Digital Literacy for St. Cloud State University
http://www.edcircuit.com/using-twitter-to-supercharge-your-professional-development/
http://edchat.pbworks.com/w/page/219908/FrontPage
https://sites.google.com/site/twittereducationchats/education-chat-calendar
http://snip.ly/qS1o#http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228113
smart tools, six steps…
1. Target keywords in Twitter bios. Say you’re promoting an app for a half-marathon in Chicago. With the help of a few tools you can quickly create lists of your targets.
2. Find active users and influencers.
3. Find those who use a particular hashtag.
4. Organize your results.
5. Don’t forget your tweeps.
6. Interact and monitor.
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-host-and-promote-a-twitter-chat/
listen to the show: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/?powerpress_pinw=86452-sme-show
Always start by defining the objective of your Twitter chat. Find a topic that will appeal to your target audience.
The chat needs to provide value to your audience to be successful. Don’t make it just about your company; tailor it to how you can help your community. For example, if you’re in the photography industry, invite guests to discuss photo editing tips, black-and-white photography, photography inspiration, etc.
An added benefit is that you can repurpose all of the chat contributions into a future blog post. Those who participated in the chat will appreciate having a summary of it, and readers who missed it will enjoy the insight.
Once you’ve established an objective for your chat, find at least five Twitter chats similar to yours to gather ideas. You can find Twitter chats with tools like TweetReports and Gnosisarts.
TweetReports shows the scheduled times for chats on various topics.
Learn how these chats work. Observe how the host controls the flow of conversation and directs topics. Also find out which guests are invited, how many questions are posed, what times the chats are held and how they’re promoted.
Be sure to participate as well. Answer questions and engage with others. This allows you to build your expertise and gives you insight into what it’s like to participate in a Twitter chat.
Now comes the fun part: naming your Twitter chat. Typically every chat hashtag ends with “chat” (for example, #mediachat, #influencerchat and #blogchat). Adding the word “chat” signals to people that it’s a Twitter chat instead of a regular hashtag or an event.
When choosing a hashtag, make sure it fits your brand. Also, check that it’s not a Twitter username and hasn’t been used as a hashtag previously.
Use Twitter search to see if your chat hashtag has been used before.
Brainstorm at least 15 chat names and then pick the best one. You might want to seek input from your co-workers.
After you select a hashtag, make sure that you register the Twitter username. You can use this account to hold your chats.
Next, make a list of at least 20 guests you want to invite.
Ideally, you want someone who has experience being a guest and is interested in holding Twitter chats. If you have an influential user who loves your company, consider inviting that person to be a guest, too.
Once you have everything in place and have secured at least four guests in advance, start preparing questions. You’ll need about 7 to 10 questions for your guests. Send these questions to them at least 72 hours prior to the chat so they can prepare their responses.
During the chat, spread out the questions about 6 to 8 minutes apart. Ask your last question about 10 minutes before the end of the chat to allow time for the community to discuss it.
The key to making your Twitter chat stand out is to promote it. Here are some ways to do that:
Partner With Other Chats
Partner with other chats to co-promote your chats.
Invite Fans
Promote your chat 12 to 24 hours prior to the event.
Send a Facebook event invite as another way to ask people to join your chat. This is a great way to make sure people will come and remember the date. You can also get word out by sending an email blast through your newsletter.
On the big day, you’ll need an outline to work from. Here’s a basic script for a Twitter chat.
Five Minutes Before the Chat
Our chat will start in a few minutes. In the meantime, please introduce yourself and what you do [#chatname].
Start of the Chat
It’s time for our [#chatname]! Tonight’s guest is @_____ from _____ who will share _____ with us.
Everyone, please welcome our guest _____ from @_____ to our [#chatname] tonight!
Two to Three Minutes Before the Chat Ends
Everyone, please thank @_____ from _____ for adding so much value to our [#chatname].
Next week we’ll have @_____ from _____, who will be discussing _____. See you next week!
Don’t forget to join (other Twitter chat that you partnered with) now! They have @_____ as their guest.
The easiest way to manage your chat is to use a tool like TweetChat. You can hide retweets so you see mentions only from people, which enables you to respond quickly. TweetChat also automatically adds the chat hashtag to your responses.
I am regularly asking my students where do they get their news from
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/make-your-twitter-profile-stand-out
This one’s easy: Don’t do what everyone else is doing. If you see a trend popping up in bios, don’t immediately change your bio to reflect that trend. Everyone ends up using the same verbiage, the same phrases, the same descriptors.
Another trend is to include a disclaimer—the most popular being, “Views are my own.” This is the Twitter equivalent of saying “I will bore you to death.” This disclaimer doesn’t serve any real legal purpose, nor will it save your job. If your employer requires it, do it, but other than that, leave it off.
The key takeaway here? When you see a trend, run the other way. If you’re compelled to follow a popular trend, at least put it through your personal lens first. Change it enough that the thread is there, but it’s clear you’ve put more thought into it than simply following the crowd.
Make an impact on your audience by crafting a sentence or two that convey your expertise. Choose the most important things you do; state them in a clear, compelling way; and then explain why your skills should matter to the visitor. The challenge, of course, is brevity.
In addition consider that hashtags, @s and links—the language of Twitter—are clickable in your profile. I’m always surprised that more people aren’t using these valuable opportunities in their Twitter bios.
Jim Cramer’s Twitter bio has two simple, concise sentences that promote and link to his website, charitable trust, his CNBC show and his blog.
It would have been easy to make a laundry list of those properties along with his book titles and accolades (just like everyone else). Instead, two well-crafted sentences emphasize his most important efforts and include links to each.
