At least Alexander Podkul doesn’t have the body of a smallish receptionist and the mind of a 13 year-old boy like Vox does.

The kids these days, they do start at a young age. Soon Ana Smith’s cousin will have a LinkedIn: “Classroom monitor from Jan. 14 to Jan. 18, 2012. Oversaw lunch line, passed out worksheets, and cleaned chalkboard.” Read the rest of this entry »

A new study by Georgetown’s Center for Social Impact Communication that examines the relative involvement of men and women in “causes” and their engagement with them via social media seems to support the conclusion that men are awful, awful people.

Okay, not really. But the study does show that women are more likely to support causes than men and far more likely to use social media to support causes (the study uses “causes” to mean both charitable causes such as feeding the hungry, and social/political causes like same-sex marriage.)

According to the report, women are more likely than men to be actively involved in a range of charitable causes, including feeding the hungry, breast cancer relief, bullying, and childhood obesity. The only causes which men are substantially more likely to be involved with are prostate cancer (unsurprisingly) and…the Tea Party Movement. Women are also more likely to actively volunteer time and donate to the causes they actively support.

Read the rest of this entry »

Want to be the mayor of Gaston Hall?

Georgetown University is now making it possible for you to check in at different locations on campus on Foursquare.

Foursquare is a popular social media website that allows people to let their friends know where they and users can receive awards for checking in.

Foursquare’s marketing manager, Anna Frenkel, said in a press release that, “We’re excited to have Georgetown join the Foursquare for universities program. As one of the fastest growing mobile applications, Foursquare will help students explore their campus, while connecting them to the strong network of alumni and Georgetown fans around the world.”

By Georgetown joining with Foursquare, users will be able to receive information about the different locations on campus when they check in.

Healy Circle, Gaston Hall, and the Exorcist Steps are currently among the most popular places for people to check in.

Will you be checking in on Foursquare to become a mayor of a building on campus or are you paranoid like Vox that the University is just doing this to see when you go to class?

Is Vox‘s extensive blog roll not quite satisfying your Georgetown blogosphere needs?  Well Laura Sortwell (MSB ’10) and Jessica Lioon (MSB ’10) are looking out for you.  Sortwell and Lioon are starting up a Georgetown “blog hub” that will aggregate content from blogs run by Georgetown students, alums, and faculty.

In a post on her personal blog, Sortwell explained the motivation behind the project:

We want to create a forum in which Hoyas can share their ideas, show their expertise on trends and topics in the industry, facilitate discussion, seek new career opportunities, establish business contacts, develop knowledge resources, showcase their work, seek advice, and meet other alumni/students with similar interests.

According to Sortwell, the website–inspired by the Mashable model—is their independent study project (both are studying marketing).  The idea came to her after she took an advertising class that focused on marketing and social media.

“There aren’t many schools doing anything like this,” Sortwell said. “It would be a one-stop place to stay in touch with Georgetown.  We kind of want it to be a continuation of the intellectual but fun conversations you have at Georgetown.”

Sortwell and Lioon wouldn’t say how many bloggers have approached them about participating, but Sortwell did say they have “gotten an even better response than we expected.”  The two are still looking for a good name for the site–they’ve considered names like “Hoya Network,” “Red Square” and “The Front Gates”—but they hope to have it up and running within a month.