Leveraging Social Media
By: Zachary Evans
Zach Evans serves the NASSM Student Board as a Student Representative responsible for the Student Luncheon and Social at the 2022 NASSM Conference in Atlanta. Zach is a PhD Candidate in Kinesiology at the University of Windsor. His research focuses on sport marketing and sponsorship. Connect with Zach at evans11o@uwindsor.ca | @evansza13 | www.linkedin.com/in/zacharyctevans
The NASSM Student Engagement Initiative was established in 2020 as a way for NASSM students to access professional development and networking opportunities year-round. Sessions are hosted monthly by NASSM student representatives, and each covers a timely and relevant topic for sport management students. For more information on how NASSM student representatives go about planning and hosting these sessions, check out Swarali Patil’s blog post here.
The January engagement session, Leveraging Social Media was focused on tips and tricks for optimizing social media usage. Given the importance of the topic, this session was open to all students. 51 total students registered to attend the session.
The session commenced with the introduction of the panel members, Prof. Ann Pegoraro (University of Guelph), Dr. Matt Huml (University of Cincinnati), and Dr. Kyle Rich (Brock University). Each panelist brought a different perspective to the discussion. Some had extensive social media research experience, and some spoke about their recent experiences of leveraging social media into building helpful connections and securing research opportunities. Key takeaways and highlights from the rest of the session are provided below.
Image copyright: http://allentiffany.com
Key Takeaways
Connecting with other academics
Do not be afraid to reach out to other academics with questions in their area of expertise
Use social media to stay connected outside of annual conferences
Proactively message scholars ahead of conferences to ensure you have a chance to connect in person – build initial rapport which may lead to future research collaboration
Sharing scholarship on social media
Formats are important, as is frequent discussion on your social media platforms, to ensure that those who may have previously missed it get an opportunity to review
Celebrate not only yourself, but encourage, champion, and support others’ work as well
Visual aids and infographics are a great way to visually represent your results
Connect with practitioner groups to keep the conversation going
Share your recorded presentations or lectures via your social media accounts, or make a highlight video
You do not have to limit to sharing scholarship: share your professional thoughts about various aspects of your position, including service and teaching work
Balancing Personal and Professional Use
Know your platform and audience, and do not be afraid to re-direct people to the appropriate platform based on their inquiries
Scholarship-based social media (Research Gate, academia.edu) are useful to curate when it comes time to apply for jobs
Do not forget about LinkedIn!
Take breaks from social media when you need, and do not feel obligated to become active on any platforms outside of your comfort zone
Building Relationships After Initial Connection
Social media follows are the digital equivalent of a business card in many cases
Follow up after making a connection to go beyond “we are connected” to “we are connected, and we have communicated via direct message/email”
Do not be discouraged if you do not hear back from someone; it may not be the best fit after all, or they are just too busy to respond at that time
Final Takeaways
Know your platforms: They are tools for you to use, not tools that use you
Engage in positive discourse instead of arguing super polarizing political views
Think about making your own contribution to the NASSM Blog
For a complete version of the notes from the January 2022 Student Engagement Initiative session, please email students@nassm.org. For more details on the NASSM Student Engagement Initiative, please visit NASSM.org. To register for upcoming NASSM Engagement Initiative sessions, please follow NASSM on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
The NASSM Student Board also hosts activities at the annual NASSM Conference. Stay tuned for more info on mentor programs, student socials, and the student symposium. We look forward to seeing you at our future sessions and connecting in-person in Atlanta!