This Ning Network is for the students of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism's Fall 2009 social media skills course. This five-week course will help journalists use social media (including such networking sites as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, among others) to do three things: find new story ideas, trends and sources; connect with readers and viewers in new ways; and promote their own work to new audiences. The students will learn best practices as well as what to avoid in this fast-changing Web 2.0 (or are we at 3.0 already?) world. Many journalists already use these tools, but the course will take that knowledge to new levels with practical, actionable lessons in how best to navigate social media. Using examples from news organizations big and small, as well as individuals, topics covered will include ethics; etiquette; the changing journalist-source relationship; new third-party tools; and much more.