Here are the results from our brainstorming session about our usage of social networks.
(And it goes without saying, but we should say it anyway: without communicating with the Lord in prayer, we won’t be able to share him online. Â (Can’t give what you don’t got!))
Social Networks (General)
- Examples of people using social networks well?
- Pope Benedict XVI! @pontifex
- Sr. Helena Burns: @SrHelenaBurns
- Brandon Vogt: @BrandonVogt1
- Lino Rulli: facebook.com/linorulli
- CCO staff and students!
- Question to ponder: What is my primary, target audience for Social Networks?
- Short messages (140 character limit). Â Called “Tweets”
- Informal – can message anyone
- What should we share?
- Small snippets of what Jesus means to us
- Retweeting (repeating) what others say – e.g. Pope Benedict XVI, @Pontifex
- Other updates from daily life: share who we are, hoping to draw people into a deeper conversation
- Food
- Important to set your profile picture! (The default egg often implies lack of engagement). Can also create a cover pic and change your background.
- Best times to post?
- One idea (Mashable.com)
- Some messaging tips:
- to send a public message to someone, begin with their “@” handle. Â It’ll be like a postcard – anyone who follows both of you will see it in their feed. Â Anyone who clicks on your profile will also see it.
- To mention someone else in a tweet, DO NOT start with the “@” handle. Â If a tweet starts with an “@” sign, it will only show up in the feed of people who follow both of you.
- Workaround: start with “.@”
- Hashtag: Begins with “#”. Cannot have punctuation. Enables easy search.
- e.g. #ccoriseup
- Connect to Facebook through the Twitter App on Facebook.
- Pro
- Easy to send messages to both platforms
- Con
- Messages are not tailored for each platform
- It’s also possible to use cross-posting services such as Hootsuite.
- Pro
- What do we share?
- Similar to Twitter, but can be deeper
- Discussions can also be deeper. Â But these can also go out of control quickly on controversial items.
- Can also share something of ourselves (text, photos, etc.), hoping to draw people into a deeper conversation.
- Â Privacy settings: How much do you want to share?
- One safe assumption: Assume that whatever you share on Facebook is public. Then you won’t be embarrassed. :-)
- It is possible to allow people to follow you, much like on Twitter. Â They can’t comment publicly on your posts, however.
- Profile pic and Cover pic
- Regular profiles have a max. of 5000 friends
- Pages do not have a maximum number of “Likes” (that I’ve found)
Instagram/Flickr
- Photo sharing communities
- Instragram recently had a terms-of-service controversy
Pinterest/LinkedIn/Google+/Other
- Google+
- Photographers are starting to use Google+ more. Â Seems like a nice interface
- Pinterest
- People can quickly share a number of things and browse easily
- LinkedIn
- Seems to be more professional-oriented
- Other