Earning credits for tweeting may sound like a social media buff’s dream, but for seven Algonquin students, it’s a reality.
The Social Media Ambassadors, a volunteer-based team formed in October of last year, welcomed new and old members at their first meeting of the semester on Jan. 19.
There are currently seven members, all of which are students, who are led by Algonquin’s Social Media Community Officer, Takuto Shiota.
“I ask them to capture what it’s like to be a student at Algonquin College, so that includes anything they do in their off time as well as anything in class that might be generally interesting” said Shiota.
Shiota also asks ambassadors to attend events held at the school, such as comedy nights or food drives, and tweet or post about them. In doing so, their tweets count towards their co-curricular record.
Students in any program can join the SMA, but it is particularly helpful for marketing and public relations students.
“It’s a really good fit for my program and I think I’ll continue doing it for as long as I can,” said Megan Winsor, a first-year public relations student and ambassador for two semesters.
Winsor said social media helps with public relations work because it’s easier to reach an audience and for the audience to reach them.
Winsor realized she was interested in public relations in high school and soon after applied to the University of Ottawa and Algonquin’s joint program.
In the summer of 2013, Winsor worked for Special Olympics Nova Scotia in 2013 by overseeing their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
“Really generally, I like behind the scenes things,” said Winsor. “I would love to promote television networks or music, entertainment, technology.”
Although the work done by the SMA is related to public relations, Winsor is the only member of that program on the team.
The two students who became ambassadors this semester are Gracilia Boloko from the law clerk program, and Merissa Reed from interior design.
Boloko said she heard about the SMA through Facebook and joined to get more involved in school activities.
The other members include two library and information technician students, a paralegal student and a community and justice services student.
Although they come from different areas of the school, the Social Media Ambassadors work together to help represent student life at Algonquin.