Just last Tuesday I completed my last-ever college final. It was quite a glorious moment. I must admit, there were times I hardly believed it would happen, and that I would survive it and become a “real person” as we like to say at Emerson. Thanks to college, I have gained a myriad of traditional skills, like learning how to write effectively, speak poignantly and do many other important things that will help me find and keep a job.

But, with the increasing focus on social media in all professions, (especially my own, marketing) some of the most important pieces of information I learned while in college related to my use of social media. Since Emerson Social Media (on Twitter, #ESM) is so well-respected, and many BostInno readers don’t have any idea what you’d learn in a social media class at college, I thought I’d share a few inside tips. Here are the five most important things I learned about social media while in college.

1. Don’t underestimate the power of numbers

The most important thing I learned about social media at Emerson College is that like in any other situation, numbers are revealing. The power is in the people, and when they all rally around a cause it can be really powerful. Whenever Emersonians worked together to tweet about one subject, it got noticed. During Emerson’s social media class, taught by Dave Gerzof, there were a number of times that through sheer number of tweets we were able to get the attention of just about anyone. For example, when local video blogging guru Steve Garfield spoke to #ESM, the whole class tweeted constantly to his friend Jimmy Fallon, which soon elicited a response from the Twitter-savvy comedian. This wasn’t a very important “cause,” but when this kind of social activity is applied to a useful cause, it can be truly powerful. Twitter gives us all the chance to be heard, especially en masse. (more…)