The Winchelsea Star 20 Nov 2013 - Vol.36, Ed.41 | Page 11

Wednesday, 20th November, 2013

The Winchelsea Star

11

Winch House students get
Social
Winchelsea Community House
runs a wide range of adult
education and “lifestyle” courses,
for self-improvement, skillsbuilding or just for interest. Last
week saw the start of a “Social
Media” course.
While social media covers a very wide
range of internet-based communication
tools, the 6 students taking part in
the evening sessions will gain an
understanding of some of the post
popular channels such as Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
The course provides insights in how to
register or sign up, what you can do with
a particular social media channel, and
some of the things you shouldn’t do!
The social media course is an example
of an ACFE-approved and funded course
aiming to improve employment and
business skills. Social media is now
an important part of business activity whether a business actively joins in or
not.
For those not concerned with business,
social media represents an amazing
way to keep in touch with friends and

relatives - be they across the room or
across the world. This, indeed, is why
they exist in the first place - making the
most of the always-on, always-connected
world that we now inhabit, thanks to the
internet and its pervasiveness.

Beyond computers and smartphones,
now cameras, TVs, tablet-computers,
cars and airplanes, even fridges can send
and receive information via the internet.

Social media is changing how people
communicate and even how they meet.
With Twitter, anyone can let the world
know what they are up to (in 140
characters or less!). With Facebook,
you can keep things more private and
chat about what people are doing. With

Instragram, at the press of the button
your friends can see what you see and
tell you what they think.
Social media is still in its infancy, and
businesses large and small are still
working out how to tap into its immense
potential (think of the Dumb Ways
To Die advert that went viral - a lowcost production for Metro Trains in
Melbourne, seen more than 65 million
times). Naturally, people aren’t keen on
business intrusion, so a balance needs
to be established between funding the
social media channels and avoiding overcommercialisation.
The Social Media course is just one of
the courses available from Winch House.
Others include First Aid Training coming
up this week but also cheese-making,
Hare Krishna vegetarian cooking, antique
furniture restoration and all sorts.
Keep an eye on the Winch House course
lists regularly published in The Star.
And if you have something you think
the community might like to learn, get in
touch with Winch House.