Strategies & best practices in implementing 
social media in public relations courses
Karen Freberg, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication
University of Louisville
karen.freberg@louisville.edu
Twitter: @kfreberg
National Communication Association
Annual Convention
New Orleans, LA
November 17 – 20th, 2011
Overview
 Public relations continues to play an essential and changing role in
society, requiring the regular reassessment of the education of
future public relations practitioners.
 The demands of the current economy and the ever-changing digital
environment is challenging public relations practitioners and scholars
to constantly evolve their research and practices in the discipline to
meet the expectations of their stakeholders.
 Having social media incorporated throughout the public relations
courses will allow professors to feel more connected and up-to-date
with their students.
Social Media in
the Classroom
Growing trend in implementing new
technology into the classroom as well
as engaging in conversation outside the
classroom
Purpose of Paper
 Understanding new technologies that focuses on how to
communicate to various publics like social media does also
creates a link to theoretical foundations and applied
principles of PR.
 This paper will explore the background of both social media
and public relations while discussing the strategies and various
activities that can be used in the classroom.
 Overview of strategies and assignments to implement social
media into courses for future PR professionals
Setting up Course Tumblr site
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Spring 2011; Dr. Courtney
Childers & Karen Freberg
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Course: Social Media for
Advertising and Public
Relations
Social Media sites for
Course: Tumblr & Twitter
(@490Social Media)
Hyperlinked Student Blogs
Students contributed one
post related to the week’s
discussion for the week
Were to provide at least
two comments to each
weekly post by the other
students
Wide range of assignments
and activities during course
Course structure
 Undergraduates and graduate students Sample of Topics
covered:
 Intro to Social media, ethics and legal implications, Privacy, social
networking, microblogging, visual and video sharing, social
gaming, crisis communications, virtual worlds, augmented reality,
mobile technologies, and small business / politics in social media
to name a few.
 Assignments
 Personal blog
 Managing online reputation
 Foursquare Assignment
 Presentations
 Campaign Proposal
Personal blogs
“No matter what, the very first piece of social
media real estate I’d start with is a blog.”
Chris Brogan, New Marketing Labs
 Student Personal Blog for Course
 The students were all asked to maintain and
personalize their own blogs during the course
of the semester.
 One of the more established forms of online
media presently among advertising and public
relations professionals are blogs.
 During the class, students were asked to
create their own personal blog to write
insightful, well-researched, and thorough blog
posts on topics related to social media in
advertising and public relations.
Requirements for Introduction to Blog Assignment (New Bloggers)
1.
Set up a Personal Blog on either of the following platforms: 1)
Blogger (http://www.blogger.om) 2) WordPress
(http://wordpress.com/) or 3) Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com)
2.
Create a name for your Blog and claim your domain name (ex.
www.karenfreberg.com)
3.
Choose a template and theme that you like and reflects your
personality and reputation. (Choosing a Blog Theme for
WordPress)
4.
Set up an About Page for your Blog where you have a:
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Professional picture of yourself
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Email Address
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Twitter Username (ex. @kfreberg)
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Brief Introduction of yourself (ex. education,
professional interests, etc)
5.
First Blog Post: Write an introduction post on your blog
introducing yourself, where you are from, goals after
graduation, areas of interest in PR / Advertising, goals for the
upcoming semester in Social Media Class, and what are your
long term goals for your blog – will you continue it after this
class and graduation?
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Optional: Can also do a video blog introduction of
yourself and embed video in blog post.
6.
Set up a Sitemeter Account (Traffic Analyzer) for your blog
(http://www.sitemeter.com/) - Free Account Option.
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Optional: Card.ly widget (http://card.ly/) Set up a Sitemeter
Account (Traffic Analyzer) for your blog
(http://www.sitemeter.com/) - Free Account Option., Twitter
feed (if you have a Twitter Account), or a LiveFeedJit Feed
(www.live.feedjit.com ).
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Optional: Create a blogroll where you list five advertising and
five PR blogs you would like to link to your blog this semester.
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Requirements for Introduction to Blog Assignment (Veteran
Bloggers)
Write an introduction post on your blog introducing yourself,
where you are from, goals after graduation, areas of interest in
PR / Advertising
Reflect and discuss where you see your blog going for the
upcoming year – what are areas you want to focus in on for
your blog topics? How does your blog reflect your online
reputation? What are your long term goals for the blog (ex.
recognition in the industry, profession, school, etc)
Set up a Sitemeter Account (Traffic Analyzer) for your blog
(http://www.sitemeter.com/) - Free Account Option.
Add an additional widget for blog such as Card.ly widget
(http://card.ly/) , Twitter feed (if you have a Twitter Account),
or a LiveFeedJit Feed (www.live.feedjit.com ). – or embed a
video introduction of yourself in your introduction blog post for
the class.
