose is for you to have hands on experience with Web 2.0 and Social Media technologies as a preparation to work on the project.

  1. Install WordPress and start a blog.
  2. Update your blog in WordPress and add a RSS feed.
  3. Create a simple YouTube video and add to your WordPress blog.
  4. Create your page in Facebook and Linkedin, update your WordPress blog with links to them.
  5. Create a Flickr account and post some pictures there, also create a Twitter account and tweet about your WordPress blog.

Review paper

This is also an individual work. You should choose a well known organization (e.g. Target, Amazon, Walmart, etc), study and review their presence in the social networks and the technologies they used. Post your paper in Word or compatible format in SAKAI Assignments area by July 8.

Project

Redeveloping or creating an organization's strategy and presence in social networks to market their products or services, in groups of four students. Select a group to join in the SAKAI Forum "Select a Group" by June 5.

Each group will have three options for doing the project:

  1. develop an organization strategy and presence in social networks for a small-size or public/not-for-profit organization client of your choice.
  2. redevelop an organization strategy and presence in social networks for a small-size or public/not-for-profit organization with the participation of a client (to be used by the client), or without the participation of a client (just for the course).
  3. develop a Web site for a fictitious organization using your group imagination and creativity.
Of course, you can also develop an organization strategy and presence in social networks for your own organization, or another group member's organization. I would suggest to keep it small, as public/not-for-profit organizations generally are.

The presence should be comprised of a WordPress site with RSS, Facebook and Twitter feeds and if possible YouTube videos and/or Flickr images.

Project milestones:

  1. Group selection -- 06/05
  2. Project organization selection -- 06/19
  3. Project strategy due -- 06/30
  4. Project presence to implement strategy due -- 07/20

TEXTBOOKS

Hay, Deltina. The Social Media Survival Guide, Linden Publishing, 978-1884995, 2011
Scott, David. The New Rules of Marketing & PR, Wiley, 3r. ed, 978-1118026984, 2011


OUTLINE
Week of Technical aspects Business aspects Assignments
05/29 Course overview. (Introduction) Using WordPress. (4, A) New rules of Marketing and PR {1,2} 1. Install WordPress and start blog due 06/04
Introduce yourself and Select a group for project by 06/05
06/05 RSS feeds and Blogs (2,3,B) What is social media for business {3,4} 2.Update your blog in WordPress and add a RSS feed due 06/11.
Group discussions to select a project.
06/12 Podcasting, Vidcasting & Webcasting (5), {18} Blogs for business {5,17} 3. Create a simple YouTube video and add to your WordPress blog due 06/18
Group project selection due 06/19
06/19 Social networking: Facebook and Linkedin (6) Social networking Strategy (1) and Action Plan for the New Rules {11} 4.Create your page in Facebook and Linkedin, update your WordPress blog with links to them due 06/25
Group project strategy due 06/30
06/26 Micro blogging (6) and Media Communities (8) Audio and Video, Podcasting {6,18} 5. Create a Flickr account and post some pictures there, also create a Twitter account and tweet about your WordPress blog due 07/02
Group project work.
07/03 Widgets and Badges (9,C) Content-Rich Website {9} and Mobile Marketing {15} Review paper due 07/08
Group project work.
07/10 Pulling it All Together (12) Social Neworking Sites and Marketing {16} Group project work.
07/17 Future trends: Web 3.0, Cloud Computing, Mobile Web (13) Search Engine Marketing {22} Group Project due 07/20.
 

Note: The numbers in parentheses indicate the chapters in Deltina Hay book, e.g. (4, A) means chapter 4 and Appendix A. Curly brackets { } indicate chapters in the David Scott book e.g. {1,2} means chapters 1 and 2.

This page is maintained by Al Bento who can be reached at abento@ubalt.edu. This page was last updated on March 22, 2012. Although we will attempt to keep this information accurate, we can not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided.