social media training

03/24/09 FastWonderBlog.com 1

Social Media Training

Tools & Techniques

Dawn [email protected] Wonder Consulting

http://FastWonderBlog.com


Agenda● Guiding principles and behavioral norms in social

media● Twitter (with tools / search overview)● Facebook● LinkedIn● Monitoring and information gathering using RSS,

Yahoo Pipes, PostRank, etc.● FriendFeed

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Guiding Principles: It's All About the People● Focus on the individuals: Participate as a person,

not a corporate entity● Be Sincere: Sincerity = believability & credibility● Not all about you: Community is about conversation,

which is by definition two-way● Be a Part of the Community: Don't try to control the

community● Everyone’s a Peer: You are not the expert;

knowledge comes from everywhere 3

Like Attending a PartyLike Attending a Party


Listen First: Understand the Norms● Each site has it's own norms

– Language and terminology– Acceptable behavior

● Participate gently at first– Pick one site to start– Spend more time listening– Take the time to understand how people participate– Participate with an individual account first– Engage in additional sites as you get comfortable– Begin participating for your organization


Twitter● Short messages (140 characters)

– Talk about interesting things, engage in conversations, and interact with others

– Be careful how often you promote your work (blog posts, community discussions, etc.)

– Not all about you● Following:

– You follow people to receive their messages– People follow you to receive your messages– Only as interesting as the people you follow.


Twitter Language & Terminology● @reply: Reply to someone publicly on Twitter.

– @geekygirldawn thanks for the link● Direct Message: Reply to someone privately

– d geekygirldawn call me at 555-867-5309● OH: Overheard & not attributed to a specific person

– OH: I took shop & didn't lose fingers. I could use a chainsaw● RT: Retweet to re-send something from another user

with attribution it to the original author.– RT @geekygirldawn: Don't forget to RSVP for BarCamp!

● #: Hastags are used to tag Twitter posts. – The bubble tea has arrived. #barcampportland


Twitter Best Practices● Know what people are saying about you● Respond frequently and sincerely● Follow back where appropriate● Have a personality● Variety is important● What to AVOID

– Don't be a link spam account– Don't go overboard with messages– Don't be self-promotional– Don't use direct messages to promote anything– Don't proactively follow too many people


Twitter: Getting Started● Add an avatar that helps people recognize you● Spend a few minutes on your bio● Post a few quick updates. Share a link, talk

about a topic, or say something interesting.● Add a few friends. Start with no more than 25.


Twitter Demo● Web Interface● Applications● Search


Facebook● Personal Profiles (private)● Pages (public)● Groups● Applications


Facebook: Getting Started – Personal Profile● Build your personal profile first (people, not

brands)● Add a picture that helps people recognize you● Spend a few minutes on your information

(personal info, education / work, etc.)● Post status updates and add a few pictures.● Add a few friends (personal, work, past lives)● Go easy on your friends – save the poking,

zombie requests, etc. for close personal friends.● Demo


Facebook: Public Pages● Used for products / companies / organizations● Fans, not friends (anyone can view a page)● Many features:

– Wall with messages– Events– Video– Pictures– Notes– More

● Demo


Facebook: Groups● Usually used to collaborate or organize● People become members of the group● Features:

– Info– Wall / discussions– Events– Photos– Links– Video

● Demo


Facebook Applications / Boxes● Purely fun or useful● Be cautious – many of them try to get you to

invite all of your friends (don't overwhelm)● Examples:

– Twitter: Use Twitter feed as Facebook status – Upcoming: Displays your upcoming events in your

recent activity– SuperPoke: Annoy all of your best friends– Games, random fun, and more

● Demo


LinkedIn: Profiles● Start by completing your profile

– Picture, jobs, education, websites, interests, summary● Add applications

– Slideshare, blog posts, events, etc.● Make recommendations

– Recommend some past colleagues that you respect● Add contacts

– Take advantage of the 'people you may know' feature– Only add people you know

● Demo


LinkedIn Usage and Features● Not just for job seeking / finding employees● Get introductions to people through mutual

contacts● Learn more about your colleagues● Use groups to discuss topics with peers● Get answers to questions● Demo (groups & answers)


Monitoring● Social media is about conversations – you need

to know what people are saying● Know what people say about you, your industry,

your competitors: critical element of community management, blogging, and social media

● Information can be used as ideas for blog posts, marketing messages, competitive analysis, feedback and much more

● Become more responsive to feedback by proactively monitoring conversations


RSS / News Readers● RSS: Really Simple Syndication

– A way to have information that you want to see pushed to you in a news reader (Google Reader, Netvibes, etc.)

– Subscription service for online content● Subscribe to blogs in your industry & interest

areas● Subscribe to competing efforts● Demo Netvibes, iGoogle, & Google Reader


PostRank● Find the best posts on a blog● Demo


Yahoo Pipes: Business Benefits● Know when and where people are talking about

you / your industry on blogs and Twitter● Find and respond more quickly and efficiently● Be more responsive to your customers ● Improve your products / services, content,

documentation and other communications.● Get insight into your competitors.● Keep up with information about your industry● Monitoring dashboards to spread info from

Yahoo Pipes to the rest of your organization.


Why should I care about Yahoo Pipes?● Find conversations proactively● Respond quickly & efficiently● Get insights into a topic

The Technology● Combine RSS feeds● Filter in or out for increased relevance● Modify RSS Feeds


Cautions● Not a programming language (limited)

● Does some things really well. Incapable of others● Single point of failure

● What if Yahoo killed it tomorrow?● Can be slightly flaky● Don't use in production / critical environments

● See above● Don't feed directly onto important web sites

● At least not without cache / error checking


Yahoo Pipes Demo


FriendFeed● Aggregated life streams

– Twitter, blogs, bookmarks, pictures, events, and more. Add anything with an RSS feed.

● Search for topics (from everyone or friends)● Group your friends (real-time, best of day)● Tools – use it in many ways● Demo


Q&A

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