Introduction to Social Media (Week 1)

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Introduction to Social MediaAssoc. Prof. Axel BrunsARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and InnovationQueensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

[email protected] – @snurb_dot_infohttp://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Linda Elen OlsenUniversity of Bergen, Norway

[email protected] - @lindaeo

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Course Outlineo Week 1:

o Introduction and setup: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIno Developing a social media persona / presence

o Week 2:o Understanding social networks: audiences? followers?

influencers?o Social media analytics: Hootsuite and other tools

o Week 3:o Social media campaigning: dos and don’ts of corporate social

mediao Ideas workshop and wrap-up

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

INTRODUCTIONS

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Axel Brunso Associate Professor, Creative Industries Facultyo ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and

Innovationo Research leader for social media: esp. blogs, Twitter

o See http://mappingonlinepublics.net/ for details

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

PLATFORMS: FACEBOOK

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Facebooko Overview:

o Largest global social network

o ~1b worldwide userso ~11m Australian

accountso Difficult to determine

unique users / active accounts

(source: http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/australia)

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Facebook Basicso “Social Graph” approach:

o Strong focus on social networkso Reciprocal connections: friendship requests must be approvedo Detailed control over message visibility

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Facebook Interactionso Posting, mentioning, commenting, liking, sharing, …:

o Posts: to my own timeline, visible to everyone / friends / custom groups…

o Mentions: posts referring to someone else, visible to them

o Comments: on a friend’s post, visible to them and their friends

o Likes: simple thumbs-up on a friend’s post or comment, visible to them and their friends

o Shares: pass along a post to your own or a friend’s timeline, to a group or page, or as a private message

o … and many more …

o Advanced interactions:o Special types of activity: e.g. events, questions, etc.o Activity updates by Facebook apps: e.g. music, games, …

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Facebook Timelineo Timeline:

o Recent introduction, meant to show all life eventso Users can add pre-Facebook events (birth, school, marriage,

etc.)o Criticised as blatant information grab – privacy concernso Potential to generate substantial new information base for

Facebooko Allows for more detailed user profiling (valuable for

advertisers)

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Facebook and Privacyo Privacy concerns:

o Facebook business model built around visibility of contento Push to encourage users to make everything they post publico Frequent changes to privacy settings, often confusingo New features usually introduced with ‘public’ default setting

Check and re-check your privacy settings frequently!

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Facebook Groups and Pageso Groups:

o Invited members only, different visibility options

o Useful for established, stable communities

o Pages:o Public space for brands,

businesses, celebrities, etc.o Available from options bar:

o Users subscribe by liking the page – no need for reciprocal friendship approvals

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

PLATFORMS: TWITTER

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Twittero Overview:

o Major global social networko ~500m worldwide userso ~2m Australian accountso Best guess on Australian userbase:

o 25-55 age bracketo More likely to be urban, affluent, educated (male?)

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Twitter Basicso Flat, open network structure:

o Two types of accounts:o Public – visible to all, even to non-registered visitorso Private – visible only to approved followers

o No message-level visibility controlso Non-reciprocal followingo Very limited options for customising profile pages

o Message format:o Designed as SMS-style live medium – limit of 140 characters

per posto Simple functionality - @mentions, #hashtags, embedded linkso Viewing of older posts increasingly difficult as time passes

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Twitter Interactionso @mentions:

o Posts containing @user become visible to user (even without following)o Posts beginning @user visible only to sender and receiver, and mutual followers –

convention to use .@user to bypass thiso “RT @user [original tweet]” is a

retweet of user’s message (also MT, HT, via, and other similar variations), possibly with comments

o Alternative: ‘button’ retweets

o #hashtags:o Posts containing #topic are marked

as relating to topico Anyone can create a hashtago Users can search for / subscribe

to hashtagso Hashtagged posts are visible even

without followingo Twitter tracks ‘trending’ (rapidly

growing) hashtags

The Australian Twittersphere?

