Yortime Web Guide for Community and Voluntary Groups

Get Connected
Be Effective with Social Media/
Web2.0 Tools
Developed by Mina Sotiriou (York College)
On behalf of Learning City York

du5682b
Contents

Social Media/Web2.0 tools 3

What Can You Do With Social Media/Web 2.0 Tools 4

How To Use Facebook Effectively 5

How To Use Twitter Effectively 7

How To Use Blogs Effectively 9

How To Use Widgets 10

Useful Information 11

Food For Thought-Links 11

How To Guides 13

References 14

2
Social Media/Web2.0 Tools

Do you need to find new ways of communicating with your members and/or
reaching a new audience? Do you know that there are free tools available which
can help you to find, create, share, communicate and collaborate with users?
Websites can be great, but web technologies have much more to offer. New
technologies challenge the way we live, and work and allow us to communicate
with each other and spread ideas rather than receiving information from a single
authority. New technologies give us the opportunity to be participants rather than
mere viewers.

These new technologies are called Web 2.0 tools or Social Media and they are a mix of
relatively familiar and also very emergent technologies such as Social Networking, Social
Bookmarking, Blogs etc. Web 2.0 technologies, sometimes referred to as the “read/write Web”,
make it easy for users to connect with those around them and provide them with services in
which they have control over their own data and information. Even though each Web 2.0 tool
offers a different means of supporting differing requirements and takes many different forms,
from video and audio to graphics and text, the common criterion is that these tools have
changed the way information/content is created, used, shared, and distributed.

The rise of the Social Media/Web 2.0 in everyday life has also caused a change in the
communication and promotion avenues community groups and organisations have employed so
far i.e. newsletters, static web sites: i.e. essentially one-way communications. New technologies
offer a way for you to apply a two-way approach with your users and engage in dialogues; to
share, discuss and disseminate information. There is a great choice of tools with which to do
this and it is advisable to pick up a blend of tools that works with your group’s/organisation’s
aims.

The Get Connected: Promote your Group with Social Media guide introduces you to a
selection of such tools and demonstrates ways of applying them to your group/organisation.
This guide goes one step further and offers you tips on how to use Social Media/Web 2.0 tools
effectively in order to engage with your users and reach out to the world.

3
What Can You Do With
Social Media/Web2.0 Tools?

Social Media/Web 2.0 tools (hereafter referred to simply as ‘Tools’) are typically
free (‘open source’) or low cost, and can either be integrated into your existing
websites, used as the basis for a new site or accessed via another website which
hosts the tools.

Social Media/Web 2.0 tools feature what Professor Andrew McAfee (2006) calls SLATES:

• Search: users are able to search and find information;

• Links: users are able to interconnect information;
• Authority: users are able to create content based on collaboration;
• Tags: users are able to categorise content by assigning tags to a content;
• Extensions: users are able to ‘guide’ other users through the use of recommendations;
• Signal: users are notified by alerts on issues of importance to them.

The above features demonstrate the social character of the tools and emphasises the
collaborative philosophy behind them. Beyond these shared principles, tools have specific
functions, and understanding these will help you to choose the right ones to best benefit your
group/organisation.

Because of their social nature the effectiveness of any of the tools, or a combination of them, is
dependent on an investment in time and effort to create a pool of ‘fans’ or ‘followers’. You will
need to be clear what your aims are in using the tools, and then selecting the most appropriate
ones to cultivate communities of practice and/or stimulate informal learning and collaboration
in your unique area of work.

The following sections list a number of examples of ways in which you can use
Social Media/Web 2.0 tools effectively.

4
How to Use Facebook Effectively

Facebook is a social networking site where each user has their own pages which
they can customise according to their interests. Users can upload and share
photographs, comments, ‘status updates’ and play games. Facebook is increasingly
being used by groups/organisations in many creative ways to recruit, engage and
interact with supporters, as well as furthering their causes.

Oxfam for example, is using Facebook to engage with users and in that way it is building its
image, drives traffic to its website, announces new issues and campaigns, attracts new members,
communicates information, and promotes its shop products. (For more information see Useful
Information, Food for Thought-Links section below).

