Tagged: social media

Once a Michigander, always a Michigander, even if you've moved away from the Mitten State.

That's the idea that underpins a new website and social network called "Mitten Stretcher," designed to bring Michiganders together, no matter where they may now be living.

Mark Serra is the founder of the Mitten Stretcher Community and MittenStretcher.com, and he joined us today in the studio to talk about the website.

Listen to the full interview above.

You might have heard how Genesee and Lapeer counties closed down all their schools today and tomorrow due to rumors spreading across Facebook, Twitter, and texts.

But how could a rumor close so many schools?

Below is a Storify narrative of how one text message prompted a social media wildfire in southeast Michigan.

You can click on any of the linked text or images to follow the story further.

Update 12:03 p.m.

The anonymous Reddit user who posted the information was Jordan Miller's ex-husband, Dan. You can read the entire, sad story on the original Reddit post here.

Tuesday, December 12, 4:36 p.m.

The University of Michigan's social media director, Jordan Miller, resigned yesterday.

That news came three days after an anonymous user on the social media information site Reddit posted allegations that she had lied about her credentials while applying for the position.

From the Reddit post "UM Social Media Director Jordan Miller lies on resume about bachelors degree, keeps job":

I don't like seeing my tax and your tuition money going toward paying someone ~ $100k/yr in earnings obtained through fraud, so I'm posting a little FOIA dump you all may be interested in.

The University's choice to hire Miller as their first social media director made headlines early this year when she was selected from dozens of applicants.  AnnArbor.com reported that the position came with a $90,000 to $100,000 salary.

The anonymous Reddit user posted a link to documents they said they had received from the University in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

I still get the question from relatives, "what do you use Twitter for?"

Twitter is no Facebook, so the value of a 140 character "tweet" just doesn't appeal to them as much as status updates, "likes," and photo albums from friends and loved ones.

But while not as meteoric as Facebook (more than 1 billion users worldwide), Twitter's base of users continues to grow - there are now more than 500 million Twitter users worldwide.

In its most recent report, the Pew Research Center found that 15 percent of online adults user Twitter:

...the proportion of online adults who use Twitter on a typical day has doubled since May 2011 and has quadrupled since late 2010.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo (or @dickc) is a University of Michigan graduate (#goblue). He will return to campus this Friday to talk about his business (Nov. 16).