How to network professionally online

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

LinkedIn logo

LinkedIn is renowned as the world’s largest professional social network site with over 175 million members and growing. I have often heard people say that as they are not looking for a new job, they don’t don’t take much notice of a) what their profile looks like or b) the connections they have there.

What people tend to forget is that once they have created a profile this can be found every time anyone uses Google or other search engines to search for their name. The person will without doubt click on the profile and this could be their first impression of you as a professional. It is therefore very important to keep your details up to date and ensure that what you have written portrays you in a good light. LinkedIn is an excellent way to connect you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals. It enables you to build a network through the people you already know. Continue reading →

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Creating Lists on Twitter

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

lists-bird


Lists are a great way to help you organise the people you are following on Twitter into groups. This might be defined by people, interests, topics. For example I follow a variety of different Twitter users that are ‘news’ such as as the BBC and the Guardian. By curating a list containing these users into one group I can view ‘news’ tweets in one stream. I also have a list of the people I work with that tweet, another for people who share information about the use of technology and social media.  Continue reading →

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Google+ one year on

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

Google+ has just celebrated it’s first birthday. It now boasts 250 million users, which although only a quarter of that of Facebook (which recently exceeded 900 million), is still a considerable number in such a short time. So what’s it all about? Continue reading →

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Social Media for the Terrified

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

This is  a presentation I gave at a conference earlier this year. The session was aimed at those who were new but intrigued with what social media might be about. This wasn’t so much a ‘how to use’ the individual tools, but more an introduction to some of the tools I have been using to give people a flavour of how they can be used.

View more PowerPoint from Sue Beckingham
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Posted on May 12, 2012 by Sue Beckingham
Using Twitter to extend the conference conversation: before, during and after

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Copyright

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Sue Beckingham

Creative Commons Search

Sharing on social media websites is clearly seen as a positive step forward but we still need to be mindful of copyright and that we cannot just use somebody else’s work without permission. Where permission is granted then it is important to attribute the source, that is the name of the person alongside any materials we may use, be this text, photos, video or audio. Where authors have given their work a Creative Commons licence, life is made that much easier. Continue reading →

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Welcome to SocialMedia4Us!

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Sue Beckingham

This is a blog about Social Media and will introduce you to some of the many social media tools there are now available.

What is Social Media

Social Media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies which allows the user to produce and share information online using text, images, audio and video with others, who in turn can engage and communicate in interactive social dialogue about the content posted.

Social media can be used as a way to keep in touch socially with your family and friends, creating online connections using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. There are also niche social networking sites which focus on specific hobbies or interests and sites to share and comment on news and current affairs. Others allow people to share photos, videos and audio, both publically or as a closed group. Examples include Flickr and YouTube. A useful network connecting professionals is LinkedIn. In addition there are a growing number of tools that allow users to collaboratively add content such as Google Docs and Wikis.

Social media tools enable user generated content, that is anyone can choose to create an account using a social media tool and add their own content. The social aspect is that it provides an opportunity to have a dialogue about the information shared. In a blog for example you will see a comment box. Readers may choose to leave comments about the posts on the blog, to which the author can respond.

The video below gives a real indication of the exponential growth of social media. This was produced by Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics a book that looks at how social media transforms the way we live and do business.


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