Building RelationshipsWith Blogs & Social Media

Bob BertschNorth Dakota State University

October 14, 2009

Building Relationships - In the Print Era

- Educational relationships were based on authority 

- The authority of the instructor or author came from one or many diplomas

- Diplomas were granted by institutions made up of individuals with the authority to vouch for the original instructor/author's authority

- Where did the authority of the diploma-granting institution come from?

Building Relationships - In the EM Era

- Educational relationships are built on authority and trust

- The authority of the instructor or author comes less from diplomas and more from demonstrated knowledge

- Authority means nothing with out trust, and today people distrust those with authority

- You build trust by being open: giving up some of your traditional authority, letting people see your personality and consistently engaging in community conversations

Building Relationships - Using Blogs

What are blogs?Easy-to-update web sites written in a journal style with articles that appear sequentially based on date. • Blogs have an archive, links,time-stamps and a

chronological listing• Blogs are personalized, community-linked, social and

interactive• Blog content drives much of the social media traffic in Twitter

and other tools

Building Relationships - Creating a Blog

NDSU Agriculture & University Extension has it's own blog tool, called Roller.

www.ag.ndsu.edu/roller

Source: Overdrive Interactive – www.overdriveinteractive.com

Source: Overdrive Interactive – www.overdriveinteractive.com