University News

WIU Department of Communication Opens Social Media Lab

November 18, 2019

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MACOMB, IL – Students at Western Illinois University now have a dedicated space to learn about and work with social media accounts with the opening of the WIU Social Media Lab this week.

The lab was created by the WIU Department of Communication and Associate Professor Josh Averbeck.

"The WIU Social Media Lab is born out of the interest of our students and expertise of our faculty," said Averbeck. "Many of our students graduate with an interest in social media, but lack hands-on experience. I decided to correct that problem. I have several students who have signed up to be research assistants in the spring semester and the real work will begin. We have an ambitious agenda to produce content for the Department of Communication's social media accounts, provide consulting services to community and university partners, and write brief monthly reports of social media related topics that are relevant to the community and Western Illinois region."

The lab is currently equipped with three computer work stations that are capable of wirelessly broadcasting to a mounted flat screen monitor for easy collaborative work. There is a shared meeting space for research team meetings and to meet with University and community members for discussions about assisting them with social media branding. The lab will also offer students hands-on experience with social media account management.

"Interested students can learn new social media analytics tools and programs and participate in workshops on branding on social media," said Averbeck. "We hope to position the lab as a research hub for case studies and real-time event evaluation for news outlets. We have experts here and we should find as many ways to share our knowledge as possible. We will also offer consulting and social media audits for regional businesses and organizations for their social media campaigns."

The lab complements the courses the WIU Department of Communication offers in Computer-Mediated Communication and provides a space for students to put those skills into practice. 

For more information on the lab, visit facebook.com/WIUSocialMediaLab.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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