How to Use Social Media for Research Projects

Social media use is widely used in society today. It’s an aspect of life, social, education, working and family life. There are over a billion active Facebook users in the world. Another 500 million are active on Twitter, while over 72 billion videos are uploaded on YouTube each minute.  There are also millions of Wikis around the world.

The question that begs an answer is, “Are you using social media to research projects apart from communicating and interacting with your fans and friends?” Truth is, this is possible especially when it comes to discovering information, collaborating with others around given topics, getting peer reviews from interested parties, and sharing such research materials or findings with others. Here is the blueprint for this.

Discovering Resources

Use social Bookmarking sites- Depending with your research the following social tools can help. Pinterest is great for searching pinned images, videos, and other online resources. Delicious helps one find topics, and Scoop creates a topic-centric media collecting the jewels among the relevant streams of information.

Use Social Citation Tools. Use Mendeley on academic research search and import papers that are related to your project, connect and join forces with other fellow researchers, or generate bibliographies. Personal assistant Zotero  gathers all your sources in a single searchable interface for you to grab your research in just a few clicks. CiteULike finds and manages scholarly references.

Get on Twitter. Twitter is the largest social media research source with over 400 million tweets and 1.6 billion queries posted every day. You can use it to follow industry experts, search trends or activities, and events using #hashtags. Twitter also shares knowledge, ideas and links that enable others contribute with questions, reflections and discussions and build groups, courses and collaborating communities around your projects.

Use Facebook groups and pages. Facebook groups are important for closed projects, courses, and exchanging ideas.

Use LinkedIn Groups. LinkedIn groups are organized around research projects on the topic and industry you write about. Make one to speak directly to people who are experts in the field, read, and discuss their opinion on the matter.

Collaborating and Creating

An open scholar makes his work digitally accessible and welcomes critics. They allow secondary use of parts, or the whole piece, at any stage of its development.

Use a Wiki-One can add new or edit the existing content. Use Wetpaint, Wikispaces, PBWiki, Google Drive, or Google Sites, who promote participation, information sharing, crowdsourcing, collaboration, engagement and creation.

Use Blogs-Some of the most popular blogging tools include WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, etc.

Peer-Reviews

Peer reviews help get feedback on your research projects from peers and true professionals in your particular field. Here are few great social tools to use:

• ResearchGate – it’s built for scientists by scientists with an idea that science can advance if it is driven by mutual collaboration.
• Method Space – a social network for students, professors and research experts who work with such methods.
• Nature Network – a professional networking website where scientists from all over the world who gather, share and discuss ideas and stay in close contact.
• Academia.edu – a platform where academics share their research papers to help accelerate the research processes in the world.

Sharing

Social media tools can share your research projects. You can try to communicate your findings using your own voice because it will be better understood by the general public, the politics, and possibly better implemented in our real lives. Share your researches using videos or other multimedia. Use SlideShare for PowerPoint presentations, PDF portfolios and Word documents, organize and share your ideas using the Prezi presentation tool, or publish your whole research as an e-book using Docstoc, Scribd, Yudu, Simple Booklet, Youblisher, etc.

Today marks the fifth day of our stay in Italy and once again it did not disappoint.  With every day that passes, the more I wish I never had to leave this beautiful place.  Unfortunately, we are almost halfway done with our adventure!  Today, we covered two important items on the agenda.  The first order of business was a lecture regarding Intercultural Management.  The objective of this lecture was to better enhance our understanding of the Italian cultural values and their consequences on behaviors and relationships.  One of the key elements that we focused on was Geert Hofstede’s Five Dimensions Model and how Italy’s rank amongst each category compared to that of the U.S.  I had already researched this topic for a project beforehand so I had a general understanding of where both countries stood.  One thing that our instructor pointed out that I was unaware of prior to the lecture were some of the differences that exist between Northern and Southern Italy.  For example, those who reside in Northern Italy tend to be more individualistic, as opposed to those in the South who appear to be more of a collectivist nature.  To me, this was quite interesting because this attribute is nearly the same between the Northern and Southern states in America.  While discussing Hofstede’s Five Dimensions took up a fair amount of time, the portion of the lecture that had the greatest impact on me at the end in which she spoke of “The Golden Rules” of Intercultural Management.  These “Golden Rules” stress the importance of viewing the world with an open mind and to not let the ignorance of a few hinder your perception of other cultures.  It is important to understand the rationale behind behavior in other cultures and to show them the utmost respect.  Based on personal experience, this is one aspect of life that everyone could improve upon.

