social media basics for college

SOCIAL MEDIA BASICS FOR COLLEGEGenevieve HowardStrategic Communications Associate II

CAFNR

University of Missouri

Our conversation today

• My background• Your background• Basics for Twitter• Facebook tips• Personal brand management• Questions

@HowGen

Make your bio count!

Bio examples

•Twitter’s Who to follow

Your background

• Your comfort level with social media• Your thoughts on using social media in this class

• Group up for tweeting

Twitter Review: @

@: used for names

@HowGen

@cafnr

@SNRadvising

Handles or usernames

Using the @ in the the beginning will tweet that person.

Use @ anywhere else in the tweet as a mention.

Twitter Review: abbreviations• RT: retweet• MT: modified tweet• h/t or via: giving credit to the original poster• 140 characters…keep it shorter for easier RTs• Use a link shortener like bit.ly

Twitter Review: favoriting

Represented by a star

Why favorite a tweet?

• Save a tweet for later• Tell original poster you liked that tweet

Twitter Review: hashtags

#: makes a hashtag for keyword or topic

• Trending: Making a stand for #Scotland

• Common search terms: Time for a new #car

• Context: My beautiful campus. #Mizzou

• Humor or irony: Can’t wait for my 8am class! #fun

Good hashtags• Does it already exist?• Is it easy to understand?• Is it short?

#amwriting (details)

#inbound14 (details)

#howtogetawaywithmurder (details)

First class tweet

• Tweet what you want to learn from today’s class using the class hashtag

Your turn to respond!

• Answer a classmate’s tweet

The good

• Connection with people you admire or organizations you respect

• Entertainment, news, companies• Ability to write thoughts and feelings in a concise way

• Online presence

The bad and the ugly

• Distraction• Harassment• Profanity• Negative comments about classmates, coworkers, teachers, bosses

• Anything illegal• Threats

Dealing with negativity

• Unfollow• Block users• Report spam • Report safety issues

How to use Twitter

• Share links, photos, questions• Build your community• Have conversations• Keep up with experts in your fields of interest• Learn about prospective employers• Track conferences whether you attend or not• See breaking news as it happens

Group Activity: What’s trending?

• Trending topics• Twitter influencers• Twitter chats (ex. #agchat, #edchat, #selfpubchat)

Facebook

• Do I want my future employer seeing this?

• Do I want my grandma seeing this?

The reality

• If you don’t want it to be visible, don’t post it. Anything posted is public, despite your privacy settings. Even with apps like Snapchat, people can easily get screenshots.

• Protect yourself. Use strong passwords.• Look carefully at content before you click.

Does your online presence matter?

Yes, if you plan to work.

You might not get hired.

A third (34%) of employers who scan social media profiles said they have found content that has caused them not to hire the candidate

You might get fired: 10 people

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/04/16/how-social-media-can-help-or-hurt-your-job-search/

Use it to boost your network

You might get hired because of social media!

• Follow companies you’re interested in.• Follow professionals you can model yourself after.• Get to know more about the industry you plan to enter.

Manage your personal brand• Google yourself• Set up Google Alerts on your name• https://www.google.com/alerts

Decisions, decisions

• What impression do you want to make?• Who inspires you?• How will you strengthen your brand?

Perception is everything• Your social media presence shows your personality• Your opportunity to make a good impression—or bad

Consistency• Check all your social

media outlets• Profile pic current

and attractive?• Bio up-to-date?• Do you post about

similar topics on all of them?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/briangalindo/25-photos-of-80s-hairstyles-so-bad-theyre-actually-good#3fi7t4u

In conclusion

• Use Twitter to learn Twitter• Check hashtags and trending topics• How can Twitter help you in this class? In school? In your career?

• Keep all your social media clean• Manage your personal brand

Final tweet

•What was the most valuable thing you learned today?

Questions?

Thanks!

Genevieve Howard

howardg@missouri.edu

Personal: @HowGen