It's the end of the semester, and students are overwhelmed with projects, papers and presentations. But, this isn't the time to let down your guard on the ever-important attention to detail - Proofreading.

An English composition teacher gave me a couple of proofreading tips that have served me well over the years. I've been grading a rather significant stack of essays and projects, and I can't help but be reminded of this valuable advice.

1. Read your paper aloud. Reading aloud forces you to slow down and read what is on the paper rather than what your brain thinks is on the paper. The speed difference doesn't seem like much. But, you'll find spelling, punctuation and grammar errors more easily, and you'll also pick up repetition more quickly when you hear it. (If you're curious, the average speed for reading silently is 200-250 words per minute. But, when reading alond, you slow down to 150-180 words per minute. Data sources are here, here and here.)
2. Read from right to left. This takes a little practice. But, if you can master the art, you'll lose the syntax of the sentences and read only the words on the page - another great way to catch spelling errors.

Also, never underestimate the value of asking a friend or roommate to proofread your papers. It is much easier to find errors in something you didn't write. And, you can always return the favor!

Proofreading is a common topic among communication bloggers, and I recently came across this post with a few solid tips.

Do you have other recommendations for fellow students to help with proofreading?

Reading for writing's sake

I've often advised students that one path to becoming a better writer is to be a reader and to read good writing.

A recent post by Daphne Gray-Grant reaffirmed what I've long thought. Please follow the link to read her full post, but my favorite points are

• #1 - Be sure to read only those books you enjoy.
• #5 - Keep a record of what you've read. (You can find many of my recent choices on Serendipity.)
• #6 - Have a good system for tracking the names of books you want to read. (I found a reading journal on clearance at Barnes & Noble, but a small notebook would suffice.)

This blog is supposed to be about social media. So, you're probably asking yourself, "What does this have to do with social media?" Well, I'll tell you. Social media has decreased the length of our messages considerably. You've heard of the 140-character tweet, haven't you? Clear, concise, meaningful writing is more important than ever.

I remember being a student and not having much time to read anything other than a textbook. Fortunately, I rediscovered my passion for reading. My goal is to read a few selections of classic literature. You know, the stuff we had to read in high school.

And, here are a few suggestions I would add to help become a better writer. And, it may seem a little old-fashioned, but I'm nothing if not a traditionalist. First, read a variety of forms of writing - books - fiction and non-fiction, poetry, letters and news, to name a few. And, explore different topics to expand your world view and understanding of cultures, science, history and the arts.

Second, practice writing. For some, writing is a natural talent, a God-given gift. For others, writing is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice. So, write a letter - and write it in long-hand ... on paper ... with a pen. I realize this is a foreign concept to many of the younger generations. But, the process of writing by hand will force you to slow down and think about what you're putting on paper. Writing a blog is also nice. (And, if you're reading this and you aren't one of my students, check out their blogs, too. You'll find all of the links on my blogroll.)

And, finally, care about the words you use. Are you writing exactly what you want to say? Never hesitate to pull out a dictionary (yes, the book kind) or a Roget's Thesaurus. (I hope you own one. And, if you don't, ask for one for Christmas or your birthday.)

Do you like to write? Why or why not?

As an aside, I receive Daphne Gray-Grant's "Power Writing" e-newsletter. (Yes, I know, I'm a nerd.) I don't always have time to read it thoroughly every day, but I at least scan the subject line to gauge my interest. And, more often than not, it's something valuable for me as a writer. Consider subscribing, too.

Fact or Fiction?

Add to my "must see" movie list "The Social Network," the dipiction of Mark Zuckerberg's creation of Facebook.

How much is fact? How much is fiction? The New York Times laid it out back in August. Since the film opened last Friday, I've seen several PR blog posts about the film, many similar to today's by Michael Longs on Ragan.com.

I'm not sure, as one of the reviewers describes it, I will "get drunk on movies again" (Peter Travers, "Rolling Stone"). That sounds a little inflated to me.

But, Facebook has become a dominant force in modern communication. Interesting that it's already generated a broadly released film.

So, I'll watch (and hopefully enjoy) the film and report back. Are you planning to see it, too?

The answer and my reaction

This weekend, I had the honor of riding in the 26th annual Bike MS-Ozarks. I had my iPhone ready. I connected Twitter and Facebook via TweetDeck to make posting updates easy from the route (Although I managed not to tap the all the correct buttons on Day 1 of the two-day ride, so my status updates only went to Facebook. But, that was user error.) So, I trotted up to one of the ride staff on Saturday morning to inquire about Twitter hashtag for the event.

