HOOTSUITE
Homepage: http://www.hootsuite.com/
Tool Category/ies: Communication Social Networking Productivity
License Type: Free + Pay Options
Overall Rating
4/5
Hootsuite is a social media management web 2.0 tool. With this tool you can manage multiple social networks (e.g. facebook, twitter, google+, instagram etc.) in one place. In addition you can schedule messages and tweets and analyze your social media traffic. It's a great way to organize and keep track of all social networks in one location.
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Hootsuite dashboard
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Rating: 4/5
Reviewed by: Alyssa Riley on 04/04/2013
Description
HootSuite is a Web2.0 Tool that to be worth using, is for the individual who utilizes multiple social networking sites like facebook, Twitter, Google plus, etcetera 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 business marketing tools. At Florida State University, the Admissions and Records Department utilizes Hootsuite to enhance students' abilities to use Twitter for help by creating scheduling reminders through the application and managing student questions via Twitter through the HootSuite dashboards.
How to use Hootsuite in a teaching environment
In trying to find applications in the classroom for HootSuite, I found one through Purdue University Classroom Uses of Hootsuite by Purdue University. There are multiple options provided, at the levels of Middle School, Secondary, and 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 and Twitter. From the HootSuite platform, the instructor can follow the students' individual sites, monitoring their postings and 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 practicing evidence-based medicine this way, where pupils can post up-to-date links to articles and create posts describing their findings.
Advantages of using Hootsuite
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.
Disadvantages of using Hootsuite
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 couple of dollars per 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.
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