Here, Facebook during class is the goal, not a distraction.
The Social Media course at Stern College, listed under English Media Studies courses, looks more like an internship program or a tech startup than a typical college level English course. Walking into the classroom, students are sitting in small groups updating Twitter feeds, constructing emails to some of the best media outlets, and watching numerous YouTube clips in succession. “Hey,” asks a student, “weren’t we supposed to go hang out in the Tumblr office today?”
The goal of the course is not, of course, just to mindlessly post GIFs of kittens and become the next BuzzFeed, but to enhance the understanding as to how social media works as a science. In addition to seeing how influential it has become in our lives today, we’re learning the actual skillsets needed for social media to set forth a successful online campaign.
Professor Rob Longert teaches the course; a digital and social media professional, Longert has held many positions in various media and PR agencies in addition to teaching at Stern. He has been the Senior Account Executive at PepperCom, Director of Digital Strategy and Vice President at M Booth, and Co-Founder and Partner at a recent startup communications agency. He came to the Stern English Department in Fall 2012 after guest lecturing in Professor Deborah Brown’s Public Relations class.
While academically studying the history and inner workings of social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube, the class is currently amidst building their own social media campaign focused on Women and Technology. By posting in various ways on their Tumblr Blog entitled “Share the Success,” the students are learning about how women contribute to the digital world in ways just as strongly as men or in their own unique and gender specific ways.
The blog topic is particularly based off Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook and recent author of the best-seller “Lean-In.” Sandberg is known to be a leader of the largest social media site, as well as a wife and mother. The class originally dabbled in other icons such as Jay-Z or HBO TV, but ultimately decided that the idea of Sandberg would be the most fitting to the course and appeal to other students in Stern. When the class decided on Sandberg as the basis for their campaign, they also decided that having Sheryl come visit their class as a result of a successful campaign would be the ultimate prize and gauge that the undertaking was effective.
“We think she is a good mascot for us,” says student Rena Green. “Sheryl Sandberg is really making a difference for women, not only in the tech industry, but in the business world as a whole. We’re a class of women who all hope to eventually pursue professional careers.” Throughout Professor Longert’s professional career, he has seen great female leaders in technology. He believes that in a school full of the female leaders of tomorrow, it is important to study the habits and systems that have made Sandberg, and others like her, so successful.
As a Media Communications and Journalism major, Green has seen firsthand through her own internships how digital media, much like the skills learned in the course, is becoming the more desirable way to disseminate content and news. “More and more content is being published online and via social media than in print,” she notes. “It’s definitely an asset to a company when its employees understand the social market and can utilize digital content to their advantage.”
The course is made up of many Communications and PR majors; however, this class is not just geared to those interested in a career solely focused on digital and social technologies. For example, Talia Stern, a junior and Biology major, is particularly interested in how media can be helpful in the medical field that she wants to pursue. She and other non-English majors are learning the tools necessary to perform any job in this digital era. Longert says that no matter what profession his students choose to pursue, he feels strongly that social media and digital technology is the destination all businesses and companies are headed nowadays. “It is my belief that understanding the power of social media and how it can impact one-to-one and one-to-many communication will give perspective on where things are going and why,” Longert says. “From reputation management to interpersonal communication, digital is changing the way we think and act as a society.”
The students produce a daily blog on topics such as “Challenge Sheryl”, “Social for Good”, “Feature on a woman in tech that’s #PoweringTomorrow”, and “The Rise of the Mom Blogger.” They push out the content via Twitter and Facebook and have gained many followers, including major female and tech-focused groups. Most notably, a recent video post of a poetry slam about women’s roles attracted 268 notes and was reblogged by LeanIn.
The class has been pleased to see how effective their campaign has become as Share the Success has gained many followers and reached big names such as WomenWorking.com, Gloria Feldt, President of Take The Lead and author of “No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power,” and most outstandingly, the official LeanIn organization. “I was most surprised by the vastness of our impact, and to see who was listening,” said Esther Tsvaygenbaum who has devised a course of action to promote the campaign on and off the Stern campus. “Lean In is aware of our efforts and have commended us publicly for taking initiative.” The class is further strategizing as to how to get top-notch professionals, such as Sandberg, into the school. “We are not just theorizing,” she stresses. “With initiative comes impact, and I’m excited to see where we’ll go and what we we’ll be able to do next.”
The more internship-like side of the class is through the constant efforts that the class tackles in subcommittees. One specific group is focusing on an experiential campaign, which includes flyers around Stern highlighting various powerhouse women such as Helen Keller, J.K. Rowling, and Golda Meir. Another is trying to build up a following in the broader network of women and technology by getting their blog posts and general objective noticed. A third group is trying to work within the Stern community by utilizing the already existing clubs and councils on campus. They are currently working with the Career Center to help with mentoring and the Syms Student Council to host a series of speakers and club events.
The class is most excited about an upcoming venture entitled “SternTalks,” a lecture platform modeled after the popular “TedTalks.” They hope to have a diverse panel of professionals and students speak about different challenges, accomplishments, and experiences as women in technology and business.
Whether Sheryl Sandberg will actually visit the class is unknown. But the students are certainly learning many techniques as to how to achieve her success and become the next Sandberg. Whether it will be a successful female professional in the technology industry, or professional female in the digital age, Longert says that if they are, “confident, assertive, hard working and won’t take no for an answer, there is no reason they won’t be sitting in the board room of one of the world’s biggest companies.”
Share the Success has learned through their own collaborative efforts, and by liking, sharing, and following others, that sharing success is the best way to spread it. Sandberg herself has been quoted saying that, “I feel really grateful to the people who encouraged me and helped me develop. Nobody can succeed on their own.”
Follow Share the Success at @ShareSuccessYU on Twitter, Share The Success on Facebook, or SharetheSuccess.tumblr.com.