HootSuite: Managing Your Social Networking Sites

Learn about HootSuite.com by viewing my SlideRocket presentation:



http://portal.sliderocket.com/CAULQ/8F36CC5D-BB4D-4941-8A54-B53B0861D3EE

HootSuite is a Web2.0 Tool that to be worth using, is for the individual who utilizes multiple social networking sites (facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc) and wants one go to place to manage it all. Where HootSuite really gains some power is in its' application as a tool for organizations using social networking as their advertising tool.  If you want to gauge usership and mentions out on the web, HootSuite comes equipped with analytical tools that integrate with a preset set of the most commonly used social networking sites. Without much use of or need for those social networking sites, HootSuite is be a little to be used routinely.

HootSuite is mostly touted for its robustness as a business marketing/tracking tool, and with the HootSuite University course offerings, it certainly has integrated itself into the world of Syracuse University, with whom it's partnered. Through the courses, one gains valuable insight into practical application of social busines marketings tools.  At Florida State University, the Admissions & Records Department utilizes HootSuite to enhance students' abilities to use Twitter for help (http://blog.inigral.com/using-hoot-suite-to-manage-student-communications/) by creating scheduling reminders through the application and managing student questions via Twitter through the HootSuite dashboards.

In trying to find applications in the classroom for HootSuite, I found this site (https://dev.wiki.itap.purdue.edu/display/INSITE/HootSuite) through Purdue University. There are multiple options provided, at the levels of Middle School, Secondary, & Post-Secondary Education. HootSuite is used as the management platform for an instructor to integrate the classes education through multiple other networking sites. As I mentioned in the SlideRocket presentation, an instructor could use the application to manage students exploring current events. Assignments and questions could be posed to the students, sent as scheduled messages initiated through HootSuite, and the students as questions and interact with each other through their social networking sites, including Facebook & Twitter. From the HootSuite platform, the instructor can follow the students' individual sites, monitoring their postings & links, then run reports the provide a comprehensive look at one's performance in the classroom.  From the medical education standpoint, instructors could create a forum for practiving evidence-based medicine this way, where pupils can post up-to-date links to articles & create posts describing their findings.

Moving past the initial idea that this was really a tool for business management, from an educational outlook, HootSuite seems like it has great potential as a hub for managing the use of multiple other social networking sites.  The ability to schedule messages, allowing one to send out reminders is a feature that seemed like a great bonus. The tool seems a bit complex to use at first, and really putting it to good use requires both significant investments in time and money if you want to participate in the HootSuite University. Otherwise $9.99/month maybe isn't the greatest sacrifice for all the benefits it can provide if one is willing to learn it himself! If you are interested in managing multiple networking site and/or persons using them, give it a try!