Today, I’ll be sharing a few social media basics with the friends and families attending the 10th Annual Tom Joyner Family Reunion in Orlando, FL. Since many parents and grandparents aren’t as social media savvy as the teens & kids in their lives, these quick & easy tips are great starting points for using some of the most popular social media sites today.
Facebook.com: With over 900 Million users most of them 21-24years olds sharing blog posts, videos, photos, questions & answers. It’s a great platform for interacting with friends & family on a personal level online.
A few tips to maximize your use of Facebook while with family on vacation are:
1. Take plenty of photos & make sure to tag your friends, family in the photos and use the to keep track of all this weekend’s fun! (Make sure you tag only the people in the photo (tagging people in a photo that aren’t actually in the photo can be considered spam & just isn’t good social media practice.) Tagging friends is easy, simply take a photo & click on the tag button & begin typing in your Facebook friend’s name. When someone is tagged in a photo that picture is automatically added to that persons profile and is a great way to share pictures with all friends.
2. Using Facebook on your smartphone? Keep your e-mail and your cell phone clean by updating or eliminate Facebook notifications – Facebook notifications can be added and removed by clicking Account link in the top right corner, then Account Settings, and then clicking the Notifications tab. This will eliminate FB pings, rings & emails daily which can be annoying (and also reak havoc on your smartphone battery life).
3. Catch up with old friends easily. If you’ve added your High School or previous Work locations to your profile, quickly see all classmates and co-workers on Facebook by clicking the link in your Info tab under your profile.
4. Keep up with new TJFR friends or plan next year’s family reunion using a personalized Facebook group! Facebook groups are great ways to keep an open, closed or secret communication thread online to share photos, ideas, plans or discussions – and only people you add in the group can see it. Simply click the create group tab on the FB side panel, create a group name & begin adding Facebook friends to the group.
UPDATED 9/1/12
Twitter – Is a great communication platform used for short (140 characters or less), to the point updates, sharing links to content & one on one interaction with followers. With just under 600 million users, mostly women and users ages 31-49 this quick update platform is far simpler than Facebook and a lot easier to manage on your mobile device.
A few tips to maximize your use of Twitter while with family on vacation are:
- Use the hashtag! Hashtags are great ways to find people who follow a related topic or interest on twitter. Usually identified by the pound # sign and followed by the hashtag name. This weekend’s Tom Joyner Family Reunion hashtag is #AllstateTJFR (Allstate Tom Joyner Family Reunion)
- Follow some of this weekend’s heavy tweeters like @TJMS, @AllState @GaylordPalms or @VisitKissimee or @DivasandDorks -à Shameless plug
- Just like Facebook, you can create Twitter lists to keep up with specific Tweeters all in one place without filtering through your Twitter timeline. To create a list, click the Lists link and then Create a list. After creating a list visit the persons profile page you wish to add and click the list icon, as shown in the picture to the right.
- If you want to triumph at tweeting, ENGAGEMENT is the name of the game. Don’t just tweet random thoughts. Retweet & participate in conversations frequently, Don’t whine & complain all the time (it’s Twitter, not your personal shrink) and learn the lingo. @Reply, DM = Direct Messages, Follower, Hashtag, trending topics, etc.
If you’re looking for quick interaction online, Twitter is the perfect tool for you!
Looking for Pinterest & Instagram tips? I’ll be updating this post throughout the day after the seminar… In the meantime, check out this infographic on social media use below…
{{STAY TUNED}}