Social media a public library's colourbox

Social Media: A Public Library’s Colourbox

Sophie vd Waltvdwalsc@unisa.ac.za

Public Libraries in South Africa

Public Libraries

15702012

Eastern Cape

Northern Cape

Western Cape

Free State

LimpopoGauteng

Mpumalanga

North West

KZN

What is Social Media?

• "Social media has been broadly defined to refer to 'the many relatively inexpensive and widely accessible electronic tools that enable anyone to publish and access information, collaborate on a common effort, or build relationships'".

Murthy, Dhiraj (2013). Twitter: Social Communication in the Twitter Age. Cambridge: Polity. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-0-7456-6510-8.

A Public Library’s Colourbox

Social media language

• Hashtag # – clickable metadata tag/keyword used to categorise

posts– Similar to a subject heading– clicking a hashtag will reveal all the public and

recently published messages that also contain that hashtag.

– Examples: #feesmustfall #publiclibrarysasolburg #authorinterview #FundaMzantsiChampionship #buyabook

Social media language

• Handle @–  @ symbol followed by a name is normally

understood to refer to a social media handle or ID on that platform

– Try and maintain consistent handles on all of your social network profiles as it aids discoverability

– Messages with @ is visible on the recipients timeline

– Example: @NLSA1 or @NBW_SA or @LIASANews

Social media language

• Emoticons :) or ;) • A representation of a facial expression used to convey

the writer’s feelings or intended tone• Not professional, should be used sparingly

• Home feed • A home feed is the constantly updating list of stories in

the middle of your home page it includes status updates, photos, videos, links, activities and likes from people, groups, boards or channels that you follow on the social media platform

Social media language

• Follow / Follower– A user who has subscribed to your account so

they can receive your posts in their home feed– In an ideal world, you have more followers than

users you are following

– http://blog.hootsuite.com/the-2015-social-media-glossary-207-essential-definitions/#F

Which Social Media do public libraries use?

• In 2013 the Library Journal surveyed library professionals from more than 400 public libraries across the U.S. on public library marketing.

Social Media presence of Public Libraries

• Facebook presence: 97 profiles• Twitter• Pinterest• Instagram• YouTube

Popular tools to use

Platform #1

• Website– Static– Almost no interaction and least

frequency of change. – Almost no comment. – Content changed often only once a

month or even more.

Platform #2

• Facebook• Online social network• users can create a user profile, add other

users as "friends", exchange messages, post status updates and photos, share videos and receive notifications when others update their profiles– 11.8 million users in South Africa – 9.2 million access via mobile networks

How can you use it

• Facebook– Dynamic– Medium to high interaction and

frequency of posting / medium timescale.

– Can be for events on the day but can also be used to promote future events and promoting services.

– Facebook two or three times a week

Platform 3

• Twitter• Online social networking service

that enables users to send/read 140-character messages called "tweets“

• 6.6 million users in South Africa

How can you use it

• Twitter– Very dynamic– High interaction and frequency of posting

/ immediate timescale. – Best for things which are happening now

like events but can also be for instant links to local study pictures etc.

– Immediate interaction (retweets, favourites and replies)

– Tweet several times a day

Start a twitter war!

Platform #4

• Pinterest • A visual bookmarking tool that helps

you discover, store and share creative ideas linked to a visual image

• Users follow other pinners or boards and repin/like images to their own boards

• 840,000 users in South Africa

How can you use it

• Pinterest – Can be for events on the day but can

also be used to promote displays or services or specific authors or themes

– Pinterest two or three times a week

Platform #5

• Instagram• online mobile photo-sharing,

video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them on a variety of social networking platforms– 1.1 million users in South Africa

How you can use it

• Instagram– Can be for events on the day but

can also be used to promote displays or services or specific authors or themes

– Instagram two or three times a week

– https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/bookstagram/

Platform #6

• YouTube• is a video-sharing website.• Users create channels and load

videos to their channels• Channels can be subscribed to and

will then show up in newsfeeds• Videos can be shared on various

social media platforms– 7.2 million users in South Africa

How can you use it

• YouTube– Can be for videos of events on

the day or interviews with staff or community leaders or staff picks for reading specific authors

How can you use them

Social media is a rainbow, not a solid colour

Make it work

• Pick what will work for YOU• Commit • Be smart: systematic, organised, scheduled,

and backed-up• Be consistent and have your own voice• Be quick• Evaluate what you’ve done

My daughter’s first public library book!

Sources consulted

• http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/practitioners/promotional-techniques-and-marketing/public-libraries-and-social-media-as-local-and-as-useful-as-your-fingers

• http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/02/marketing/the-results-are-in-and-they-arent-good-library-marketing/• http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/03/marketing/the-libraryaware-community-survey-marketing-our-librari

es-library-marketing/

• http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/05/why-social-media-isnt-working-for-your-library/• http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/04/marketing/perceptions-have-improved-so-wheres-the-money/• http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/a-first-look-at-the-digital-public-library-of-america/48729 • http://mzansilibrariesonline.ac.za/contact/ • http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/04/community-centered-23-reasons-why-your-library-is-the-most-i

mportant-place-in-town/

• http://www.worldwideworx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Exec-Summary-Social-Media-2015.pdf • http://blog.hootsuite.com/the-2015-social-media-glossary-207-essential-definitions/ • http://lj.libraryjournal.com/downloads/public-library-marketing-methods-and-best-practices/ • Images:

– Slide 5: "Conversationprism" by Brian Solis and JESS3 - http://www.theconversationprism.com/ . Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Conversationprism.jpeg#/media/File:Conversationprism.jpeg