Education 2.0: Social Media for the Christian College

Mr. Ryan Moede does a great job of creativing a visually and rhetorically compelling case for social media as an active part in the Christian college community (and organizations and academic institutions of all shapes and sizes). I’ve been thinking about this since November of last year, the notion especially hit home with Professor Michael Wesch and his anthropology class at Kansas State produced this:Increasingly as we think about now and the next three to five years: we are the media. That revolution alone is reason enough to wake up and recognize the need to integrate social media in the college classroom and across the ideological spectrum:
• Blogs and social media are an intimate part of personal branding and careers. Online networking via Linked In, Facebook, and niche social sites are proving this.  Networking Events are even transmitted and supported in the digital space (think Goto Meeting, Blog Her’s Second Life initiative,  the promotional video for Blogger Social, or the way you find out about events in Facebook, Meetup, and Upcoming)
• Mainstream media is trending down and increasingly going both digital and interactive.
• People of all ages are spending more time online, with YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and blogs taking off.
• It’s a digital communication revolution. Blogs, wikis, and other social media are personal expression engines that will help create Communication 2.0, Education 2.0, and Work 2.0.
• The web is changing the fundamental nature of organizations now and dramatically over the next decade. If Christian Universities and Universities as a whole are going to keep up, they must adapt. Its a fundamental shift in culture and identity that I don’t think has been seen since the 1960’s.
• Video, mobile, and community platforms are the place where the next revolution is at. Bottom up, participatory, and creative communication is the wave of the future. This means that social media is anywhere (and almost everywhere).
• Christian organizations and individuals face unique responsibilities and value conflicts in this digital space, which aren’t being addressed in mainstream curriculums.An excellent example of the power and creative passion of social media is found at Qui Diaz’s blog about social media and nonprofits:
I’m hoping to pen a couple other thoughts later.  How about yourself?  Thoughts, inspirations, or creative outbursts?

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