1. Benefits of Social Media and Networking Technologies
Students enjoy social media and network technology business
Colleges can make use of this by incorporating strategies into normal curriculum
Helps students stay more engaged
Today’s student population are engaged in all types of social media and network technological forums and devices. As a result, colleges and universities alike should encourage students by implementing some of these benefits into their school and make it a part of their regular curriculum.

2. Popular Social Forums
The two top social network forums are Facebook and LinkedIn
Both have advantages and disadvantages
Most people prefer one over the other
Some of the most popular social networking forums are Facebook and LinkedIn. Although both online forums have their advantages, as well as their disadvantages the sites still maintain 100’s of millions of registered users worldwide.

3. Why use Facebook and LinkedIn?
Facebook is a very popular site where most people connect on a personal level
LinkedIn is popular on a professional level
Both sites allow users to connect with people in one way or another
Facebook and LinkedIn can be used to engage students in the community as well as in the business world. Facebook seems to encourage and connect with students on a personal level, while LinkedIn seems to connect with people on a more professional level.

4. How It Will Work Students will post their goals on the site
They will list their long term and short term goals
They will update their status when their goals are within reach or have been reached
As a start, colleges and universities can integrate social media and network technology tools by asking students to post their goals at the beginning of the semester. Students should include a list of their long term and short term goals for encouragement and support from professors as well as their peers. Students would update their statuses when they are within reach or have reached any of the goals on their list.

5. Advantages of Social Networking
Student familiarity of online sites
Support for goal accomplishment
Job recommendations after graduation
Some of the advantages of social networking are the students own awareness of ways the sites can be used. Incorporating the students’ goals for peer support and support from the students’ instructors can enable the student to accomplish their goals ahead of their targeted schedule. Another advantage is some sites provide professional connective services, such as job recommendations and alerts and can be instrumental in assisting students with employment after they graduate.

6. Additional advantages of social networking
Promote college campus and student activities
Helps students become more aware of what’s happening in their campus community
Increases student participation
An additional advantage of using social networking tools in colleges and universities can be to promote college campus and student activities. Most students spend a large portion of their free time on facebook and linkedin connecting with friends, family, and business associates. This method can assist students with becoming aware of the things that are going on in the campus community and help promote student participation.

7. Using Facebook to promote college campus student activities
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(Click on the above link to watch a clip of exactly how it is done.)
This media clip shows exactly how students can use these tools to promote different activities that are offered on college campuses.

8. Disadvantages of Social Networking
Easy public access to photos and other posted information that evildoers use for illicit purposes
Hacker vulnerability
Requirement restrictions for some users
Some of the disadvantages of social networking sites, specifically Facebook, include easy public access to photos and posted information. With LinkedIn, a disadvantage for students could be the requirement for the user to utilize an employer-related in order to create their personal profile.

9. Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
SDLC is an information systems process
It will help the university stay on target with the plan they have for social networking tools
The school should be aware that there is a process called the “Systems Development Life Cycle.” This process assists the university because it predicts a series of phases through which a new information system progresses from the point of conception to the final implementation stage. This system helps to create and operate each additional phase of the information system from the planning phase to the point at which the system is installed in a production environment. This process will allow the university to know that it is working according to plan.

10. SDLC Plan Five major phases of the SDLC
The university will monitor each phase of the SDLC to ensure student privacy and confidentiality of information is not at risk
The major phases of the SDLC include RELEASE PLANNING, DEFINITION, DEVELOPMENT, TEST, AND DEPLOYMENT. The beginning phase will be the start of students updating their status with their goals. Students will gradually continue to develop their user profiles with school-related information. During the testing phase, the system will check for privacy and confidentiality concerns that could arise while students are logged on.