Following a short break after the lecture, we visited one of the most astounding businesses I have ever had the pleasure of seeing; the Bisazza.  The Bisazza is a well-renowned company who designs and produces luxury glass mosaic for both interior and exterior decoration.  Aside from all of the amazing works of art, Bisazza’s brand values and strategies caught my attention.  Their brand values include modern, design, and timeless.  They believe it is extremely important to create products that are superior in design to other alternatives and ones that never lose their value.  Bisazza’s brand strategies are contributions, collections, and distributions.  These three strategies have helped lead Bisazza to the top of their industry where they plan on remaining for many years to come.  Some questions that I found myself asking were how exactly does this business work?  Where do they make their profit?  I came to find out that Bisazza actually works with their own designers and architects to construct the product that is requested by the customer.  The majority of their profit comes from projects conducted overseas, most of which occurs in the U.S.  Taking into account both the lecture and the plant tour of Bisazza, I would say that it was yet again another successful day.  I wish this trip were not going by as fast as it is, but I am looking forward to the remaining time I have left.  So far, I could not have asked for a better experience.

Today, Sunday June the 9^th, we have found ourselves wandering around the city of Verona. As you may already know, Verona is also referred to as the city of love (mainly due to the dramatic tale of Romeo and Juliet). When people think of the word love, it is usually associated with romance and passion but in this instance, that is not the case. Merriam- Webster defines love as a “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties,” which can be used to describe the over night relationships of the College of Business Study Abroad: Italy. Reflecting on Verona has allowed me to see that within a week’s time we have transitioned from strangers into friends.

At the beginning of this trip, there were a total of 28 professors and students, few who knew each other beforehand and many who had never met. As a whole, no one knew what to expect while simultaneously making assumptions in anticipation of what to come. Initially, people gravitated toward individuals that they shared things in common with, which is natural, being one of the basic characteristics of human psychology. Currently, exactly a week into the trip things are much different. Although many people have their differences, the energy of the group is filled with joy and laughter rather than anger and dissention. We find ourselves together, wondering around Verona, looking at the architecture, shopping for family and personal, breaking bread and drinking wine. Aimlessly, we peruse through the city of little Rome (Verona), taking in the breathtaking views and immersing ourselves in things unknown to us. Also throughout the day, we all are looking out for one another in this foreign land making sure there is “no man left behind.” Though our relationships began quite recently, they have evolved and matured quickly with great care, compassion, and respect for one another.

In the end, we conquered Verona as we had done with all the cities that we had encountered together before (Belluno, Venice, Florence, ect). All the while we were making memories that we will remember forever, whether it is in thought or captured in a picture. All in all, I believe that if you were to ask everyone on this adventure they would say, “we couldn’t have had a better group of students.” Hopefully, when we travel back home and get back into our normal routines, we will look to continue these friendships long into the future, friendships that were kindled in the city of love, the city of Verona.

Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy with 369.98 square kilometers. It lies between Verona, Brescia and Trento.  Due to Lake Garda’s strategic position during World War One, the lake has become very popular ever since.  It is one of the most popular beaches in Italy. The beaches are mainly rocks instead of sandy beaches like we are used to back in the states. The lake had many beautiful sights and a long list of things to do such as visiting the castle, boat tours, various amusement parks, sporting activities and the beach.  It seemed to be that boat tours were the most popular activity in the area we visited, so a group of us decided to rent a boat to see all of the beautiful sights and enjoy the nice weather.  We had an amazing view of the castle and also passed the grotto.  It was a beautiful, warm day to relax out on the lake.  We spent most of the day taking in the amazing sights of mountains and other breath taking scenery.  In Italy there are so many pretty sights and everything is very old but still so beautiful.  The artwork is phenomenal and you can tell that they put so much time into it.

There were so many boats out on the lake as well and not just the tour boats for the tourists. Italians seem to enjoy their leisure time much more than Americans; this was especially apparent at Lake Garda today.  Instead of focusing solely on the future outcomes of situations, Italians take time to enjoy the present moment and do not take it for granted.  They enjoy a slower paced life than we are used to back home. Life is so fast-paced in the United States that I think a lot of us do not take the time to enjoy the small every day things in life.  In America, people are very business oriented and have a very entrepreneurial mindset and always thinking ahead where as Italians have smaller businesses and are very family oriented. In America businesses are much larger and Italian businesses are much smaller and stay within the family for many years. Both of these perceptions of life have both good and bad aspects to them depending on how one looks at the situation.  In general, the cost of living is higher here in Italy than in the United Sates.  Businesses in Italy are willing to pay higher wages to keep employees and this makes up for the higher cost of living here.  In America, the cost of living is much cheaper, but the people are not paid as much as the employees in Italy.  I’ve loved everything about Italy and am so lucky to be here.  I think this experience has taught me to enjoy the moment and not be too preoccupied about future events.  Visiting Italy has been an amazing adventure and I cannot wait for the next three days!

