A very basic introduction to social media, with attention to how cultural/educational institutions may use Twitter.

1. Dr Natalie Harrower
Manager, Education and Outreach
Digital Repository of Ireland
Royal Irish Academy

2. Social Media …
for Beginners
Social Media for Beginners

3. Today’s plan:
1.Let’s be social…without the media
2.How do you use it? Conventions
3.Overview of different platforms
4.Let’s Tweet! Step-by-step
Social Media for Beginners

4. Conventions…
ways we use FACEBOOK
Social Media for Beginners

5. Overview of different platforms
Social Media for Beginners

6. Categories
- Exists primarily as a social sharing platform
- Specifically for sharing A/V
- Scrapbooking/curating:
- Websites/news sites with social media slant
- Tools to manage accounts
Social Media for Beginners

7. Exists primarily as a social sharing
platform:
- Facebook
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
- Google +
Social Media for Beginners

8. Specifically for sharing A/V
- Youtube
- Vimeo
- Slideshare
- Instagram/Flickr
Social Media for Beginners

9. Scrapbooking/curating:
- Pinterest
- Scoop.it
- Paper.li
- Storify.com
Social Media for Beginners

10. Websites/news sites with
social media slant
- boingboing.net
- reddit.com
- journal.ie
Social Media for Beginners

11. Tools to manage accounts:
- Hootsuite
- Tweetdeck
- URL shorteners, etc. bit.ly
http://friendorfollow.com/
http://www.tweriod.com/,
Social Media for Beginners

12. Twitter
Social Media for Beginners

13. Basics of Twitter
- 140 characters max
- short lifespan of a tweet
- use @username to tag someone
- use #keyword to contribute to a topic
Social Media for Beginners

14. Twitter social conventions
- Engage with users directly through @
- Develop a twitter personality, and balance
‘serious’ stuff with lighter tweets
- alter the times of day you post
- Direct tweets back to your website
Social Media for Beginners

15. Example: from ok to better!
• Example: I find an article that is relevant to my project, but that also gets
people thinking. E.g. Article in Guardian about how to use the word ‘data’
– plural only, or singular?
a. First try, post the link:
b. Add the title so people know what the link refers to:
Social Media for Beginners

16. Example: from ok to better!
c. Shorten the link to make it cleaner: d. Ask a question:
e. Use # to tag some key topics: f. Tag someone to elicit their
response (great way to make
friends)
Social Media for Beginners

17. Thanks!
Questions or suggestions for future
workshops:
n.harrower@ria.ie
– or better –
@dri_ireland
Social Media for Beginners