Social Media Girls and Women

Social Media Girls and Women
Presenting and speaking to 30 Journey Into Womanhood
(JIW) young ladies is an opportunity to empower girls and
young ladies to the benefits and the dangers of using
Social Media platforms to communicate with friends,
build relationships and exchange information.
The need to understand the value and dangers of
Social Media participation can been seen in media
reports showing the results of Cyberbullying, harassment,
stalking, Catfishing and child abductions that started with
innocent chatting online and lead to abductions, sexual
assaults, forced prostitution and even murder.
Stated by Kathleen Clarke-Pearson, M.D., “The digital
world is an evolving landscape that parents have to
learn to navigate.” Social Media is a representation of
society and parents should be cautious. Education is the
key to understanding how SM platforms work.

Marketing thru Social Media
Social Media content can provide a Marketability
opportunity to promote talents, abilities, skills and
putting girls in a positive situation for scholarships,
Internships and jobs. Girls as teens and young adults
are afforded a chance to Brand themselves intellectually,
creatively, analytically and other skills that show
leadership abilities, teamwork skills and academic
successes. There still needs to be caution when
friending, collaboration and sharing information with
unfamiliar people.
Good rules of thought for girls and young women is
“Think before you post” and “Everyone is not your
friend,” on Social Media: content posted either in text,
pictures, video or other formats cannot be deleted
once posted online. SM tools for girls as a good
measure to remember, using Social Media platforms:
girls should always Market and Brand themselves
for success.

Somebody Is Watching You
They never know who is watching them, potentially
waiting with a college scholarship, Internship,
or job. SM platforms can build a girls or woman’s Brand
as an expert in fields that are looking for young
talent and innovative thinking. Technology has opened
opportunities for young women to work in tech careers
never thought possible and even start their own companies.
Nonprofit or not for profit entities managed by women
are seeing the benefits of using social media successfully,
they are starting to see pay offs not just in building
connections, there are growing collaborative associations
and partnerships.
Social concerns like mental health, physical wellness,
pregnancy, dating, bullying/cyberbullying, breast cancer
and other personal issues are generating a social
presence because of Social Media.
Creating a presence on Social Media has the potential to
create a following and make social change effective and efficient.
Issues addressing Mental Health are brought to light through
organizations like, Jax MHAAC. Applying SM tools allows the
sharing for information, encouraging volunteering and promoting
events such as the Mental Health in the African American
Community Program.
https://myquesttoteach.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/
the-sensitive-debate-on-mental-health/

Managing Your Content
The young ladies of Journey Into Womanhood are
learning through dialogue, discussion, debate and even
role playing the importance of proactive action in
managing their content and displaying the importance
of intellectualism and intellectual abilities that can
shine on networking sites like LinkedIn
http://LinkedIn.com
Competition is stiff and unforgiving when seeking
jobs or starting a career. Youthful intellectualism,
academic success, community involvement and even
spiritual awareness are valuable in Marketing, Branding
and Promoting. A young girl and woman’s content
sets their foundation for public respect and notoriety
or social scandal or character self-assassination.
Sharing again PBS Frontline documentary “Digital
Nation” 2007 each generation that is involved in the
creation of digital content is creating a paradigm shift
in how higher education and businesses find
information on future employees. Recruitment
procedures have drastically changed because of
Social Media platforms. Recruiters are “Googling”
students, schools, families and getting results that
may embarrass and offend parents. Parents should
Google their children and school districts should begin
hiring Social Media counselors to provide professional
development to students in middle and high schools.
“Guilt by association” in the digital realm can change
a reputation in an instant displaying alcohol, drugs, and
sexual situations can potentially change a student’s
value of “Human Capital” to “Human Liability.”

Your Profile Is Your Foundation
“Missing and Exploited Children” web site Social
Media is influential and creates avenues for peer pressure
and associations.
http://www.netsmartz.org/TeensTalkBack/SocialNetworking

Girls must be cautious and responsible when creating a
profile that the world will see. Their lives could literally be
at risk, educational and professional careers. The Social
side of Social Media is influencial because of the opportunity
to be popular, funny, cool and attractive to people.
The profile of girls may be an exaggerated, perfect versions with
cute photos, or the ones where life is perfect and pure. French
blogger Garance Doré stated, “we put an edited version of ourselves
online.” This version is not accurate and truthful. In realistic terms
we all do that.
Girls and boys do edit themselves, girls try to show the best things
from physical attributes to abilities and talents.
Using Social Media girls and woman can now measure their popularity
in the form of “Likes” and comments. Research from the University of
Wisconsin has found people looked at their perfect Facebook profiles
they felt a rush of self-esteem, but the esteem did not last long
because of the occurrences of life.
Social Media encourages and provides a platform to show a better
version of ourselves, especially if we are Branding ourselves and
Marketing our abilities and skills. Girls and woman should
realize that they will have to interact with others for real and present
a face that is trustworthy, compassionate and “real.”
When creating a profile most SM sites ask for personal information:
home addresses, birthdays, and phone numbers. Giving this information
on unsecured sites can be dangerous and may be made public to anyone
who visits a user’s profile page. The biggest threat of over sharing
information is identity theft. Identity theft is growing common in the
world of online social networking and commerce. Girls and women
should learn and network to gain valuable information. To protect
themselves, their families and their futures.

Florida Blogging Conference Education
Resources like the upcoming Florida Blogging Conference Education
for students, educators and administrators are vital in sharing important
information about Social Media platforms and relevant technology
that affects the growing youth, teens and young adults that use SM tools
every day.
There is a major push to get students and teachers blogging and using
social media http://school.flblogcon.com/
Presenters are real teachers who are using blogging and social media daily
with their students as well as leaders in high tech industries.
Register to attend http://school.flblogcon.com/register-now/