Date of blog: June 11^th, 2013

The day started off on a bus ride to Lago di Garda. After a relaxing hour and a half, we reached the lake. A group of 18 of us took a boat tour along the beautiful lake. We were informed that the boat tour included taking us to the famous caves of Lake Garda. The water was blue as ever as we rode along the waves, and we were surrounded by the mountains all around us. The boat continued along the lake as we passed a beautiful building that looked like a castle when in fact it was just a home. People live there all year round and even allow tours through their home for 30 euros. This seemed odd to me considering this was their personal home but I guess so many people are willing to pay to see their home.

After we passed the home we started heading back to the dock. Once we arrived at the dock a group of us walked along the beach side on a search caves that we heard about. The water was beautiful and there were many ducks and swans having a leisurely swim on the beautiful day. We stopped by a thermal which was along the walkway. A thermal is a specialty to Lake Garda in which it is a warm spot in the cold lake water. Many people go to these spots because this particular water is good for wellness. Lake Garda residents have made huge wellness center spa businesses out of these thermal spots throughout the city. The thermal was like a hot tub in the water. It was surrounded by rocks with a comfy place to sit in the middle. I proceeded to go into the water when I realized the water was close to boiling temperature. I was able to walk on the other side of the rocks being that it was not too hot and not too cold. It was an awesome experience and I wish I had my suit on so I could have laid in it.

After leaving the thermal spot the group I was with had found a botanical garden that we walked through trying to reach the caves. It was so green & fresh and many of the locals were laying in the grass to tan on this hot day. We climbed this steep hill and got to the other side of the garden where we found a trail that would lead us to the caves. We walked down the trails for a little ways and came across a park. The park contained a museum, ruins, and what we had thought would be caves. The museum consisted of old artifacts from the Roman times. There were statue parts, utensils, plates, old architecture and more. I love historical things so I was starting to find this place rather exciting. As you walk out of the museum you see the ruins. The ruins were an old villa that appeared to be a vacation villa for the Romans during B.C. times. There were several rooms, hallways, and windows that overlooked the beautiful lake. This is the kind of vacation spot I would have liked to own.

We walked along the ocean view and ended up back at the entrance. At this point everyone was hungry so we decided to eat at a pizzeria. We left the restaurant and realized at this point we are probably never going to find these caves. It was disappointing but along the journey I had seen so many amazing things that I couldn’t even be upset. Now I know I’ll need to ask where the caves are on my next visit because hopefully one day I will make it back to Lago di Garda.

Major at ECU:Business Administration/MIS

Year at ECU:  First Year MBA

Happy Monday!! I had a somewhat restful weekend in Verona, but today it is back to business. Today’s lecture was a continuation on Business Strategies with Professor Diego Campagnolo (who I’ll refer to simply as Diego from this point on) from University of Padova in Italy. The lecture started with a better look into defining business strategy, competitive advantage and how those concepts are applied in countries both within and outside the European Zone. Diego went through the research findings from the collective project between GE Capital, University of Padova, University of Ohio and other sponsoring parties on the Middle Market companies and their success in driving the European economy.

The study defined middle sized companies in Italy as those bringing in 5 to 250 million euro of revenue. In Italy alone, the midsized companies represent only 2% of all firms. These Italian firms are responsible for over 40% of the Italian GDP. In regard to the European Union Big 4 (EU-4) Italy’s middle sized companies were responsible for more of the national GDP than German (31%), British (32%) and French (29%) middle sized companies were of their respective country’s GDP.

Seeing that most of Italy’s GDP comes from mid-sized corporations helped explain why the luxury brands and products of high quality are so important in Italy’s economy. Luxury products made in Italy lie largely within the food, fashion, furniture and Ferrari mechanics industries. Over half of Italy’s luxury products are sold outside of the country so many mid size companies are on the forefront of Italy’s global market.

Buying Prada or Giorgio Armani from Italy is a status symbol all around the world. The perception of great value that comes with owning these types of products places you in an exclusive group. It shows good taste and an appreciation for the minds and hands of the creator. Similarly, the Ferrari brand of mechanics speaks to the tastes of the product owner.

