Over the course of the past few months I have had the opportunity to use a social media program called Hootsuite. Hootsuite is an online tool that allows users to organize and track different aspects of social media. For example I am able to track certain keywords or hashtags on separate streams at once. This allows users to keep things organized for both personal and business uses.
Hootsuite University is an online educational tool that is part of the Hootsuite Pro package. After paying a fee users have access to videos and lessons on how to use Hootsuite effectively and to integrate it into their business. After doing several examinations a user can become Hootsuite Certified. Luckily for my classmates and me we were able to participate in this program free of charge because of being part of the class. This was the first time I have taken an online course, even though it wasn’t an official college course program.
The Hootsuite University Certification program consists of taking six courses with an exam and finishing by taking the Professional exam. The first six courses are themed about different social media sites, their uses, and how Hootsuite can be integrated with them and your business. These lessons consist of watching several different videos. These videos are very well done. They are easy to understand and are delivered in small parts to make it easier to watch a few at a time so you don’t get bored too quickly. After watching these videos you take an exam over them. You can’t pass an exam unless you get a 90 or 95 percent on them, so passing can sometimes be a bit difficult but with enough effort you can do it. The final professional exam incorporates all the things you would learn from the other lessons and is much longer than the other exams.
The first two lessons I found were the simplest, but also the ones that most people would find the most useful. The first lesson was an introduction of the different social media sites. They covered Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn. While I was already pretty familiar with Facebook and Twitter the other sites were basically new to me. I felt that the video lessons did a good job explaining all the basic functions of the sites and their purposes.
The second lesson was on social media etiquette. This is something that I believe every user of social media should be required to take. It gets quite annoying when I see a tweet that consists of nothing but hash tags. Or the same Facebook post five times on the same day from some company page that I liked. Social media etiquette was a lesson that I enjoyed and found to be the most useful in my day to day personal life.
The Hootsuite University program covered a lot of ground, mainly focusing on using social media effectively and learning the different functions that they have. One thing I wish they had though was a lesson on developing a social media strategy. I felt that most of the lessons were explaining parts that would be useful in executing a social media strategy, but there was never a focused lesson on actually developing and implement the plan. Having a lesson on social media strategy and planning would go a long way in making the overall experience more fulfilling and practical for a business to have their employees participate in the program.
After going through the program the biggest thing I have taken away from the program is how to effectively integrate social media into a business model. My future career path will involve social media in business so having some educational background in that area. I am sure that not only what Hootsuite University has taught me about the different social media sites but also about social media analytics and the importance of organizing social media using online tools like Hootsuite will also come in handy.
On a more personal level I feel that Hootsuite University has taught me some things, but some I already knew about. The sections covering Facebook and Twitter for example I had already known for the most part. However the section covering Facebook from an administrator’s perspective was certainly a view of Facebook that I hadn’t seen before. Also learning the different tactics and methods to become an effective social media communicator were certainly invaluable lessons.
The biggest thing that Hootsuite has taught me is just how much there is to social media. Before I started I didn’t really think much of social media. To me they were just something that I could get my news from and I didn’t interact very much at all. I very rarely posted things of any value when I did post. Now however I am more engaged than ever before. I see that social media is a more than a tool to share pictures of your breakfast. Rather Hootsuite has shown me how social media can be used to have an impact on people’s day to day lives when used appropriately.
Hootsuite University was a great experience for my first online course. While in the beginning it lagged a little bit because it was too easy, it quickly came to a point where I learned valuable skills to become a more effective communicator using social media. The Hootsuite tool is also something that I can see myself using even after the course is over and move onto my professional career. I highly recommend communication professionals to try it out and become Hootsuite certified.
devinb33 