Follower/followee network:~120,000 Australian Twitter users(of ~950,000 known accounts by early 2012) colour = outdegree, size = indegree

Thematic ClustersPerth

Marketing / PR

DesignWeb

Creative

FarmingAgriculture

HardlineConservatives

ConservativesJournalists

ALPProgressives

Greens

News

OpinionNews

NGOsSocial Policy

ITTech

Social MediaTechPR

Advertising

Real EstateProperty

JobsHR

Business

BusinessProperty

Parenting

Mums CraftArts

FoodWine

Beer

Adelaide

SocialICTs

CreativeDesign

FashionBeauty

UtilitiesServices

Net Culture

BooksLiteraturePublishing

Film

TheatreArts

RadioTV Music

DanceHip Hop

Triple J

TalkbackBreakfast TVCelebritiesCycling

Union

NRL

Football

CricketAFL

SwimmingV8s

Evangelicals

Teachinge-Learning

Schools

ChristiansHillsong

Teens

Jonas Bros.Beliebers

Austra

lian

Bands

@KRuddMP

@JuliaGillard

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Twitter and Privacyo Simple setup:

o Public vs. private accountso Does not protect from (manual) retweets

o Ephemeral medium:o Older messages difficult to retrieveo Twitter only provides 1-2 weeks of past messages (for users,

hashtags, keywords, etc.), even to original senders themselveso But other archives may exist – e.g. Library of Congress Twitter

archive

Twitter is a public medium (more so than Facebook)

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Twitter Listso Collections of Twitter accounts:

o Any Twitter user can create listso Can be public (visible to all) or private (visible only to the

creator)o Users can subscribe to public lists: i.e. follow all list members

at onceo Useful for tracking accounts, following posts by specific groups,

…

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

PLATFORMS: LINKEDIN

Introduction to Linkedin

15.01.2013Linda Elen Olsen

[email protected]

what is linkedin?

general uses

• Making new connections

• Maintaining relationships

• Updated information

• Awareness

linkedin profile

making connections

linkedin profile

linkedin profile

linkedin profile

linkedin profile

linkedin profile

linkedin home

answers

polls

linkedin groups

• Online visibility

• Searchable

• Ties become more visible

• Updated business card

• Easy to maintain weak ties, and re-connect

• People will help you!

why networking with linkedin

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

PLATFORMS IN COMPARISON

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Some ComparisonsFacebook Twitter LinkedIn

Personal Profile Yes Yes, but very limited Yes

Corporate Profile Yes, through pages Yes, but very limited Yes

Social network structure

Strong focus on reciprocal connections

Flat network, strong and weak ties together

Strong focus on reciprocal connections

Group functionality Yes – public and private

None, except user lists

Yes – public and private

Wider audience reach

Yes, through pages Yes, through account itself

Limited

Message dissemination

Mainly along friendship lines

Can be fast and wide, especially for hashtags

Mainly through network connections

Real-time engagement

Yes, but not core focus (except chat function)

Yes – key function Limited

Privacy settings Available but complex

Simple but limited Available

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

SCENARIO WORKSHOP

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

Building a Network

o Scenario:o You run the Twitter account for BeSpoke Bike

Designs – a small Brisbane shop creating custom designer bicycles using the latest technology. You’d like to build a strong network of followers (potential customers as well as influential supporters). What do you do?

o Hint: have a look at Twitter to identify the people you might want to connect with, and think about how you could do so…

http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

HOW TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA

Presenting yourselfin Social Media

15.01.2013Linda Elen Olsen

First impressions

• People Google you

• Social media ranks high on Google

• Your chance to show off

professional presence

• Show your experience

• Share your expertise

• Increase confidence

• Make connections and grow your network

• Become more aware

who am i?

privacy?

• Privacy paradox

• Offline vs. online

• Private vs. personal

be smart

• Everything is public

• Know your privacy settings

• Look at your industry - what is happening?

finding the balance

finding the balance

• Who is my audience?

• Who do I want to be my audience?

• What are my boundaries?

• What is OK to share / not share?

• What sort of community am I trying to be part of?

participation is key

strategy?

Control your information...

the importance of presence

• Help you control your own information

• Create a good first impression

• Drown bad publicity

• Opportunity to correct your mistakes