Social Media

I. Twitter Basics – Getting StartedII. The Power of TwitterIII. Facebook Basics – Getting StartedIV. What’s to ‘Like’ about FacebookV. How you can help

Setting Up Your Twitter Account

Step 1: Sign Up

Twitter: Signing Up

They opt you in for their email updates, you need to uncheck if you don’t want to receive their newsletter.

Setting Up Your Twitter Profile

Click the ‘Settings’ link on the top right

Once you are on the settings page, you will see links for ‘Profile’ & ‘Design’

Customize Your Background

First we will click ‘Design’ in the navigation below ‘parenthelpline’s settings’

Click the ‘Change background image’

Customize Your Background & Colors

Now click the ‘Choose File’ button & you will be promoted to find the file on your computer

Next, click ‘Change design colors’ and the fields for background, text, links, sidebar & sidebar border will appear

Editing Your Profile

Once you click the ‘Profile’ link, you can enter different information about yourself. The most important being a link to your website & filling out your Bio. The bio is limited to 120 characters (spaces), and below the field it will count how many characters you have remaining.

Finding Followers

Next, you will want to find people to follow. The best way to do that is at search.twitter.com. Once there, enter a word or term that interests you.

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Find Followers

It’s important to try different search words to get a good mix of people & organizations

Just click on the username & you will be taken to their twitter page, here you can read their bio & make sure they will be a good account to follow. The ‘Follow’ button is right below their photo is a follow button.

Adding To The List Of Follows

In the top navigation is a link ‘Who To Follow’. Once you have a few follows, Twitter will recommend similar people to follow.

Tweets, Retweets & Mentions

There are 3 main ways to communicate on Twitter. The Tweet, the Retweet & the Mention.

1. Tweet – In the field below where it says ‘What’s happening?’ you enter up to 140 characters on any topic you want to discuss. If you are tweeting something you are hoping others will share, make it 120 characters or less, since the Retweet will add characters.

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Character count – next to ‘Tweet’ button

Favorite, Retweet & Reply

2. Retweet – This is when you see a tweet from someone else that you find interesting and you want to share it with your followers.

Below the tweet are 3 options – Favorite lets you save the tweet, Retweetwhich will allow your followers to see the tweet & Reply, which allows you tocontact the original tweeter directly.

Mentions

Mentions – when you want to talk to someone specific you use the @ symbol in front of their username.

The bottom tweet is an example of a ‘retweet’

Examples of the Power of Twitter

Two great examples of the power of Twitter are:

1. NJ Mayor Cory Booker tweeting during the December blizzard

2. KLM Airline using Twitter to connect with their passengers

These Twitter efforts brought immense good will to both. Mayor Booker is at over 53,000 followers, brought recognition to his city & made Booker himself into a hero.

KLM increased their brand recogition after their efforts in November brought over one million views to their Twitter stream.

Mayor Cory Booker Connect On Twitter

Booker personally reached out to followers/residents & helped them with their snow removal.

KLM Surprises Passengers

KLM watched tweets to surprise passengers with gifts useful for their trips.

Getting Started On Facebook

Go to the Facebook homepage at www.facebook.com.

1. Fill out all the information on the Sign Up form, then click the green ‘Sign Up’ button.

2. Once you fill this out, you will be asked to type in a few words to ensure the site you are not a ‘bot’

3. Confirm your email address: Facebook will send you a confirmation email, click the link in the email to confirm your account

Editing Your Profile

It’s important that you edit your profile as soon as you can by adding a profile photo & editing your information.

Put your mouse/cursor over the default profile picture, and ‘Change Picture’ will appear. Click it.

Choose Your Profile Photo

Click ‘Choose File’ and you will be taken to your computer to find a photo you would like to upload. If you have a webcam, you can chose to click ‘Take a Picture’.

Editing Your Profile Information

Below your name, click the link ‘Edit Profile’, preceded by a pencil icon

Editing Your Profile Information

Along the left side is a list of the different areas of your profile. Try to get the Basic Information filled out as soon as you can.

Posting To Facebook

Facebook lets you update your status in 4 ways:

1. Sharing a comment2. Sharing a photo3. Sharing a link4. Sharing a video

Sharing A Comment

Similar to the ‘tweet’ this is just an open area for you to share whatever you like.

Sharing A Photo

When you click ‘Photo’ you will be promoted with the following options – Upload a Photo, Take a Photo or Create an Album. If you are just sharing one photo, chose ‘Upload a Photo’. ‘Take a Photo’ will use your webcam to take a photo, and ‘Create an Album’ will let you name & create an album if you are uploading multiple related photos.

Sharing A Photo

When you choose ‘Upload a Photo’ you will then be shown the above, which will allow you to chose a file from your computer.

You can also add a comment that will appear with the photo.

Share A Link

If you would like to share a link to a website, click link & add the url of the site.

Once you type in the link & click ‘Attach’ you will be given a field where you can enter a comment about the link.

Share A Video

When you click ‘Video’ you will be prompted with a choice between recording a video with your webcam, or upload a video from your computer.

If you chose to upload from your computer, you will be prompted to locate the video on your computer & if you would like to add a comment.

Pages vs. Groups

Pages - the official profiles for celebrities, brands or businesses. Pages can only be started by official representatives of that page. Pages can also use tabs & be customized for different ‘Fan’ experiences

Pages vs Groups

This is an example of a custom tab for the official Fringe page.

They not only have a way for new visitors to ‘Like’ them, but have also included a video.

Pages vs Groups

Groups - the place for anyone to share their common interests and express their opinion.

Groups can be started by anyone, but can not include custom tabs.

How You Can Help Spread The Word

Now that we have covered the basics of Twitter & Facebook, how can you put this to use to help raise awareness for the National Parent Helpline?

1. Tweeting & Retweeting – share your own message about NPH & include the @parenthelpline twitter username or retweet a tweet from the @parenthelpline account

2. Posting to the National Parent Helpline Facebook page – any time you comment on the page, your friends see that.

3. Telling your friends to like National Parent Helpline Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/NationalParentHelpline