AARP Social Communication: Seven (or so) Secrets Karin Miller Communications Director AARP Tennessee 1
AARP What the heck is social communications? 2 - “Word of mouth… on steroids.” -Any kind of messaging – words, photos, videos – that are designed to be shared and interactive online. - Social changes communications from broadcasting to a conversation.
3 SOCIAL MEDIA
AARP Why should you be social? Pew’s Internet & American Life Project reported today that as of April 2012, more than half of United States residents over 65 are onlinemore than half of United States residents over 65 are online More than 900 million people use Facebook (projected to hit 1 BILLION this year). Twitter has about 500 million users. Fastest growing group of people on social networks? Folks age 50+!
AARP It’s fun and helpful … Reconnect with friends, family Find discounts Get recipes Find people who share hobbies Get job hunting tips Health care advice Make your voice heard! 5
AARP You can find ME
AARP You can find …
AARP You can get news and connect DIRECTLY with newsmakers. 8
AARP Where do I start? Facebook Twitter 9
AARP Facebook 101: Getting started 10
AARP Facebook 101: Getting started Go to Fill in sign-up boxes and log in. (Save your password somewhere safe.) Add your friends and family. Fill out your basic profile information (birthday, gender, hometown). Add education and work history. Upload a picture!!! (It doesn’t have to show you.) 11
AARP FACEBOOK 101: Privacy Set your activity to “friends only.” Turn OFF public search. Disable instant personalization. Be VERY wary of connecting to third party applications via Facebook
AARP Facebook 101: Privacy 13
AARP Facebook 101: Privacy 14
AARP Twitter 101: Getting started Go to and click “Sign Up” Fill out profile. Select a username. Keep it short. Doesn’t have to be your real name. Start adding people to follow. Twitter will allow you to search your or Facebook accounts for friends. They will also suggest users. Or you can search on your own. 15
AARP Twitter 101: Getting Started 16
AARP Twitter 101: News feed or home page
AARP Twitter 101: Tweeting 18
AARP Twitter 101: Privacy 19
Social Communications Do’s 1.Have a unique voice. 2.Be generous. Share. 3.Ask for opinions. 4.Listen, respond & follow back. 5.“Friend”/follow people on both sides of the aisle/issue. 6.Answer direct messages. 7.Cheerlead. 8.Surprise people. 9.Use photos and video to tell your story. 10.Ask for help if you need it.
Social Communications Don’ts 1.Forget that everything is public. 2.Forget that there’s no such thing as delete. 3.Pick a name that’s too long. 4.Be cheesy. 5.Argue. 6.Ask for money. 7.Auto post. 8.Be partisan. 9.Worry about responding to *everybody.* 10.Don’t get intimidated!
AARP HELP ME! 1.Facebook.com/helpFacebook.com/help 2. Support.twitter.comSupport.twitter.com 3. guides/social-networking/ guides/social-networking/ 4. Google it! 5. You Tube it! 6. Ask your Facebook and Twitter Friends via an update! Social Media users love to help 7. Ask Karin 22
AARP There really are no secrets … What do YOU want to know? Karin Miller