The main advantage of Facebook is that it is extremely widespread. According to Facebook’s

2010 statistics, Facebook has:

• More than 400 million active users;

• 50% of Facebook’s active users log on to Facebook in any given day;
• Average user has 130 friends on the site;
• Average user sends 8 friend requests per month;
• Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on Facebook;
• Average user clicks the Like button on 9 pieces of content each month;
• Average user becomes a fan of 4 Pages each month;
• Average user is invited to 3 events per month;
• Average user is a member of 13 groups.

With such ‘credentials’ it is easy to see why many groups and organisations opt for the
option to create Facebook accounts. Below are a number of ways to make your Facebook
presence more prominent.

• Create a Facebook Page of your group/organisation, not a personal profile. A Facebook Page,
according to Facebook, “is a public Profile that enables you to share your business and
products with Facebook users”. Subscribers to groups’ pages are known as ‘fans’. Unlike
personal profiles, when you create a Facebook Page you will be able to view fans’
demographics, number of interactions with fans and when your fans interact with your
Facebook Page, stories linking to your Page can go to their friends via their News Feed.

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How to Use Facebook Effectively cont.

• Create a banner with your logo and include a very brief summary of your group’s/
organisation’s aims and activities. In this way you can let new members know what they can
find on your page.

• Personalise a URL for your Facebook Page so that people can find you easily. (For more
information on personalised URL, see Useful Information, Food for Thought-Links section
below)

• Facebook has a number of ‘applications’ i.e. feeds from your blog and other Social Media
tools, which you can integrate into your page, including interfaces for, example,
http://www.justgiving.com/ which can collect sponsorships and donations. Take a look of
what it is offered and choose the ones that will work for you. It is highly advisable though to
use them wisely and keep a professional look. (For more information on Facebook
applications, see Useful Information, Food for Thought-Links section below).

• Use search to find groups, fan pages and networks related to your group/organisation. Once
you find a group or a network of interest, join them. (For more information on networks,
see Useful Information, Food for Thought-Links section below).

• Add helpful information i.e. resources, articles, web pages, your newsletter to your Page.
Your fans will enjoy the updates, it encourages interaction with your supporters as they can
comment and discuss online, and it will update their newsfeed, alerting their friends.

• If any questions are asked via comments or messages, answer them. You may even want to
ask questions yourself and start debates. Keep an eye on discussions so you can facilitate
and moderate them. Create a friendly and sharing atmosphere.

• Make use of the demographic information you can obtain from your Page i.e. Are your fans
male or female?, in order to plan your group’s/organisation’s future activities.

• Update your Page regularly with fresh photos, forthcoming events, activities. Facebook users
are used to getting information sorted by what happened most recently and they would
appreciate the interactivity.

• Promote your Facebook Page on your email signature, on your web site, or in other social
networks that you are a part of in order to increase your profile. There are almost endless
interconnection possibilities!

6
How To Use Twitter Effectively

Twitter is a free microblogging service which means that users can post online
small snippets, around 140 characters, of digital content such as texts, pictures,
links, short videos, or other media known as tweets. Twitter is used by
groups/organisations to promote their online visibility or simply promote events
and campaigns.

In November 2009, Idealware, a USA, nonprofit organisation which provides resources about
software to help nonprofits make smart software decisions, conducted a survey amongst 459
nonprofit organisations who were already using social media at their organizations in to how
effectively they thought those tools were meeting particular goals. The results showed that
most respondents (78 percent) felt Twitter was effective, followed closely by Facebook and
blogs at 76 percent each, and video sharing sites at 72 percent (details on the report can be
found at the Reference section below). These results demonstrate the power of Social Media
and especially Twitter in reaching out to new supporters. Below, are a number of suggestions
on how to use your Twitter profile more effectively.

• Tweet any upcoming events, happenings, campaigns.This is a very effective and free way of
disseminating information. Increasingly journalists read Twitter to get sound bites and spot
emerging topics of interest to their audiences, and good sources to consult in more depth
for articles etc.

• Use hash tags i.e. adding the hash # symbol in front of the word. Hash tags are a simple way
to organize and categorise your topics/tweets in order to make it easier for others to find
them. A hash tag is clickable and searchable. So for example if you are tweeting about chess
classes, you create a hash tag by adding the hash symbol in front of the word chess i.e.
#chess and, if a user finds a tweet with the #chess hash tag, they can click on it to find other
results with the ‘chess’ entry. Also if someone is searching for tweets relating to chess for
example, they will be able to find it if you have added the hash tag # in front of the word
chess i.e. #chess. Please note that is not necessary to use hash tags if you are tweeting
about the same topic. Use it when you want to share something new of interest.

