With the world of digital communication growing and becoming much more influential, how do companies and brands keep up with what’s being said about them on social media?
Students in the College of Communication and Information can now learn the increasingly important job skill of social listening thanks to the new Adam Brown Social Media Command Center. The first of its kind at a university, the center utilizes the same technology that Fortune 500 companies use to publish content and manage the online presence of a brand.
Six large flat-screen monitors, one of which is a 66-inch touchscreen monitor, use Social Studio software to see what’s trending on social media and what the conversation around certain brands and topics may be. Under this one product, users can access all the capabilities necessary to publish, engage, and analyze social media. For instance, if Nike released a new UT-related product, students could see whether the sentiment around the product is negative or positive. They could also see if people are sharing posts about the product with their friends.
“Social listening data is dynamic, and students will be able to practice presenting real-time data from over one billion sources in a command center environment no different than ones used by top global brands, research firms, government agencies, political campaigns, and relief organizations across the world,” said Adam Brown, a 1994 CCI alumnus who established a fund to run the center. Brown, who earned his bachelor’s degree in advertising, is now executive strategist for Salesforce, a San Francisco-based company that pioneered cloud computing.
The center can be used by students, faculty, and staff. For more information, visit the center’s website at cci.utk.edu/absmcc.
Photos by Kellie Crye Ward (’08)
Video by the Office of Student Media