Calendar Alert: Social media safety – 5 p.m., February 2

Photo courtesy Rjs09f on Flickr

The potential dangers of social media are sometimes veiled by funny status updates and witty tweets. But even online identities can face real-life threats, like stalking and harassment.

Join ONA Mizzou at our next event, focusing on how to use social media safely. We'll meet at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2 in Reynolds Journalism Institute 100A. Three guests will lead the conversation and answer your questions:

• Joy Mayer, Columbia Missourian director of community outreach 
• Columbia Police Sgt. Jill Wieneke
• Danica Wolf, Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center coordinator

Do you have questions you’d like answered at the event? Tweet them to us now (@ONAMizzou), so we’ll have a list before it starts. You can also comment below or write on our Facebook Wall.

Mini SEO guide for students

By Ashley Crockett

Graphic by IBizClicks.com

Bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, you've been working on that hard-hitting story for a week. Make sure your masterpiece doesn't slip through the cracks of the Internet, never to be seen by anyone except a proud parent, by using search-engine optimization (SEO).

The term SEO is thrown around a lot today, but with little instruction about how to actually achieve it.

So, for your viewing pleasure, I present a handy-dandy guide to SEO.

Google's Search by Image makes photo crowdsourcing more reliable

By Andrew Gibson

Google's Search by Image can help Web publishers detect whether
user-submitted photos are infringing on copyrights.

Asking readers to submit pictures can be a brilliant way to encourage participation on news websites and blogs. But before you fill your home page with strangers' scrapbooks, check whether the photos are violating copyrights.

Google's Search by Image might be the most efficient way to make sure John Doe isn't copying a photo from another website, slapping his byline on it and sending it to your inbox. The tool allows users to upload pictures and then scour the Web for pages containing the same image or similar ones. If you get a photo as an email attachment, drag it to your desktop, and then upload it to the search bar. You may discover that Doe's ostensibly brilliant photo might not be his at all.

RJI Student Competition gives journalism, computer-science and business students chance to collaborate

A note from ONA Mizzou student leaders: To efficiently share the particulars of this competition with students at the University of Missouri, we have provided the details here, as they are unavailable elsewhere online. If you have questions about the competition, please contact Mike McKean at mckeanml@missouri.edu.

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Information session: 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Fred

W. Smith Forum (upstairs in RJI)

The 2011 winners developed an "Android-based game that lets players
build their own game-world digital publication," according to RJI.

Amanda Klohmann, far right, was an ONA Mizzou founding member

and 2011 convergence-journalism graduate.

By Reuben Stern and Mike McKean

It's not too late for you to help solve a real-world challenge faced by one of the country's largest consumer media companies -- Hearst Corporation -- and compete for a trip to New York as part of the 5th annual Reynolds Journalism Institute Student Competition.

You and a team of fellow students from journalism, business and computer science will compete against other student teams at Mizzou to win a free trip to New York City that includes a visit to Hearst headquarters in midtown Manhattan.

Hearst operates 15 newspapers and 29 television stations across the country. The company is also one of the world's largest publishers of monthly magazines, including Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Cosmopolitan and several others you've likely heard of.

We've held our first information session.  But next week we're following up with a speed dating session. Start assembling team members now, or just join us at 6 p.m. this Wednesday night to meet other interested students from across the campus to work with.

Welcome back, ONA Mizzou!

By Nicole Garner

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? ONA Mizzou’s student leaders are ready for another semester and hope you are, too! After several weeks of downtime, you may be wondering how to get involved with ONA Mizzou this semester. But don’t worry -- there are many ways!

Follow ONA Mizzou social media

Do you want to know what the club is doing next? Follow ONA Mizzou on Twitter and like our Facebook page. Social media chair Andrew Gibson is also constantly scouring the Web for information about digital journalism, internships and online tools. He posts his findings in addition to club updates. 

Once you follow, don’t forget to engage! ONA Mizzou is all about creating discussions and wants to hear from you.