Why Social Media? Blogs - DASNR Technology Services and Support

Why Social Media?
Social media–social networking–allows you to
connect with other people and groups to engage
in conversations, exchange ideas, share pictures
and content, and connect through participation,
which is made available through applications
such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Benefits to
participation include collaborative
communication, building relationships and
responsive interaction.
Twitter – http://twitter.com ‐ is a site for
posting very short (140 character) messages.
Twitter is an excellent way to keep a group of
people informed about an upcoming or ongoing
event or to share useful information in a brief
format. Some examples would be, "4‐H meeting
to discuss/plan upcoming events March 17th" or
"Here's a good site for wheat rust
information: http://bit.ly/... ."
YouTube – http://youtube.com ‐ is a video
sharing site. Users can upload short videos,
which can then be seen and commented on by
other users/viewers of the site. YouTube
provides easy methods for referring people to
the video or embedding a YouTube video on
your own website or blog.
Facebook – http://facebook.com ‐ is a social
networking website. It allows you to connect to
other individuals and groups. Once connected,
you can communicate through public and
private conversations, provide event
notifications, and share pictures and videos.
Facebook has features that may be
inappropriate for use with a university‐related
account such as games, and quizzes and
postings to your wall. If you would like to use
these features, you might consider a personal
account.
Blogs
Web‐logging–blogging–is a way of putting your
thoughts and ideas online, usually in a diary or
journal format. Blogging sites include
http://www.wordpress.com and
http://www.blogger.com. For professional use,
blogging could include writing about any of the
topics that you normally teach or may be of
interest to a group. To remain relevant, your
blog should be updated regularly – at least
weekly. Blogs also work best when they are
focused on a topic or area of interest such as
agriculture, cooking or nutrition. Note that you
may be able to use resources on your county or
departmental website to post a blog.
Flickr – http://flickr.com ‐ is a photo sharing
website. Flickr allows you to upload, edit,
organize and share your photos. It allows you
to set the level of access for your photos to
allow everyone, individuals or certain groups
to see your photos. Note that many county
and departmental websites provide this same
capability.
Google Buzz – http://buzz.google.com ‐ allows
you to connect several social networking
sites–such as Twitter, YouTube and Flickr–
directly into your Google account. With this
connection you can share, aggregate and
create conversations, photos and videos. You
can leave a comment on someone else’s buzz.
Buzz integrates directly with your Gmail
account.
Linkedin – http://linkedin.com ‐ is a businessoriented
social networking site, mainly used
for professional networking. It allows
registered users to maintain a list of contact
details, called connections, of people they
know and trust in business. Users can invite
anyone to become a connection. The contact
network is built through these connections
and can be used to find jobs, people and
business opportunities that may be
recommended by someone in the contact
network.

Helpful Tips
When creating an account related to a
group or project, choose a name that
reflects the group’s identity, main topic or
intended audience.
Use the same etiquette and professional
rules of behavior as face‐to‐face, and keep
your tone personal, friendly and engaging.
Check your account often to ensure
inappropriate comments or posts are edited
or deleted.
Keep your information fresh through
relevant and frequent updates.
Privacy considerations: learn when photo or
video release forms are necessary, and
review the personal privacy settings of your
account(s).
Depending upon how you use the social
media, keeping both your personal and
business accounts may be necessary.
Web addresses (URLs) can be shortened
through bit.ly – visit http://bit.ly, then use
the bit.ly address when you push
information.
Many smartphones provide applications
that allow you to use social media while
away from your computer.
Facebook
Social Media Directory
FAPC
Grant County 4‐H
Johnston County 4‐H
McCurtain County 4‐H
Noble County 4‐H
Oklahoma County 4‐H
SE District Oklahoma 4‐H
SE District FCS Educators
SUNUP
Tulsa County 4‐H
Woods County Extension
Twitter
YouTube
OCESTSS
Oklahoma4H
Osuextensionguy
OSUWasteManage
FAPC
FAPC
OSUWasteManagement
SUNUP
Introduction to Social Media
For
DASNR Faculty and Staff
DASNR Technology Services and
Support
This overview was developed by DASNR
Technology Services and Support to help those
within the agencies and service units of DASNR
to manage social media tools in support of
professional communication efforts. This
document provides basic guidance and help on
Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, blogs,
Google Buzz and Linkedin.
If you are already involved in social media and
would like to advertise your social media
presence, consider registering your efforts at
http://support.dasnr.okstate.edu/social‐media.
Questions and feedback can be directed to:
Dwayne Hunter
dasnrit@okstate.edu
405.744.5398