After our lecture session we visited the Poli Distillerie and were lead on a tour of the plant. This company is in the food and entertainment industry at the mid-sized company level. One of the interesting topics of discussion while there was that Grapa is only a seasonal product for the company yet they are open all year round. The question was then asked how are you able to support having 23 people on staff when production is over. They told us that the business process takes a great deal of effort and attention. They produce Grapa, Whiskey, Brandy and other types of liquor in the plant; not just Grapa. They are able to sustain and increase the number of jobs during the harvest time and continue bringing in more income with a communication based marketing strategy. This plant visit was the last we’ll have while here in Italy and this was a great way to wrap up our business and to come full circle in what we’ve learned about Italian business.

Major at ECU: Finance

Year at ECU: Senior

“We’re going to a mosaic tile company today” said the presenter this morning. I thought to myself, this is going to be interesting, but I definitely will favor Zamperlla, the amusement ride company, much better. Little did I know as soon as we pulled up to the Bisazza headquarters I would be taking pictures of the building because it was so beautiful.

Bisazza is a glass mosaic tile company that was started in 1956 selling only tiles that were shades of black and tan. Now Bisazza is a million dollar company with revenue of sixty million euros at the end of 2012. Bisazza has a showroom with pre-made patterns that customers can choose from, or they can have their own custom job by Bisazza. Their company is run on core values and that is how they have maintained their position at the top of the market. Bisazza does most of it’s business outside of Italy but it’s headquarters is stationed where it all began in Alte Vicenza, Italy. Bisazza now sells a line of furniture and other home accessories along with their outstanding mosaic work.

After learning about Bisazza in the conference room, which was the fanciest conference room I’ve ever seen, we took a tour of Bisazza’s headquarters. When you think of a company’s headquarters you think of cubicles and a bunch of people working on computers right? Well, in Bisazza’s case you would be very wrong. Bisazza’s headquarters was more like an art gallery housing some of the most amazing pieces of mosaic work I have ever seen. In America when you think of bathroom tiles and the mosaic aspect of that there is nothing special that comes to mind, but these Italian artists created beautiful artwork with the tiniest mosaic pieces. The art that stuck out the most to me was this piece that was most likely bigger than my house. This piece was like two skateboarding ramps that met in the middle and created a heart shape. The size of this piece of art and the design idea is what made this artwork my favorite.

Finally, when we were all done looking around at the gorgeous pieces of mosaic artwork we headed back to the bus and back to the hotel. On our bus ride home I was thinking about today’s lecture about the Italian culture. I am an Italian American and all of the normal traditions and characteristics of Italian culture are something I experience every day of my life. While our presenter was speaking about the Italian culture and everyone was shocked and intrigued I was simply thinking to myself, wow do I live in Italy or the United States. It was interesting for me to see everyone else’s reactions to the way the Italian people live since I am exposed to that at home.

Today I was shocked at the Bisazza plant and its beauty, while on the other hand I was not shocked while we were learning about the Italian culture. I learned a lot about the business aspect of Italy in the mosaic tile industry and am very interested in learning more.

I have personally traveled to ten different countries and seen some beautiful places. Before making my way to Italy, The Dominican Republic was the most breathtaking place I have ever seen.  Cinque Terra Italy tops the Dominican Republic hands down.

My fellow students and I were able to travel wherever we wished on our free weekend in Italy. A group of 15 students including myself decided to travel to Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra is a small Costal town off the western coast of Italy.  So our group booked our train tickets, packed, and got ready for our day trip.

That day started off well until we found out ten minutes before the train came that it was necessary to have our tickets printed. We scrambled to find a place to print our tickets and made the train with no time to spare. Needless to say, it raised our blood pressure.  Once we arrived the view took our breath away. It was like looking at something from a movie or painting.  The weather was beautiful as we exited the train and headed for the beach.  We split up into three groups to experience our desired locations. My group consisted of nine people that wanted to hike and enjoy the beach.

After enjoying the beautiful sandy beaches and seeing many European bathing suits, hiking sounded fun. Little to our knowledge, we were about to embark on an epic journey. We were told that this hiking trail would lead us to the next little town taking us only twenty to thirty minutes. The weather was beautiful with a light breeze making it an awesome time to hike.  This little trip actually took us two hours while hiking three kilometers over the roughest terrain I have every experienced. We hiked over rocks, trees, steep cliffs, and waterfalls as we scaled up this mountain trail. The girls were in sandals and bathing suits drinking mojitos while I enjoyed my nice running shoes.  The temperature started to climb as we ascended up this incredible trail.  The rocks started to get bigger the higher we got as we passed danger signs on the way up.  It was looking like we bit off more than we can chew. As my group and I started to complain about everything possible, things turned around quickly as we started to see the most incredible views. It is impossible to put in words just how breathtaking it was. We stopped to take pictures, which made the dangerous paths seem irrelevant. We passed many college students and older people headed in the opposite direction.  Seeing people in their sixties hiking this trail gave us motivation due to our young age. We were dirty, tired, thirsty and exhausted but we had smiles on our faces as we finished the long hike.  I gave much needed credit to the girls hiking with me enduring the horrible terrain in sandals. You can see in the pictures attached the beautiful view which was worth every step.