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How To Use Twitter Effectively cont.

• Use the re-tweeting, ‘RT’, option. Re-tweeting means that you are sharing other people’s
posts with your own followers or contacts. Re-tweeting is considered, amongst the Twitter
community, as the ultimate form of compliment. It actually means that you are approving
what someone else said and therefore you ‘pass it on’ to other people to know it as well.
A great benefit of re-tweeting is that you will probably be re-tweeted back by the person
you re-tweeted which ultimately means more followers. If your post is re-tweeted it is
important to thank the person who did it.

• The best way to get new followers is to follow people yourself. Follow people you find
interesting and join discussions. Remember though to choose your follows carefully and
keep their numbers under control. You may even want to consider the possibility of asking
another user to recommend your profile. If you know any celebrities who support your
cause, ask them to promote you in their tweets from time to time and to publicise specific
campaigns.

• Use the Twitter search for keywords related to your group/organisation and then follow the
users. You can use the Wefollow application to find new followers based on the keywords
you enter. There are many tools that you can use to build and manage your Twitter
popularity. (For more information on Twitter tools, see Useful Information, Food for
Thought-Links section below).

• Include links to your Twitter profile in your email signature, and connect your profile with
other Social Media/Web 2.0 tools.

8
How To Use Blogs Effectively

Blogs are online journals or diaries where the entries are written in reverse
chronological order i.e. new entries are in the top. They also use tags and
categories to make it easier to find entries on specific topics. They can replicate
and improve on many of the functions of a traditional newsletter. Blogs can be
used instead of a web site or as a separate functionality linked to your web site.
Using blogs is a process which does not need any particular expertise. What it is
required though is consistency and quality. If you decide to start a blog, keep in
mind that you will need to invest time in posting and researching your articles.
The following tips can make your blog more effective:

• Blogging, as any other type of writing, needs to be well structured, coherent, free of
grammatical and spelling mistakes and appealing to the reader. A cluttered and confusing
blog can create bad first impressions regardless of the content. Many blogs offer built-in
spell checkers and other tools to help.

• It is important to add a personal tone to your entries and to blog frequently. Readers with
similar interests will eventually discover your blog and if your style suits them, they will keep
coming back. If time is an issue, try to post short posts and consider including links to
interesting pieces of news. Plan ahead so you can spread key topics over a month rather
than posting all at once.

• Keep a conversational tone and invite your readers to comment on your posts; if they do
comment, be sure to reply.

• Find bloggers who write about the topic(s) of your interest and post or link to them. It is
very likely that they will link back to your blog. This is an effective way of attracting new
readers to your blog.

• Include a link to your blog in your email signature field and connect your blog to your
website or Twitter page.

• Take your blog to your Facebook account with the ‘NetworkedBlogs’ Facebook application
and invite your friends on Facebook to join your blog network. Once you have eleven
readers, your blog posts will automatically post to your Facebook profile (For more
information on NetworkedBlogs, see Useful Information, Food for Thought-Links section
below).

• Most blogging sites provide an ‘RSS’ feed service, so that users can subscribe to different
blogs and read them all together. Use the help pages on your blogging service to find out
how to share this link with your users, so they can easily keep up to date with your posts.

9
How To Use Widgets

A widget is a small piece of code that you can put on your website or blog to:

• embed a Social Media tool such as a YouTube video for example. (See Useful Information,
Food for Thought-Links section below.) or
• embed an application such as a Feedburner which allows people to sign up for your RSS feed.
(For more information on RSS please refer to the Internal Communications – Collaboration
guide.)

Widgets add changing content to websites or blogs and they create an interactive experience
for users. They can go one step better than links by providing content (such as YouTube
videos) without the user having to leave your site. No advanced technical knowledge is
required but it is important to have basic computer skills as you will be required to paste the
widget code into the appropriate place in your website or blog template.

