A Beginner’s Guide to Social Media

As technology evolves, so does the way we communicate. The social media age has ushered in a new way of sharing and connecting with people–but sometimes it’s a little overwhelming. Here’s your quick guide on how to navigate social media today as you use it to communicate with family and friends:

*Remember, anything you post on the internet is permanent. Ask yourself before posting–do I really need to share this thought with the world?”

Facebook has become the standard online profile these days, where you can display everything from your professional life to cute pictures of your cat. Facebook is a great way to keep in contact with old classmates, colleagues, friends. Your News Feed uses an algorithm to figure out which important stories to display, and people tend to resent frequent or useless status updates like, “I just ate a sandwich” or “Getting in my car now” that will flood their feed. Try to use Facebook to share valuable, important information or foster meaningful conversations.

If you can’t help but share those trivial details with the world, Twitter is a more appropriate place for them. “Spammy” usage still annoys most users, but Twitter offers the opportunity to post a constant stream of updates in real time instead of aggregated content like Facebook. While Facebook is generally used to connect you with people that you know, Twitter is much more public, giving you the option of following millions of users updates. While there’s still privacy options on Twitter, it’s an opportunity to join in public, global conversations using hastags(#). Placing a hashtag in front of a word creates a category that anyone can see and participate in. For example, look up “#puppies” to see what people are saying about puppies! Use “@” in front of someones username (or, Twitter handle) to notify them that you’re directing that tweet at them. For instance if you were mentioning me in a post and you wanted to notify me of this, you would type: @TheCommDoctor. I post daily communication tips on Twitter, categorized under #DailyRx. To see all these tips, you could simply search for #DailyRx!

It’s like Twitter, only with photos. You can take or upload photos (Instagram will make them a perfect square) and caption them with hashtags, similar to Twitter. Instagram’s popularity stems from its filter function, that easily gives your image the appearance of being professionally edited. You can also connect Instagram to all your other social and simultaneously share your images on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr. Caption your photo with an anecdote, quote, or short description. You can use “@” and “#” similarly to Twitter, which is especially helpful if you are sharing simultaneously on Twitter.

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are among the top and most prolific social media networks out there. If you’re just getting started on social media, these are some good places to start. This guide is focused on personal usage, but stay tuned for future posts with guides to other social networks and using social media for businesses!

Dr. Susanne Gaddis
The Communications Doctor
web: www.CommunicationsDoctor.com
email: gaddis@CommunicationsDoctor.com
phone: 919-933-3237