Optional: Card.ly widget (http://card.ly/) Set up a Sitemeter
Account (Traffic Analyzer) for your blog
(http://www.sitemeter.com/) - Free Account Option., Twitter
feed (if you have a Twitter Account), or a LiveFeedJit Feed
(www.live.feedjit.com ).
Optional: Create a blogroll where you list five advertising and
five PR blogs you would like to link to your blog this semester.
Managing Online Reputation
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One of the important elements in being a social media professional and
practitioner is not only being aware of your corporate or business online
presence, but also being aware of your own online presence as an individual and
professional in advertising and public relations.
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In other words, students in public relations have to be aware of their overall
online personal and reputation rather about what ideal self they strive to be.
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A reputation has many attributes, but for the most part it is a latent construct
that encompasses the “character, conscience, or credibility” of the individual or
entity in question (Jackson, 2004, p. 43).
 Social media such as Facebook and Twitter have become tools for managing
reputation online, with both positive and negative outcomes.
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Overview of Managing Online Reputation Assignment: Discuss your overall goals for your online reputation
management practices for this class and beyond. Some examples can be establishing credibility and trust as a resource
in social media community on specific topic or industry, engaging in online community by sharing expertise and
knowledge, get mentions and other references to blog from others, managing proactive reputation to obtain a job
after graduation, etc. Make sure to state specific objectives that you have set in regards to your online reputation
management efforts.
Personal Reputation Online Overview: Discuss and analyze your online bio presented through social media sites –
blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. This includes providing the bio that you list yourself on each of these
sites. This can be visualized through a table in your paper.
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Online reputation monitoring and analytics: Reflect on your overall traffic and mentions on blog posts, Facebook,
Retweets, Followers on Twitter, LinkedIn connections, etc. How many mentions have you had on your blog,
comments, or site visits over the course of this semester so far, Klout score (www.klout.com).
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Reflections on online reputation building: Discuss how your blog and the information you are sharing with others
through social media is enhancing your online reputation – both personally and professionally.
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Discuss the characteristics that you consider you possess that has helped build your online reputation (ex.
personality characteristics, information sharing behavior, engaging consistently and professionally with
followers and others through social media, etc).
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Think about future trends and goals you have for your online reputation for the rest of the semester and once
you graduate, etc.
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What were your perceptions before and after this assignment in regards to online reputation management?
Other: Items to include in your paper: 1) List of profiles on social media 2) Tables and screen shots displaying social
media traffic or influence via social media; and 3) Tables listing URLS and Profiles of Social Media Outlets (ex.
Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Blog)
Other Assignments
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Foursquare Assignment
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Analyze local business or company using Foursquare from a critical
perspective + addressing potential issues and challenges (privacy and
ethical consideration)
Interview professional in charge of Foursquare account (PR and
Marketing professional)
Graduate Student Presentations
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Graduate students in course presented 30 min presentation on topic of
the week
Video recorded presentation + made copies for students to bring to job
interviews or show employers their potential in discussing and
presenting on social media topics
Incorporated into personal blog + online portfolio
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Crisis communication and social media scenario activity
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Campaign Group Presentations & Proposals
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Future assignments
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Infographics (Resumes / Topics)
Guest blog posts
Mobile apps / augmented reality applications for PR
Data mining
Best Practices
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Integrating research and practitioner perspectives with social media.
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Provide students with real examples and professionals to come into class to talk
about social media implementation.
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PR / Advertising / Consultants
Face-to-face / Skype & Google+
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Being part of the online community – Social Media Club.
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Online reputation management practice and exposure.
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Being an expert in social media means living, breathing, and tweeting it every day.
Take same approach with looking at technology trends like the local, national, and
international news.
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Stay on top of latest trends – evolve and change syllabi accordingly (ex. mobile
technology and case studies related to this).
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Don’t be afraid to test new assignments and ideas in course.
Best practices, cont.
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Promote participation-collaboration environment in and outside of class.
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Technology is indeed changing, but it is also changing how we teach public relations.
Content is still king and defining the experiences among our key audiences, students,
and ourselves in the profession.
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Importance of exploring avenues and mediums that shape and influence perceptions
and experiences for audiences within PR.
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Viewing social media and networks as your personal switchboard and operating system
– all medium channels are interconnected across networks and mobile devices
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Participation in curating and co-creation of knowledge and experiences to share
relevance
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Provide students with resources they can use beyond the class.
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Evaluate and measure opinions and attitudes in class throughout class
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Keep in contact with students after class – job opportunities and internships based on
course work and presentations
Conclusion
 Overall – in order to be successful with social media in PR
courses….
“There are no magic wands, no hidden tricks, and no secret
handshakes that can bring you immediate success, but with
time, energy, and determination you can get there.”
Darren Rowse, Founder of Problogger
Any questions or comments?
Thank you very much.
Karen Freberg, Ph.D.
Email: karen.freberg@louisville.edu
Website: www.karenfreberg.com
Blog: www.karenfreberg.com/blog
Twitter: @kfreberg
Social media resources
www.karenfreberg.com/becomingsocial.htm