5 social media tips to jump-start PR students

Times have changed since 2007, when simply being on Twitter (or even knowing of its existence) was enough to classify you as a cutting-edge early adopter.

Along with knowing about the latest and greatest, students have to tap their various social profiles to build a cohesive brand for themselves online. Here are five tips to help make that happen.

1. Experiment with new social media platforms. As I said, times are changing—and they’re changing fast. New platforms emerging almost every day, and they’re changing the media landscape of tomorrow. For anyone working in communications, it is important to understand these new technologies, because they will affect your job. Sign up for the beta of a new online service, and test it out. If you don’t like it, there’s no harm done.

2. Make yourself visible online—and be active. Social media creates new networking possibilities, but if people can’t find you online, those connections are difficult to make. Make sure your Twitter profile is set to public. Connect your social profiles as thoroughly as you can—especially your Facebook (if it’s clean), Twitter, and LinkedIn. There are some easy social aggregation tools such as About.me or Flavors.me that enable you to create a personal landing page with all your social profiles. It’s also important to place links to your social profiles on your blog or website. You an even add a WiseStamp signature to your Gmail account for a social-media-optimized e-mail signature. Finally, marketing students must be active. It looks bad if your Twitter page hasn’t been updated in a month.