Social media: making it work for youJohn Breslin, NUI Galway

www.johnbreslin.com / @johnbreslin

Lecturer, Electronic EngineeringFull-time lecturer from 2000 to 2004, tenured in 2008. Director of Engineering Innovation course.

Associate Researcher, DERILeader of the Social Software Unit in the worldʼs largest Semantic Web research institute. Co-author of “The Social Semantic Web”.

Who?A little bit about me.

Founder, Social Media Ltd.Publisher of daily tech articles. Deciphering new technologies and promoting Ireland as a web hub. Campus company at NUI Galway.

Co-Founder, boards.ie Ltd.Irelandʼs largest discussion forum website, 1.9 million visitors/month. Began as a gaming forum in 1998.

Getting Onboard

Joining In

Keeping Up

What?Quick overview of my talk.

Choose Your Platform, CarefullyDepending on your audience, do you need to be on social networks, discussion forums (e.g. Google Groups or boards.ie), or something else entirely?

Spread Too Thin?Donʼt waste time on a platform if your customers just arenʼt there.

Part 1: Getting OnboardPick what services should you be on.

The Social Network Choices

Twitter: Whatʼs happening? Info streams.

Facebook: Everyoneʼs here, eek!

LinkedIn: The business network.

MySpace: Only if youʼre selling music...

Bebo: Nearly kaput, even for 13 year olds.

Create Your IdentityTry and get a common brand that you can use across one or more platforms of your choice.

Pick Your “Forever” UsernameHave a consistent username for your Twitter account or Facebook page.

Promoting Your IdentityMake sure you tell people about your social media identity where appropriate, e.g. in your e-mail signatures, on your website, in presentations.

Part 1: Getting OnboardDecide exactly who you are.

Part 2: Joining InBe part of the conversation.

Respond To Others, Meaningfully!Thereʼs no point being a standalone broadcaster on social websites. You must engage with others, not just via your own channels.

Does anyone know

[...]?

Hello! I think I can

help...

Choose Who You Are Talking ToIf you want to be a person of influence using social media, then the way to do it is to acquire engaged followers who are themselves active on the service: http://scl.md/twinfluencer

Part 2: Joining InTell the world about your company, your services.

Marketing Your BrandIf you donʼt already have a sufficient community of interest around your company that you can leverage into an online community instantaneously, you may want to think about using targeted advertising, if available on your platform of choice.

Use An Integrated StrategyView this great video from Deanna Lee (Marketing VP at the New York Public Library) about how social media is just one part of your communications strategy: http://scl.md/leevideo

Part 3: Keeping UpStay up to date with your interests and competitors.

Think about whatʼs coming around the corner.

The World Is Going HyperlocalYou may need to think about a web where oneʼs geolocation is strongly tied to their activities online: Facebook Places, Foursquare, Layar, and more: http://scl.md/hyperlocality

The Semantic What?The next generation of the Web, encompassing the notion of “Linked Data” whereby itʼs not just pages that are linked on the Web, but rather data with an associated meaning: http://scl.md/ldintro

Part 3: Keeping Up

Ask JohnThanks for listening.

Oh, and thanks to Tom Murphy for his great images.

socialmedia.net