Social Media Futures' Academy: A Conference for a New Generation

Living in a digital society, social media has become an integral part in the lives of teens. However, the uses of social media applications, beyond social communication, aren't widely addressed among high school students. Social Media Futures' Academy sought to create an environment that sparked conversation and encouraged students to discuss the pros, cons, and future possibilities of social media.

Developed by Maria Havana Rojas, as apart of her Interactive Media Graduate studies at Elon University. Social Media Futures’ Academy (SMFA) is a one-day youth conference designed to address prominent social media issues facing high school students. The first conference took place in conjunction with the FutureWeb 2010 Conference, co-located with the International WWW2010 Conference in Raleigh, NC, April 30, 2010.

Elon University and Red Hat, the world's leading open source technology solutions provider, sponsored the event. Their contributions allowed students, parents, and faculty to receive instruction from global technology and communication leaders at no cost.

Interactive Media graduate students, faculty from Elon University, Greg DeKoenigsberg from Red Hat as well as Chris DiBona of Google were on hand to facilitate, instruct, and educate participants on the current and future impact of social media on today’s youth.

The conference sought to:

1. Present information about social media that is relevant to high school students.

2. Foster forward thinking toward the uses of social media.

3. Instill the knowledge and confidence within each student that the creation of new social media technologies is with their reach.

Please explore the photo gallery to see firsthand how SMFA has begun to change the way youth interact with technology.


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