Discovering Facebook as a professional resource

Welcome to Blog #2! Over time this blog will definitely show how much I am learning about social media and what an integral tool it is going to be in my future career. Today I created a professional facebook page and used flickr for the very first time. I was able to take the screen shot that you see below and used flickr (http://www.flickr.com/) to embed the picture here on my blog. I have had a love hate relationship with facebook up until today but now that I can see its value in the business world, I am definitely leaning a little closer to love. I filled out the information on my professional page highlighting my strengths, abilities and aspirations as if it were a resume that I was sending out to the world. Knowing that Facebook has over 800 million users world wide, it seems only obvious that it is an essential part in the marketing and branding of oneself. By being selective, professional and responsible with my use of social media I will be able to build not only a local presence in my own community but also a global presence as well. I am learning that by incorporating social media into my professional portfolio I will be able to increase people's access to research or causes that I am affiliated with and connect and correspond with colleagues that would have otherwise been anonymous to me. As technology continues to make this world smaller and smaller, tools such as Facebook will enhance my ability to reach people in every corner of the world I will be able to open up the door to endless possilities.


Untitled, a photo by ErikaB2012 on Flickr.

If you are interested in expanding your professional networking abilities I encourage you to create your own professional page on facebook.com. If you're still on the fence on whether or not Facebook can be good for anything other than "creeping" on people's profiles, check out http://mashable.com/2009/08/14/facebook-networking/ to read a great "how to" for using Facebook professionally. Also, I'm not the only one who's been clued into the many ways that Facebook can be used in your career. To see how some other students are using Facebook as a professional networking tool, take a look at Marisa's blog at http://buildingmye-portfolio.blogspot.com/.

Hi everyone! My name is Erika Brown and I am a third year Nutrition and Food Science student on my way to becoming a Registered Dietitian. I transferred to the University of Alberta in August of 2009 for the dietetics program and have been absolutely blown away by the Nutrition program here as well as by the wonderful people of Edmonton. As a true born and raised west coaster, it has definitely been an adjustment learning how to put on layer upon layer of clothing in the winter and taking flip flop completely out of my vocabulary. Regardless of the weather, I feel extremely grateful to be among some the most innovative and bright minds of our generation. It is sometimes hard to believe that such groundbreaking research and advancements are happening all around us all the time, especially in the realm of health and nutrition. Before I came to the University I thought I had a reasonably clear idea of what I wanted to do with my degree:  private practice, general nutrition and lifestyle promotion probably in the form of magazine articles and seminars, and who knows, maybe even teach a yoga class on the side. Being here at the University has enlightened me to the multitude of possibilities available to nutrition graduates and the many different avenues that one can take throughout their career. I have been lucky enough to volunteer with both the Alberta Diabetes Foundation as well as Meals on Wheels, both of which have completely opened my eyes up to the many facets of nutrition education here in Edmonton. Needless to say, I am still a little undecided but I do believe that my role on the planet is to promote healthy nutrition as I have experienced firsthand the integral role it plays in everyone's quality of life. Deciding which form and venue that may take is still another question to be answered.

Surprise surprise...I love quinoa!!!
photo by Erika Brown

The realm of social media has changed the way that Dietitians are able to promote nutrition and motivate people to strive for healthier lifestyles. Newspapers and magazines are being phased out and replacing them are blogs, tweets, Facebook and Youtube videos. No longer are people venturing out to seminars and courses to seek answers to burning nutrition questions. Instead, an answer to any question or query that one might have is simply a click away. With such reputable sites as The Dietitians of Canada website http://www.dietitians.ca/ available to the masses, social media has completely changed the way that people interact and how information and education is disseminated to the public. Though some might worry that social media is compromising our human need for social contact, the truth is that it’s here to stay and if we don’t get on board we will simply be left in the dust. With the increasing prevalence of chronic disease nation wide and an overabundance of misinformation available, it is more imperative than ever for health promoters to utilize the different media outlets available to reach as many people as we can in as many ways possible.  It is our obligation to seek out the most effective forms of promoting health and with society’s increasing dependence on technology, social media has become the tool that we must learn to love.

For an interesting perspective from another nutrition nut here at the U of A, check out JenV's blog at http://jvandermeer.blogspot.com/