Social Media 101 The Basics

Policies for Employees

UAW-GM Social Media 101 What is social media? A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.

Uaw-GM  Social media 101

Unfiltered news streams make Twitter a place for topical conversations and breaking news while FB algorithms curate the content you see based on previous interactions with content (which tends to favor personal relationships) While the Ice Bucket Challenge was trending on Facebook, #Ferguson was trending on Twitter. The Ice Bucket Challenge was almost entirely confined to FB, the Ferguson protests to Twitter.

What you’ll find: High school flameTrending topics Who you’ll talk to: Mom, friends, coworkersInfluencers: celebrities, reporters, politicians

UAW-GM Social Media 101 The Do’s and Don’ts of Facebooking DO:  Be responsive to page messages, posts to page, and comments especially questions  Limit your post text. Facebook is visual. People skim it quickly. The longer your post text the fewer people will read it.  Post Videos. They are the best performing content on FB. Try to keep your videos under 21 seconds (this is the point most viewership falls off).  Be Creative and keep trying different things  Proofread. It takes just a few seconds, and it can make the difference between a status update that makes sense and one that doesn't.  Have one clear objective for your post. Don’t post a graphic and put a link in your post text. You either want people to click on the image link and leave FB or you want them to like, share, or comment, on your post.

UAW-GM Social Media 101 The Do’s and Don’ts of Facebooking DON’T:  Spread your audience too thin by creating separate pages/groups for your local/committees. If you have multiple pages and groups odds are none of them will be very effective.  Flood your page with one thing. Mix it up with memes, articles, pictures, etc…  Overpost. Posting more than a few times a week will actually result in less clicks per post unless you have very active users.  Don't be overly opinionated unless you have a highly targeted audience that shares your views.  Don’t share posts from other pages very often. You don’t get very good reach on shares and all the engagement benefits the original poster. It is common practice to save image/video and upload directly from your device. If you do this you must credit the creator by tagging them in your post.  Don't post anything confidential or private anywhere on Facebook. Facebook privacy settings are in flux, and your updates might be seen by a very wide audience. If you're not comfortable sharing your update with literally everyone on the planet don't post it.  Don’t include links in post text (explained above)

UAW-GM Social Media 101 You Are What You Tweet DO: Do Be Thoughtful  Though Twitter is a conversation, whatever you say is in writing. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want reported in the local paper. Do Retweet  If you find a tweet interesting or informative RT it. It aligns your name with the information your sharing and builds your Twitter identity while uplifting the message of the original Tweeter. Do Tweet Often  The more you tweet the better! Try to post at least 4 times a day. Do Grow Your Followers  Make a point to follow the people that you want to follow you. Many Twitter users will follow you back. Make sure to engage with other’s stuff, thank people for follows and RT’s many users will unfollow you or stop engaging with your content if they feel you aren’t reciprocating.

UAW-GM Social Media 101 You Are What You Tweet DON’T: Don’t Start Tweets  You have to put a period first or it won’t work. Don’t Shout  Using all caps is considered impolite. Don’t Tweet More Than Once Every 15 Minutes  You don’t want to flood your followers’ timelines. Don’t #Overuse #Hashtags  It’s annoying and non-functional. Use one or two hashtags to categorize your tweet or a statement hashtag. EX: #IWorkForGM