In your Twitter settings you have the option to set your location and provide a link to your website. Since Cramer’s main bio already links to his website, he uses his sidebar link to point to his author page.
Make the most of your real estate. If you have too much to convey in a sentence or two, get creative—use your sidebar link.
If you operate other accounts, go ahead and add them. These simple links are such an easy way to build your followers for other accounts or your website. Don’t miss out on this opportunity.
On the other hand, you don’t always need a list of keywords or even sentences to convey your sentiment. Sometimes, a single word can make a serious impact.
If you can creatively distill your abilities to one word, you’ve snagged yourself a punchy, powerful piece of the creativity pie.
I’m not talking about lying about your abilities. I’m talking about tongue-in-cheek obvious exaggeration.
An obvious “lie” can be funny and attract attention. For example, since when is Ellen an ice road trucker?
Smart Twitter users know that a static profile is boring and uncreative. Change it up based on what’s current in your career or marketing initiatives.
Changing your profile bio helps you keep followers abreast of your new accolades or endeavors (e.g., launching a new business or writing a book). Adapting your profile keeps you interesting. And best of all, it forces you to be creative more often.
Say “hello” or “goodbye” to your followers. When you speak directly to someone, you stand a much better chance of actually gaining his or her attention.
Use the word “you” rather than “I” in your profile—it becomes more of a personal message and less of a brag. With that simple change, your bio becomes more inviting.
Over to You
The New York Times calls Twitter bios a postmodern art form. If it’s an art form, then we are the artists. I encourage you to try some of these tips and see where your own creative artistry takes you.
Creativity doesn’t come with an instruction manual. You’ll probably find yours at weird moments when you least expect it. I know a lot of people who have that a-ha! moment in the shower!
https://support.twitter.com/articles/71577-using-advanced-search
is very similar to using advanced search in your SCSU online databases:
http://support.ebsco.com/help/
Searching successfully Twitter is one of the techniques to mine Twitter and grow your audience:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-tips-pros
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/566468459355086016/
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/improve-tweets-using-twitter-analytics/
Twitter ads and Twitonomy are helpful and cost-effective. Find time to go through these reports to see what works for you and your competition. The improvement in results from your Twitter marketing will be worth it.
Once you get comfortable with this kind of data review, check back every week, month or quarter to make sure that you are still hitting the optimal mark. The social media world moves fast, and analytics will help you keep pace with the changes.
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/access/white-paper-social-media.pdf
Social media objectives:
Opportunities and challenges
Policies and management:
Effectiveness and assessment:
Current Social Media Practices:
Advantages of using social media
n Financially the costs of using social media are perceived to be low;
n It requires little training;
n It promotes library services and disseminates news quickly, delivering this information more directly to library users;
n It increases engagement and interactions with library users;
n It helps gather feedback to enhance user services;
n The promotion of library holdings via social media can help increase usage of content;
n It enhances communication both within the library and with other departments;
n It can be used for outreach activities through onward sharing, well beyond the institution itself, helping build connections and reputation more broadly
Social Media Objectives: graph on page 8 of the PDF document:
A To promote events
B To promote library services
C To promote resources/collections at the library
D To update on library refurbishments
E To promote new acquisitions
F To promote library guides, exhibition guides
G To connect with new students joining the university
H To engage with the academic community
I To connect with the wider community beyond the university e.g. the town in which the institution is based
J To connect with distance learners
K As a customer services tool- complaints, suggestions, enquiries, feedback
L To highlight subject specific information
M To connect with potential students
N As a teaching tool to promote information literacy, technology and writing tips (not library based)
O To promote courses
P As a research tool to locate official documents and studies
From UK-based focus group: “The library is a programme, not just a building.”
Channel preferences: Graph on page 10 of the PDF document
SOCIAL MEDIA USES Table on p 13 of the PDF document
Twitter n Distribute library news and information
n Provide customer service
n Build connections with researchers
n Build connections with other librarians and institutions
Facebook n Distribute library news and information
n More social and less formal than Twitter – share photographs and run competitions
n Arrange events including tracking RSVPs and sending event updates
n Engagement with students
Pinterest n Promote general library collections, digital and archive special collections and information literacy
n Set up of online repositories for students to pin researched references as part of
collaborative group work
n Display book titles to save time browsing and promote new titles
n Provide an arena for students and course leaders to pin reviewed and recommended reading
for a particular topic
n Develop communities with other online libraries
YouTube n Streaming film collections
n Instructional ‘how to’ videos teaching information literacy skills and how to use library
services and resources
There are also a number of other social media products that are being used by librarians that reflect regional
preferences and the need for the specific functions offered by niche applications.
Collection usage and discovery: Graph on p. 15
Teaching and learning
From US-based librarian interview: “The trend in education now is to create environments that foster collaborative learning. Faculty have ditched textbooks and course management systems in exchange for a Facebook page for their class, or a wiki, or a blog. These online environments are fun; students already know how to use them and are more motivated to comment, discuss and share in these environments than a dry CMS.”
Social media policies and management, p. 18
73% of respondents stating that they believed more roles dedicated to social media would appear in the library in the future.
Effectiveness of social media
From UK focus group: “We keep track of something particularly successful, then we redo the campaign 6 months later.”
From US focus group: “We have very few interactions with anyone on our Twitter feed.”
“Twitter is definitely the best platform, because we hashtag all of our posts with the keyword
of the publication, and so for the academic audience, once they click it’s going to pull up all
of the similar publications under that topic.
Promoting library social media channels
From UK focus group:
“We retweet each other to encourage new followers.” My note: Suggested by me regarding SCSU_Library for Twitter and Pinterest and SCSUTechinstruct but “considered” (in local lingo, slow death of the idea)