IN A WHIRLA B R I E F G U I D E TO S O C I A L M E D I A

b y P e t a L a w r e n c e , S u r r e y l i b r a r i e s

S O C I A L M E D I A –

B A S I C

VO C A BU L A RY

Personal Profile

News feed

Likes, Shares , comments or similar

ways to engage with what you see

Subscribe

Content

Post

Live

Tagging

WHY USE SOCIAL MEDIA?PERSONAL

• Makes us look young and trendy!

• Make our friends jealous

• Keep in touch

• Get support through specialist groups

• Find information

• Follow a hobby

• Campaign

• Buying and selling

• Killing time

• and more…

BUSINESS OR ORGANISATION

• Reach new audiences

• Develop business leads

• Network with other businesses

• Publish your own material

• Engage with your customers

• Create subscription groups

• Selling

• Recruitment

• and more…

WHERE? Graphics courtesy of Sprout Social

WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?

• How to identify your audience?

• Demographics – age, gender, location, income, education, family status, occupation

• Psychographics – personality, values, lifestyle, behaviour

• What problem are you solving for them?

W H AT I S YO U R

M E S S AG E ?

Identify your keywords

What problem are you solving?

What information are you sharing?

Create value for your audience

Call to action

WHERE?

L I N K E D I N

Main features:

News feed

Special interest groups

Articles

Networking

Job hunting and applications

Build professional profile

Research companies and

industries

I N S TAG R A M

Features:

• Beautiful photos

• Storytelling

• Searchable with hash tags

FAC E B O O K

Features:

• Personal profile

• Newsfeed

• Groups

• Marketplace

• Privacy options

• Sharing

• Events

• Organisation/company pages

linked to personal profiles

T W I T T E R

Features:

• 240 characters (focusses the

mind)

• No algorithm (newsfeed is

chronological)

• Like, Retweet, Retweet with

comment

• Lists

• Direct messaging

• @tagging and #tagging

HOW – TIPS, TRICKS AND BEST PRACTICE• Engage, engage, engage…

• Liking and sharing ‘tells’ the platforms what your interests are

• Decide on the purpose of your feed – is it for personal use, or do you want to reach out?

• Use hash # tags to reach new audiences, and @tag other users to encourage engagement

• Be chatty – it is social media, not your website

• Always check the security settings to make sure you are happy with them

• What goes online stays online. Do not say anything or publish pictures that might later cause

you or someone else embarrassment.

• Never post comments that are abusive or may cause offence to either individuals or groups of

society.

STAYING SECURE • Don’t share too much – holiday photos while you are on holiday!

• Be wary of publishing any identifying information about yourself – either in your profile or in

your posts – such as phone numbers, pictures of your home, workplace or school, your

address or birthday.

• Limit your audience – Keep your profile closed and allow only your friends to view

your profile.

• Don’t be too trusting - Criminals and other unsavoury characters often try to make social

media users spread links to dodgy websites, often by hacking their accounts.

• Use a strong password and keep your anti-virus up-to-date. You may even choose to set up a

separate email account for social media sites.

• What goes online stays online. Do not say anything or publish pictures that might later cause

you or someone else embarrassment.

• Use the privacy settings, and set them to a level you are comfortable with.

Tips courtesy of www.getsafeonline.org and www.saga.co.uk

THOUGHTS AND

QUESTIONS

T H E E N D