Social Networking

Zonta Clubs, Moving Forward into the 21st

Century

The Good Ole Days

• Remember how you used to share info?– You wrote a letter;– Called a friend;– Shared a cup of coffee;– Then you started sending emails;

Now you Text, Twitter and Facebook.

Quote• It is hard to believe how much has happened

in my life time since the IBM Selectric and party line phones:) Look at me now communicating with how many different countries... Diana Bogart, Member of Zonta Club of Charleston and Member of LinkedIn

What is Social Networking?

It is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people

Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service

Some interesting facts about Social Networks

• First commenced in 1994 however did not go internet mainstream until 2003 with Friendster

• Over 200 social networking applications Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service

• Inspired a movie “The social Network” and a sitcom TV show “$#*! My Dad Says” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$#*!_My_Dad_Says

• At age 102, Ivy Bean of Bradford, England joined Facebook in 2008, making her one of the oldest people ever on Facebook

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

• More recently it has been credited with assisting with the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

• http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9209159/Social_networks_credited_with_role_in_toppling_Egypt_s_Mubarak

Why Social Networking?

• Zonta International is promoting externally and internally its objects, goals, advocacy, programs, projects and accomplishments. – How?By using social media Opening public access to more sections of

the website

What’s In It For My Club?

• Common uses for Social Networking:– Staying in contact with members and former members;– Staying in touch with business connections;– Quick telephone updates;– Sharing videos of club events;– Conferencing with members out of the area;– Sharing photos of club events;– Publicizing club events;– Sharing websites with members and friends;– Sharing your story and the story of your club!

What Are Common Websites?• www.Facebook.com – a social network used to communicate with

family and friends.• www.LinkedIn.com – a business and professional online network

used to communicate with other professionals.• www.Twitter.com – used to communicate mostly by telephone with

short bits of information.• www.Skype.com – used for video conferencing.• www.flickr.com – used to share photographs and videos• www.YouTube.com – used to share videos with friends, family and

the world!• www.Digg.com – used to share and promote websites and on-line

content. • www.Delicious.com – used as an on-line bookmark.• www.Blogger.com and www.wordpress.com – used to share longer

ideas and frequently used to replace traditional websites.

What Are All Those “Things”

Widgets?? Now What?

Using social networks in Zonta

• Facebook - Connect with friends from around the world;

• LinkedIn - Commenting on social advocacy issues

• Twitter - Sending short messages promoting events or information about a guest speaker

Remember the Zonta rules for sharing information-,members cannot publish or share information or provide opinion on behalf of a Club, District, Area without prior consent of the President.

Texting and TwitterWhile it is not true Social Networking, it is how many of communicate today.

We all have contacts who no longer immediately respond to emails and telephone messages; but a text or Twitter will get an almost instantaneous response to our question.

For some, Twitter is a variation on texting. The # (hash tag) has become almost as familiar part of a contracts address as the @.

Tips on protecting your privacy• Set up and use a different email address (gmail or yahoo) to access

the accounts• Use a secure password (combination of letters, symbols and

numbers)• Don’t put your correct date of birth, and please never ever put your

social security number out there!• Set your privacy settings to the highest level- remember most social

networks default to public• Restrict the amount of personal information you share on site• Only allow people you know to share your information• Never give out personal details such as credit card, bank

information by email or share this information on the sites• Remember what you share on these sites always has the potential

to go public

Where to locate the Social Networks

• Go to the Zonta International Site

• www.zonta.org• Click on media and

news• Next - social media• Then the

corresponding Icon

Note Facebook and Twitter will allow you to read the posts. But to take part in a discussion you need to sign up

Where Do I Go From Here?

• Facebook

• Twitter

• LinkedIn

The Take Away

• Creating a Facebook Fan Page– Go to www.facebook.com– At bottom of page click on

Create A Page

Fan Page, cont.It’s as easy as Point

and Click:– Choose

Organization;– Then select type of

organization – Community or Non-profit;

– Create a Name and then

– Get Started!

Why a Fan Page?1. Pages are public.  Most of Facebook is behind a login, preventing search engines

from indexing.  However, some Fan pages are not behind a login and thus search engines can index the page.  Hopefully, people will stumble on the result in SERPs, visit the Facebook page, and then get to your site via the link (see reason #2).

2. Pages include links.  Because the pages are public, you can get some nice facebook.com link credit.  You can’t use an anchor text, but hey, it’s free.

3. Send “updates to fans”.  One of the greatest features is that you can send “updates” to fans whenever you want.  It’s a nice way of building a database of interested users.  Send messages about new projects, fundraisers, updated website, etc.

4. You control the page.  You want to be able to send the messages, edit or remove sections, and control the information to an extent.

5. News feed.  When a someone joins a Fan page, it’s published in their News feed for all their to read (unless they have turned this off).  It makes someone joining your Fan page somewhat viral.

6. It’s free and easy.  Making a Fan page takes just a few minutes – add some information, URL, and upload the logo and you’re done.

Dave Rigotti is the owner of Freezing Hot, an internet marketing company which specializes in seo and paid search management for small businesses.

Blogging

Blogger.comIt is free and it is easy to get started!

Blogging, cont.

WordPress.com

Words, photos and Video

Tips• Appoint a member to maintain your Social

Networking sites.– The sites work best when content is fresh and

added on a regular basis.– Twitter: at least daily better with more frequent

Tweets;– Facebook: at least daily, but several times a

week; and– Blogging: Multiple times weekly is best but

once per week will work.

Tips, cont.

• Use keywords. Keywords such as service, International, NGO, women, advocacy, etc. will ensure your club shows up in web searches;

• Optimize Twitter by using Tiny Url or Bitly; • Widgets are your friend. Add them to your

website; • Practice makes perfect!

Social Networking Works

• This module was made possible by the contributions of the following Zontians– Narelle Stoll, D 23, Sydney, Australia– Diana Bogart, D 11, Charleston, SC– Shiela Davis, Lt. Gov, D 12, Denver, CO– And all the amazing Zontians offering advice and

support to members in their networks.

What are you waiting for?

Get out there and Get Social!