Writing for Social Media

Caitlin Matthews8 May 2013

What will we cover today?

• Brief discussion of what social media is• Discussion of the major social media platforms: – What are they?– How do they work?– Who do they serve?– Pros vs. cons

• Issues with writing for social media• Making sense of and managing your impact

What is social media?

• ‘websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.’ (www.oxforddictionaries.com)

• Sharing of content• Creation of content• A conversation

Social media platforms

• Just a sample…

Source: http://ruthidanamubiru.com/home-based-business/12-ways-to-become-successful-with-social-media-marketing/

The key social media platforms

• Facebook• Twitter• LinkedIn• Google+

Other social media platforms

• YouTube• Pinterest• Instagram• Tumblr

Facebook

What is it?• A privately owned, social networking siteHow does it work?• Users post updates, links, photos or video• Users can create groups for discussion of

shared interests• Organisations can create pages

Facebook

Who does it serve?• Currently has 1.1 billion users• Initially aimed at individuals, now has an

increasing business focus through targeted advertising and business pages

• Short answer: everyone

Facebook

Pros• Nearly everyone is on

Facebook– Broad reach– Easy to share with many

people

• Easy to understand and operate

• Can be a great way to create communities

Cons• Nearly everyone is on

Facebook– Oversharing– People you don’t want to

keep in touch with– Easy to find people who

disagree (vehemently) with you

• Lack of privacy• Digital footprint

Facebook

Pages• Administrators have control

of overall site• Control of image• Users can comment but not

the main focus of the page

Groups• Good for facilitating

discussion• Good for creating

community• Everyone can comment

Twitter

• What is it?– A microblogging social media network were users post

‘tweets’ of 140 characters or less• How does it work?– http://www.jhische.com/twitter/ – Useful terms: RT=retweet, MT=modified tweet, DM=direct

message, FF=Follow Friday, h/t=hat tip, TL=Timeline, OH=overheard

• Who does it serve?– Organisations, individuals (slightly older demographic than

Facebook), media agencies

Twitter

Pros• Excellent reach across a

variety of individuals and organisations

• Immediacy• Ease of sharing• News aggregation on areas

of interest• Great way to find others

with shared interests

Cons• Confirmation bias• ‘Stacks on’ mentality• Immediacy (can’t take it

back)• Takes time to master and

build up a good list of followers and followees

• Easy to forget you are dealing with other individuals

LinkedIn

• What is it?– A professional social networking platform

• How does it work?– Individuals connect to colleagues and connections– Individuals follow companies and join groups for

areas of interest– Individuals and companies create and share

content– Companies post jobs

LinkedIn

• Who does it serve?– Professionals– Job seekers– Businesses– Recruiters

• Predominantly a business focus• Can be a useful way to distribute content

Google+

Google+

• What is it?– Google’s response to other social network

• How does it work?– Combines elements of other networks– Allows sharing of video, photos, etc.– Allows hangouts

• Who does it serve?– Remains to be seen, but has potential

Google+

Pros• Lots of flexibility and

options• Allows users to categorise

their feed through circles• Has potential

Cons• Take up limited• Privacy• Too easy to link to the rest

of your Google activity

General issues

• Consider who your audience is:– Where are they?– Communicate appropriately– How do you tackle ‘trolls’?

• The need to present– Unanswered tweets– Unmoderated comments– Social media is an ongoing conversation

Reputation management

Reputation management

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271356/HMV-staff-hijack-companys-Twitter-account-firm-announces-190-redundancies.html

Reputation management• Qantas luxury

– Getting from A to B without the plane being grounded or an engine catching fire– #QantasLuxury is a complimentary cheap hotel room because your cynical airway left you stranded in Adelaide, of all

places. Adelaide.– #QantasLuxury is a massive executive bonus while your workers starve and your former customers choke– My idea for #QantasLuxury is not having cabin crew lie to my face about my electronic devices and their safety on a

plane.– Couriers to make sure my staff around the world get their lockout notices any hour of the day or night #qantasluxury– More than 3mins notice that the whole service has been grounded #QantasLuxury– A ‘Full service’ airline that gives apples or cookies for flights between 11am and 3pm #NoLunchForYou– A plane that doesnt have an exploding engine! #QantasLuxury– My #QantasLuxury experience would be no matter what time or duration of the flight a proper meal is served a cookie

is not a meal its a joke– Flights that leave on schedule because Management doesn’t arbitrarily shut down the airline #QantasLuxury– #QantasLuxury? 1. Plane takes off/arrives on time; 2. Baggage delivered promptly. This used to be called #QantasService– #qantasluxury – is not being told you can apply for refund online & finding out they only refund via a phone # that no

one answers for 4hrs

http://theconversation.com/qantasluxury-a-qantas-social-media-disaster-in-pyjamas-4421http://mumbrella.com.au/qantas-in-new-social-media-fail-with-qantasluxury-hashtag-backlash-66093

Monitoring your impact

• Commercial applications (e.g. Sprout, Wildfire)• Free/freemium applications (e.g. Twenty Feet,

Klout)• Built in statistics (e.g. Facebook)

Other useful tools• Buffer (timing posts)

Activity

• In small groups, choose one of the following scenarios and develop a social media strategy.– Explain which services you would use and why– What would you post?– How will you reach your target audience?– What problems/issues do you anticipate?

Activity• A local community or sporting group (of your choice) with falling participation

that wants to boost involvement. Your membership is declining.• You’ve just been made aware of a new freeway that is to be built in your area.

The plans show that a local park will be acquired. You and your neighbours want to raise community awareness and organise a campaign against it.

• You are a candidate in an election (choose which type: e.g. Federal, State, local government, student union). How will you structure your campaign?

• You work for a mental health organisation. You are trying to raise awareness about mental health in the workplace. How can you use social media to help address stigma around this issue, and encourage people to seek help?

• You are the communication officer for the CFA. How can you use social media to inform and assist communities that are threatened by a bushfire?

• Choose an issue/cause that you are passionate about.