What do Mizzou journalism students think of Google+?

By Andrew Gibson

Two giants were at it again last week.

Facebook released a slew of new features, the most significant of which lets users customize the amount of News Feed updates they see from each of their friends. Google made headlines by opening social network Google+ to everyone and by announcing that Hangouts, the site's video-chat tool that lets up to 10 people talk together, are now available on Android devices version 2.3 or above, according to Mashable.

Facebook has the clear upper hand in the news industry because it's been around so much longer, but there's no doubt its feeling pressure from Google+. Jen Lee Reeves, Missouri School of Journalism associate professor and KOMU-TV interactive director, has championed Google+ as the perfect combination of Facebook and Twitter, pointing out in a PBS MediaShift story that users can conveniently share content only with people to whom they're connected (or "circled," in Google+ lingo) or with the entire Web. Facebook's News Feed upgrade is an attempt to rival this granularity, according to Mashable.

But while KOMU has begun regularly incorporating Google+ into its newscasts, some journalists have dismissed the service completely. Dan Reimold, a University of Tampa assistant journalism professor, wrote the following in a PBS MediaShift article:

Google+ is dead. At worst, in the coming months, it will literally fade away to nothing or exist as Internet plankton. At best, it will be to social networking what Microsoft's Bing is to online search: perfectly adequate; fun to stumble onto once in awhile; and completely irrelevant to the mainstream web.

Another journalist, Mathew Ingram of GigaOM, doesn't go as far as to write an epitaph for Google+, but he does note that the "substantial changes to the way users interact with Facebook and Facebook-based apps are a significant threat to Google in trying to grow its Google+ network."

My future with Google+ is undecided. Circles and Hangouts seem like they can be useful reporting tools, but the thought of managing another social media account is, well, overwhelming. But my opinion is only one of many, and because I live in a city -- Columbia, Mo. -- full of Internet-savvy college students, I set out to interview six journalism students and six non-journalism students about the service. Here's what I found:

Guide to the 2011 Online News Association Conference

By Andrew Gibson

Some of digital journalism's most innovative minds, including Facebook + Journalists Program Manager Vadim Lavrusik and NPR social media strategist Andy Carvin, are in Boston this week for the 2011 ONA Conference, which runs through Saturday. Below are a few ways you can take a virtual seat at the conference:

• Check the official conference website for scheduled events and speakers. (If you click on an event, you can get its official hashtag.)
• Follow the #ONA11 hashtag on Twitter. A collection of all tweets with that hashtag is also available via Twapper Keeper.
• Follow @ONAConf on Twitter.
• Read Douglas Jones' Storified account of the conference.

ONA Mizzou President Melanie Gibson is also at the conference, so you can check her tweets for updates.

And, take note of this: Laura Hibbard, ONA Mizzou founding president and current Huffington Post assistant social news editor, is speaking at the conference Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CST. Laura will share what she learned about community building through starting ONA Mizzou. Another Mizzou presenter is Samantha Kubota, MU journalism student and KOMU-TV Web editor/producer. She'll speak Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST about what she would change about the digital-journalism industry.

You'll be itching to be in Boston after seeing the agenda. There's always next year, right?

Finding new media internships in traditional newsrooms

By Nicole Garner

Image courtesy kenyatousant on Flickr

With most summer internships having ended about a month ago, it may seem like next summer is, well, a year away. But just because classes are back in session doesn't mean it's too early to begin searching for your next internship.

If you're already exploring opportunities for next summer, take a glance at news organizations under your interest radar. As news organizations move to accommodate social media and online news, new opportunities are arising at traditional stations for journalism students who aren't only interested in reporting or producing.

Internet safety and journalists

By Ashley Crockett

Image from Jamadots

By now, most Internet users know not to wire money to Nigeria to help out a great-aunt or to click a link in a suspicious email. Those with accounts infiltrated by spambots (hopefully) learn from their mistakes and switch to a stronger password. But when social media outlets are vital to your profession, preventative measures need to be taken to avoid potentially time-consuming battles to regain control of your accounts.

Live Blogging: ONA Mizzou Meeting 9/15/2011

5:33: Thanks for coming out everyone. Eat the tasty cupcakes and cookies. 

5:31: Simons mentions last year's contributors like Scott Woelfel. 

5:27: Amy Simons talks about our brand new Blogspot blog. She wants this blog to be for everyone. Any student can write for the blog.

5:26: Crockett lets the crowd know how the future meeting with an ONA National recap will work.

5:24: Amy Simons talks about Trib Local and how they will be presenting at a future ONA Mizzou Meeting. All Trib Local employees that will be speaking are Mizzou Grads who work in the Chicago area. 

5:23: Oshinsky introduces his company Stry and what it does. They will go live with Stry in 2013.

5:22: "Come have a beer with me."-Dan Oshinsky. Oshinsky will be tweeting his office hours/drinking hours and would love to have visitors come join him.

5:20: Crockett introduces RJI Fellow Dan Oshinsky who will speaking to the crowd. Dan is an University of Missouri graduate and will hosting his #BergChats at the Heidelberg Restaurant across the street from the Reynolds Journalism Institute. 

5:19: Andrew Gibson, Addison Walton, Amy Simons and Nicole Garner introduce themselves to the crowd of 35.

5:17: VP Ashley Crockett welcomes the roughly 35 guests to the Fred Smith Forum. Crockett explains what ONA does locally and nationally. She mentions the ONA Conference in Boston coming up in one week.

5:15: Sign in sheets are passed around.

5:08: ONA Guests arrive and are treated to cupcakes, cookies, snacks and drinks.