Collegiate Connexion: Social network

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Staying in Touch After Graduation

Photo provided by: Taylor Ray

As your last semester from college quickly approaches, you will soon cease to take tests, write papers, flunk pop quizzes, and never again will you read a ridiculous 75-page textbook chapter overnight. However, you also will no longer be ordering pizza at 3 a.m. or watching movies all day on the couch with your best friends.While your exodus from this playground we call college will no doubt be liberating, some of you may be going through the stress of leaving your best friends.

Keeping in touch with your friends post college can be easier than you may have originally thought! While you won’t be skipping class to watch movies all day or order junk food in the middle of the night, you will be able to maintain correspondence with your best friends with ease. This post highlights some great tips to staying in touch with your college classmates.

Create a group on Facebook for your group of friends!

Since everyone is already on Facebook try creating a group for your close circle of friends to post comments on, create and organize events, and maintain group communication so no one can be left out! It can serve as a one-stop shop to catch up with everyone all at once.

Pick up the phone when you can.

Nothing is better than hearing the voice of your best friend when you’re down or stressed. Even if you don't have time to have hour-long conversations, call or text every once in a while to let your friends know you still care about them.

Plan a group get together.

While this can sometimes be difficult, try and get together when you can, maybe even once a year. Compile a list of those who live closer to you and try and see them more often.

Keep your contact info updated through e-mail.

Start a mailing list and have anyone update their contact information via e-mail when they move, change numbers or addresses.

Posted by: Taylor Ray

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Prepare Your Facebook for Visitors

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 25: In this photo ill...

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeOne of the key things employers look at before hiring or sometimes even considering to interview you is your Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and any other form of social networking site you use on a daily basis. The trick to keep these pages active is to clean them up and use them just like any company or organization would, to market yourself. Look at these pages as advertisements for you!

Market Yourself: Always fill out the information about yourself, but remember to keep the important information somewhat confidential (full name, address, etc.). This will help keep you safe from identity theft, creepy stalkers and those you don’t want to find you online.

Be smart about your photos: If you’re over the age of twenty-one having a beer in your hand while smiling with your friends isn’t going to portray a negative image, however a photo of you falling over at bar with puke spilling out of your mouth is. Monitor the photo’s you upload and are tagged in.

Be smart about what you write: Whether it is a comment on a status, tweet or wall post be aware that everyone can read it! While in an interview for an internship last year with a public relations firm, my interviewee pointed out to me that employers are digging deep into our sites and monitoring what potential employees are writing on others walls beyond.

Set your security to HIGH: Facebook is constantly changing the security protocol of their site, so it is important to check your settings out every once in a while. Go in depth to check who can see your posts, wall, information, groups, photo albums and etc.

While these items may seem tedious and unnecessary they definitely are important to your success at landing that first job. Remember to utilize your page to make you stand out, stay informed and connect with professionals and past colleges.