Getting Started in Social Media

There’s a real buzz about social media at the moment and many people are confused; should they go on Twitter or on Facebook and what is RSS anyway? And yes, I am going to answer those questions in this piece!

I’ve been really fortunate to be part of a group set up by an Internet visionary called Simon U Ford (check him out on Facebook and Twitter) and what I’m currently implementing I learnt from him.

There are a few things to remember about getting started in social media.

1. The Internet world is now like Ireland. Everyone can get connected to you within seconds and if you commit any crimes, most people will know who did it. Except it’s faster and bigger.
   
2. Your online life is really transparent. Remember when your mother told you to sleep on angry responses. Well, on the Internet, if you send it, everyone remembers the nasty things you said. Enough said, always be nice. Especially when you don’t feel like it.
   
   
3. Choose a name that you are going to use across all networks. That’s your brand. It’s like Vodafone is Vodafone everywhere. That’s how you know they are Vodafone. Then just use that name for all your postings.
   
   
4. Get set up on Twitter and Facebook using your chosen name. Simon U Ford has 3 questions about your Twitter identity that you should answer. Take your time to answer these questions. They will influence all your postings.
   a. Who are you?
   b. Who are you not?
   c. Who do you want to be in 3 years time?
   
   
5. On Facebook, look for people you actually know and begin by befriending them. Focus on building real relationships.

So, get cracking! And RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication and it’s a way to help readers to pull all the information from various blogs etc into one central location usually a programme called a Reader. I’ll be covering that in the next article, or check it out on my blog: socialmediatyro.blogspot.com.

You can follow me at Twitter at: www.twitter.com/socialmediatyro

Anne Walsh