Diana Heredia was in the quad for two days pleading her case.

As a candidate for Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) President, she had already logged plenty of hours posting promotional signs, handing out buttons, and shaking plenty of hands.

But it wasn’t her hours of legwork that turned presidential hopeful Diana Heredia into President-Elect Heredia following spring’s ASI elections at CSU Stanislaus. Instead, she credits much of her victory to the daily moments spent updating her MySpace and Facebook profiles.

“I knew early on that I wanted to run,” said Heredia, who had accumulated more than 500 friends on each of the social networking Web sites come Election Day. “The month of elections, students started noticing my photo and wanted to see what I stood for.”

MySpace and Facebook worked for Heredia. President Obama credits much of his election to the success of his Twitter account. Big corporations, non-profits, and small businesses alike are no longer marketing to people, but engaging in open dialogue with them.

Web 2.0? Social networking? The new marketplace of ideas? Whatever you call this phenomenon, new media has arrived at CSU Stanislaus, and those not using it as a personal or professional tool just might be working harder than they have to.

Campus community, meet the virtual community

Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter stand out as new media’s Big Three worldwide, with Facebook’s 200 million active users helping it lead the binary race.

It’s a given that students will use the Internet or their Web-based phones for personal networking, but many CSU Stanislaus students are finding Facebook a useful tool in facilitating their studies.

“It seems a little less formal than an e-mail to contact a classmate to ask a question about class or set up stuff for group projects,” said student Jacqulyn Estes, who prefers Facebook and estimates that 75 percent of students use social networking sites. “I’ve heard people say ‘Facebook me’ so many times. Not ‘Call me’ or ‘E-mail me.’ Just ‘Facebook me and we can figure out when we’ll get together.’ ”

If it’s not Facebook, it’s Blackboard — the Web-based, learning management system that has allowed students to download notes, glance at grades, and discuss topics with their classmates and teachers since 2000.

With new student technologies come new faculty concerns regarding academic integrity. Cell phones with Internet browsers and the text messaging of answers have replaced crib notes and whispers during tests.

“The old rules of class management still apply,” says Brian Duggan, the University’s Director of Learning Services, noting that faculty who are keen to stagger seating during exams or create differing test versions are the same faculty members who will be able to spot a student texting answers to a friend across the room.

Assistant Professor Dr. Chris De Vries said that his Facebook page has helped students understand a little about his life outside of being an instructor.

“They realize that I’m not just grading papers and teaching classes,” said De Vries, an astronomy professor within the Department of Physics, Physical Sciences, and Geology. “They see that I have children and I take them to school. It’s very humanizing.”

De Vries, a self-described extravert, says he uses social media because it’s a simpler way to maintain connections with his personal and professional contacts. That personal-professional line and how Web 2.0 users define it is not only a point of interest for De Vries, but also for many social media researchers.

University staff is part of the digital revolution, too. The Office of Alumni Affairs has a Facebook page to relay information to graduates and offer ways to keep them engaged in University events like the newly established Alumni Spring Reunion.

Vasché Library is also on Facebook and MySpace, offering everything from useful research citation tips to information on events like the Warrior Book Collection Contest. Students like Robert Chor find that pretty useful.

“The Library makes occasional updates on the bulletins that I like to check out from time to time,” says Chor, adding that social networks are a part of student life.

Twitter is another popular venue, offering staff members like Assistant Athletics Director Hung Tsai a way to quickly — in 140 characters or less — keep followers informed about current information and musings. Tsai uses “tweets” to inform “followers” of game results long before a press release hits WarriorAthletics.com or is printed in the next day’s regional newspapers.

It’s popular. It’s different. And it’s all connected. 

“What it all boils down to is bandwidth,” Duggan says. “All this was possible five years ago, it just took more time to do it.”

Last year, CSU Stanislaus began to offer no-cost wireless broadband functionality campus-wide for students, faculty, and staff — making a laptop and a latté at Mom’s as efficient as a PC and a password in the University’s computer labs.

The benefits of new media applications extend into the regional business realm, too. Business professionals and company owners are online blogging directly with customers, using social networks for sales leads or career advancement, or finding a welcomed release from the stresses of life.

Simply put, those making an effort to learn and use these technologies are seeing results that are fast, efficient, and virtually cost-free.