All three San Jacinto College campuses hosted their first ever Social Media Week presentations Sept. 30. to Oct. 3.
The events featured sessions for both employees and students aimed at educating them about social media use protocol.

Scylla Lopez, San Jac’s Social Media Coordinator and the event organizer, said the different sessions were geared toward the specific needs of students and faculty.

“We wanted to make sure each student and employee has an opportunity to attend one of the sessions. There is so much to cover with social media, so we felt it would be good to offer variety,” Lopez said.

With social media becoming one of the main channels of communication, Sac Jacinto College wanted to show students and employees how to correctly use it.

“Students reach out to us and to other students for help through social media. We use our social media sites to inform our college community about what’s happening on campus and important deadlines and academic dates. We use it to promote our programs, highlight achievements and recognitions. With social media being such a big part of everyone’s lives, we felt it was important that our students and employees know how it can be utilized to their benefit, and used properly,” Lopez said.

Social Media Week came together with the help of Lopez and the marketing staff after she brought up the idea in late 2012. All of the speakers for the event volunteered their services and time. She was able to connect with most of them through LinkedIn.

As the social media coordinator, Lopez was inspired to create Social Media Week after seeing what students were posting online. She said she wanted to find a way to inform students about the importance of maintaining a good online reputation. She also wanted to let students know how they can enhance their college experience through social media, Lopez said.

“There are so many stories about how people were able to find their dream job just by creating a profile on LinkedIn. That’s why we need to tell our students about it,” she said.

Lopez said she hopes the College can host Social Media Week annually because of the important information students and employees can take away from the sessions.

“It’s all about how students can connect with the College, and how employees can connect with their students using social media. I hope that everyone will realize that social media isn’t just about posting where they are going on Facebook, or pictures of what they are eating on Instagram,” Lopez said.