"The what?" she said.

"The hashtag ... you know, for Twitter," I said.

"I have no idea what that is," she admitted, looking at me like I was speaking a foreign language.

"No worries," I said, walking off plotting my SM strategy for the weekend.

This is in contrast with the AZA conference from which I had just returned. In multiple places in the printed materials, the hashtag (#aza2010) was communicated. It was interesting during the general sessions, in particular, to follow what other attendees were expressing about the speakers. And, very often you got a sense for what concurrent sessions were hitting the mark with zoo and aquarium professionals by their tweets.

But, back to Bike MS. The National MS Society recognizes the power of social networking. As a registered rider, I had a Bike MS fundraising badge on my Facebook profile (until Facebook did away with third-party badges - thanks so much Mark Zuckerberg). After the badge disappeared, the tab remained, and Facebook was an extremely powerful way for me to make a plea for donations.

I suppose that's why I was more than a little befuddled by the lack of a cohesive Twitter hashtag for Bike MS. Perhaps I was the only Twitter use out there (but I seriously doubt that). This just proves there's still an enormous learning curve when it comes to how powerful the variety of social networking applications can be.

We interrumpt this blog for a special announcement!

I'm cross posting tonight from Serendipity because this is something I know you'll all enjoy.

Eats, shoots and leaves?

That's the title of Lynne Truss' book - one of my favorites - about punctuation. My passion for valuing proper language usage received an unexpected boost today in the form of a post on Ragan.com's daily public relations e-mail.

Today's gem was "Comma chameleon: How it changes the color of your meaning." (Here's the link and a footnote *) Rob Reinalda outlines some of the more common comma usage stumbles. The post is a keeper.

We all need refreshers. I, a self-proclaimed "word nerd," don't remember everything from high school English about the parts of speech and punctuation. I do, however, know how to use a reference book to look up what I don't remember (which is a far cry from the lack of care I often see in a lot of writing).

At a time when texting has all but slaughtered the art of the written word, it's nice to see someone else cares enough to write well and to help others write better.

* Never mind the momentary cardiac flutter from the title's play on words, which took me back to my younger years and an affection for the music of Culture Club. You can take the girl out of the 1980s, but you can't take the 80s out of the girl!

We now return you to the regularly scheduled social media blog topics.

It is what it is - and, here's what it isn't

Jon Morrow nails it on the head with his "Open Letter to Marketers who Abuse Social Media for Selfish Gain" on KISSmetrics. Social media marketing is about the relationship not about abusing the audience with your one-side push-out tactics.

His points?

• Social media isn't about getting. It's about giving.
• Social media isn't about algorithms. It's about people.
• Social media isn't about numbers. It's about relationships.

And, yes, it's a lot of work, as he points out.

But, really - you should read his post. It's worth the time if you put his advice in practice.

Week 2 - Getting Started in Social Media

Chances are, public relations students already have an idea of what they think social media is. However, it will be interesting to see in class Wednesday how broad the students' experiences are with the various tools and tactics available. We'll be completing an inventory to measure this.
And, my experience in previous courses has been that students use social networking and see that as synonymous with social media. Here's where the learning begins. Talking about social media typically opens up a whole new world to most students.

Three aspects will become very apparent. First, students realize that social media is not limited to networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, etc.). Second, students will learn how social media can be used to benefit an organization and help the organization reach its goals. This second point is the crux of the course - applying social media for public relations. And, public relations professionals are uniquely positioned to employ social media to reach audiences. We understand the need to engage in conversation and collaboration - that's basic relationship-building. Social media often becomes a way for the organization to become more "human," because there is someone (or several "someones") driving these interactions.

And, finally, the need for measurement becomes abundantly clear. How do you know your social media campaign has accomplished anything? You know because you've created a plan with measurable outcomes. Launching into a social media campaign without a plan is a poor choice. And, public relations professionals have long struggled to justify the relevance and importance of PR. Social media is no different. So, in a quick search of Mashable, I found a social media plan in five steps. We'll be exploring this as a starting point Wednesday night.

It's also interesting to me that I mentioned this "course blog" in my introductory presentation last week. None of my students has chosen to "follow" it. I suspect that will change very soon.