There are widgets for more or less everything: blogs, news headlines, networking, fundraising,
search, site visitors etc and there are available from widget directories such as WidgetBox and
SpringWidgets. There are benefits in using widgets such as:

• They can be fun to interact with;

• Can help you link to different Social Media/Web 2.0 tools;
• Make your blog or website more prominent;
• Help users share, save, and subscribe easier to your content;
• Help you provide information about the visitors to your website or blog;
• Help you to raise donations, take action on a cause or spread information and awareness
about your group.

Nonprofit organisations are using widgets, mostly, to promote and measure online fundraising
drive and raise awareness and campaigns. Beth Kanter’s and Heather Gardner’s blogs provide
examples and links regarding the use of widgets in nonprofit organisations and it is highly
recommended to visit their blogs for more information (see Useful Information, Food for
Thought-Links section below). Before you decide to install any widget though is it advisable to
follow Kanter’s advice and consider:

• Your audience: for instance if you're a podcaster and your audience is likely to have a
microphone installed on their computer, then message widgets might make sense.
• The use of widget must be linked to the topic, content, or purpose of your blog.
For example, linking a poll to a post on the topic – not just cluttering up your pages!

10
Useful Information

Food For Thought-Links

How to use Facebook for Business
http://blog.hubspot.com/Portals/249/docs/facebook_for_business_ebook_hubspot.pdf

Oxfam’s Facebook page available at http://www.facebook.com/oxfamGB?v=app_6009294086

Facebooks provides a directory of its applications and is available at

http://www.facebook.com/apps/directory.php

Facebook Pages information and guides available at http://www.facebook.com/advertis-

ing/#!/advertising/?pages

Facebook Usernames FAQs and answers available at

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=91106469821

Facebook Search and Networks available at

http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=921#!/help/?page=403

30+ Best Tools for building and managing your twitter popularity from the tripwire magazine
available at http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2010/01/30-best-tools-for-building-and-
managing-your-twitter-popularity.html

50 Great Widgets for your Blog is an informative list compiled by Stan Schroeder available
through Mashable the Social Media guide at http://mashable.com/2007/09/06/widgets-2/

NetworkedBlogs Facebook application available at

http://www.facebook.com/networkedblogs

Best Blogs Widgets for Free, features widgets and resources for your blog, available at
http://widgetsforfree.blogspot.com/

11
Useful Information cont.

Put YouTube Videos on Your Web Page available at

http://www.google.com/uds/solutions/wizards/videobar.html?uds_o=0&uds_pc=0&ud
s_cl=youtube

Widgets for your WordPress blog available at http://widgets.wordpress.com/

Beth Kanter’s blog on how nonprofits use widgets available at

http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/widgets/

Heather Gardner’s blog on Why Use Widgets Anyhow? available through idealware a USA
nonprofit organisation which provides resources about software to help nonprofits make smart
software decisions, at
http://www.idealware.org/blog/2010/03/why-use-widgets-anyhow.html

Knowledgbase ICT is designed to help community and voluntary sector organisations access
the benefits of information technology, available at http://www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/

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How To... Guides

Facebook Pages Step-by-step guide available at

http://www.facebook.com/advertising/#!/advertising/?pages

Disclaimer
Please note that although every effort has been made to ensure the relevancy and accuracy of
external links, City of York Council does not take any responsibility and/or is liable for the
content provided by external websites.

In addition, we would also be grateful if you come across external links that do not work, if you
could report them by email at: yortime@york.gov.uk
Thank you for cooperation.

Copyright Disclaimer
Please note: This guide is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial
2.0 UK: England & Wales Licence

You are free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work and make derivative works
under the conditions that you must not use this work for commercial purposes and give the
original author credit: Mina Sotiriou for Learning City York (accountable to the City of York
Council).

13
References

Facebook Statistics available at http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Accessed on 30/03/2010

Kanter, B. Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media: Widgets, available at
http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/widgets/ Accessed 31/10.03

LaCasse,K., Quinn, L., Bernard, C., (February 2010), Using Social Media to Meet Nonprofit
Goals:The Results of a Survey, Available at
http://www.idealware.org/sites/idealware.org/files/SocialMediaReportV8.pdf

McAfee, A. (2006) ‘Enterprise 2.0: The Dawn of Emergent Collaboration’, MIT Sloan
Management Review,Vol. 47, No. 3, p. 21–28

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Notes

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