04 January 2016
“The Social Media Listening Centre (SMLC) is the newest centre to be launched in our school and provides the students from the Diploma in Business Information Technology (DBIT) an engaging environment to understand about social media trends.
In this week’s issue, we take you to the SMLC to talk to Winson Ee, a current DBIT Year 1 student, to find out what is so interesting about it. ”
- DMIT Editor
1. Winson, can you share with us more about the SMLC and what is so special about it?
The SMLC is an exclusive facility that allows my fellow DBIT course-mates and myself to perform real-time monitoring of social media conversations around the world.
This centre is used in conjunction with two modules that we will learn in the course: Social Media Analytics and Web & Mobile Analytics.
2. What do you do in Social Media Analytics and Web & Mobile Analytics?
In Social Media Analytics, I am trained on how to use social media monitoring tools to listen to social media chatter in real-time and how I can analyse the information from these conversations to help businesses improve in areas such as how to manage a company’s online reputation.
In Web & Mobile Analytics, I learn various software that enables me to collect information from people who use desktops or mobile devices to visit a website and to use the information to optimize the website so as to help improve the business.
As you can see, these modules require us to sieve through thousands of social media conversations and websites! But don’t worry, the SMLC is specially equipped with large-sized LCD screens that let us view and analyse the information with ease!
3. You mean the SMLC can actually help to make all that huge amount of information easy to understand?
Yes that's correct! We use social media listening software known as Social Express from iSentia Brandtology. This software displays tweets, Facebook posts and other social buzz about any topic or company we wish to listen to, all in real-time! Social Express generates color charts that show detailed information such as whether there are more positive views or negative views for a given brand or product. It also shows who are the more influential social media users talking about the brand. This can be really useful to companies because it lets them understand what customers are thinking and what customers want. This helps companies to improve marketing campaigns or to provide customer support.
4. You actually get to work with big clients like Starhub! Is that true?
Yup, that’s true! My friends and I get to use the SMLC to work on real-life industry projects with clients such as Starhub. We make use of the skills that we learnt in the course to help to collect information for these clients, to analyse the information and to present our findings to our clients.
I am currently taking a module called Social Media Marketing. I had the opportunity to plan and execute a social media marketing campaign on Facebook for a real-life company! My friends and I worked with companies such as Marble Slab Creamery, Gelateria Italia, Dough Culture and Chewy Junior. I am now involved in managing the Facebook Page of a restaurant known as Ribbery & Wine Co (RAWC). I really enjoyed this module as it gave me a real experience of what it is like to run a business and the things that I should consider when marketing my company products.
5. Why did you join DBIT?
Well, I joined DBIT because I am really interested to start my own technology business in future. Though I am still unsure what sort of technology business I will venture into, I have heard from my lecturers that many companies are now investing heavily in technologies called Big Data and Business Analytics to help streamline their businesses. That sounds good to me because we get to learn about Big Data and Business Analytics in the DBIT course too! And not forgetting that I learn to create my own mobile and web apps so that it will be easier for me to start a technology business as compared to another person who has no knowledge in this area.
With the skills I would acquire, I can choose to become a Social Media or Business Analytics specialist, an IT consultant or as I have mentioned earlier, be my own boss!