I was so glad I decided to make this unforgettable trip to Cinque Terre with my fellow students. I promised myself before I left that I will be back to experience this place one more time. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life and I recommend going to anybody that wants to be amazed; just remember to pack a comfortable pair of shoes.

Major at ECU: Business-Marketing

Year at ECU: Junior

Date of blog: June 4^th, 2013

If you’ve never heard of or seen the Dolomite Mountains put it on your bucket list. The sites I saw today now sit firmly atop my list of most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed. That being said, I made an interesting observation today while touring the small mountain town of Belluno. Our wonderful and knowledgeable tour guide Reinka was speaking about the economic change the town has been going through over the last couple of decades. They once relied solely on industrial work, and industry was the driving force behind everything in the town. As the years passed and the times changed, a lot of the industrial jobs that were once held by the residents of Belluno began to leave the city due to outsourcing and a number of other factors. When this happened, the town had to find a lifeline, a way to survive and maintain. They slowly moved in the direction of tourism, and that has now taken the place as its leading economic resource. It seems like a pretty easy transition if you ask me because the place was absolutely breathtaking.

The United States has made a very similar transition on a much larger scale over the last few decades. At one time the U.S was a manufacturing Mecca that produced anything and everything on its own soil and provided millions of jobs to middle class citizens who were willing to work very hard to earn a modest, honest living with their hands. At one point or another, companies began to realize that they could send the manufacturing aspect of the company over to Japan, china, India and countries with a lot fewer restrictions and much lower labor rates. This increased margins greatly, but deeply hurt the U.S economy. In order to survive the country had to expand its service industry to make up for what was lost in manufacturing. This has been a process that has happened over the course of many years, and it is not easy for any economy to undergo wholesale changes like this. It is very interesting to me that one can see it happen on a small scale such as in the tiny mountain town of Belluno in rural Italy, and on a much larger scale to one of the more powerful countries in the world, the United States of America. All in all, I would say we learned a lot on today’s trip. It is very cool to dive deeper into these things, and see the way that the world is interconnected culturally and economically.

Major at ECU: Business Marketing

Year at ECU: Junior

Date of blog: June 6, 2013

Today we traveled to the town of Belluno in the beautiful Dolamite Alps.  Before I even stepped off of the bus I was in complete awe as we passed through the enormous mountain range.  It was by far the most breathtaking view I have ever seen.  From the point I arrived in Italy on Sunday, I have observed lots of very obvious differences between the Italian culture and the American culture, one being the high level of importance that Italians put on eating their meals.  After our guided tour in Belluno today, we had a little bit of free time to get lunch.  Myself and eight other group members went to a restaurant that specializes in spaghetti.  From my past experiences eating in Italy so far, I expected our lunch to take longer than it would if we were eating in the United States, but right after we received our large portions of pasta we realized that we were very short on time.  The group quickly ate about half of their meal and immediately got up from the table to pay.  When we got to the register our waitress walked by and asked why we didn’t finish our pasta.  It occurred to me that maybe the fact that we ate so quickly and didn’t finish could have been a little disrespectful to our waitress.  We assured her that our food was very delicious but we were actually pretty full and also in a hurry.  I’m not sure if she quite understood our explanation, but she made it apparent that Italians really do make it a priority to enjoy their meals and take pride in the food they cook.  In America, you would probably never be questioned for not finishing your food, especially during the lunch hour when people usually just go with whatever is quick and cheap.

I noticed another cultural difference while we were walking through the streets of Belluno on our guided tour.  Although I already knew how much more conservative and resourceful Italians are compared to Americans, I noticed a lot of drying clothes hanging from the balconies of people’s homes.  I’m assuming that it’s pretty common in Italy for people to not have a dryer, which is something that most all American households have.  I’ve noticed that lots of things in Italy are a lot smaller than they are in America as well.  For example, doorways, cars, showers, sidewalks, and streets are all much different than the ones in America.  As we were driving up to the top of the Dolamite Alps to do some sight seeing, it became evident just how much smaller the streets are.  Although we were in a large tour bus, the lanes on the road seemed so narrow that when another car passed us it almost felt like you could reach out of the window and touch it.  These are only a few of the many cultural differences I have observed just over the past three days here in Italy.  Seeing some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen and experiencing Italy’s culture so far have made the short time I’ve spent here pretty amazing, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the days ahead.