Yes You Can!Using Social Networks in Education
Region One Technology Conference May 11, 2010
Agenda
Introductions Brief history of social networking Social networks in education Twitter Facebook
Who is the target audience for this workshop?
This is an overview of social networks. We will focus on accounts for the organization.
Most benefit for those starting out with organizational accounts
We welcome feedback from “power users.”
Definitions
“A social network is a social structure made of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes," which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest,…etc.”
Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network. Downloaded May 5, 2010, 1:35 PM
“A social network service focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services.”
Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service , May 5, 2010, 1:48 PM.
Brief History of Social Networking Services1978-1993
UsenetARPAN
ET
BBSListser
v
1994 Theglobe.com Geocities
1995 Tripod Classmates.com
WikiWikiWeb
2002 Friendster
2005 MySpace Ning
2006 Facebook Twitter
Social Media. Why?
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/v/lFZ0z5Fm-Ng
Pros
Cons
Activ
ity
Did you know?
From Pew Internet and American Life Study, September 2009
Why would I want to use social networks?
Keep intended audience informed about upcoming events and latest news
Social network features propagate more posts (spread the word)
More instant than email Mobile support expands your
audience (Is your school web page mobile ready?)
Before you begin……
Things to consider (3 Ps)
Study district POLICY Get PERMISSION to represent the
district Determine PURPOSE
What do I do first?
Customize your accounts Select a good “name” for your accounts
beginning with a organizational email account
Create account(s) Select a theme and/or image to brand
your site▪ Upload profile image
Change your privacy settings
Good practices for organizational accounts
Create posting guidelines Type of information to post Who will post? Plan for different staff
over time. Frequency of posts?
Publicize Supply audience URL; i.e.:
twitter.com/esc1library on web pages and newsletters
Consider that all information will be public – post carefully
The APPS
What is ?
Twitter is a messaging platform located at twitter.com. -referred to as “Micro-blogging”
Users “Tweet” messages 140 characters or less
Other interested users “Follow” tweeters.
Essential Twitter Terms
Username: Your Twitter identity Example: http://twitter.com/esc1library
Tweet: a single Twitter status update (max. 140 characters)
Follower: User who receives your tweets
List: Collection of Twitter accounts that you follow as a whole
Trend: a commonly tweeted keyword
Essential Twitter Terms
Tweet: post a status update Follow: add Twitter user whose
updates you will receive Retweet: post a tweet someone else
posted for your followers to see Direct message: send a private
tweet to a specific user
Essential Twitter Terms
Hashtags are specially marked keywords inside of tweets that indicate the topic of the tweet– Similar to tags or subject headings
Use # to indicate a hashtag, – #technology, #library or #science
Example from twitter.com/britannica Bono is 50 years old today.
http://bit.ly/d82zGN #rock #pop #birthdays #music
Twitter conventions
Use @ when a user is mentioned. Example: @esc1library posted the
summer staff development schedule Save space by shortening URLs
Two popular hortening tools▪ http://bit.ly.com▪ http://tinyurl.com
Twitter tools
Examples: Tweetdeck Hootsuite Twitpic
A social networking website▪ Anyone over age 13 with a valid email
address can join. Users can▪ add friends▪ send messages to friends▪ Update personal profiles to notify friends
about themselves▪ Join networks by organization, workplace,
school, college, etc.▪ Upload pictures, videos, etc.
