Make social media work for you: step 1
If you’re studying art, design, journalism, business, tech, law, marketing, politics or any number of associated subjects, social media is likely to feature in your future career. It’ll play a part in job-hunting, nailing internships or entry-level jobs, and building a strong professional network.
If you’re active in MDXSU Societies or running a campaign, you’ll want to be getting word out there too – and social media is an amazing promotional tool that helps you put your event or petition right in people's hands, at any time of day or night.
You might already be getting to grips with social media, or you might be nervous of putting yourself out there in a public forum; either way, this 3 part series will cover the basics and offer pro-tips to help you get the best out of it. Welcome to the first installment!
1. Define your goal
- Work out which social media platform is best suited to your goals. Each one has different strengths and weaknesses, and levels of time investment.
- Social media is increasingly used to better your chances in a tough job market, as it’s a free way to build a good reputation with people you haven't met yet.
- It’s also good for communicating things to your immediate peer group, e.g. letting them know about a clubnight you’ve organized.
- Social media is designed for chatting, but think carefully about which social media platform you use to do this. This is where private networks (or private accounts) come into their own.
2. Consider the options
- Twitter is useful for actively building a name for yourself within your particular community and sharing your ideas with wider networks
- LinkedIn is where you can share your CV online – it's low maintenance and perfect for curious potential employers to browse!
- Facebook is good for discussion groups as well as events – but maximum privacy settings are advisable for your own profile
- WhatsApp is ideal for organising meetings and events with specific people
- Instagram works well for visual work and showing rather than telling – perfect if you are a designer or artist
- Snapchat is visual too and getting bigger every day, but it is mainly for personal connections (so far!).
3. Create your own online space - start a blog
- Blogs are a form of social media, but they allow you more depth and flexibility than a standard account.
- A blog can be where you highlight your best bits – a selective edit of your work, information about your qualifications and achievements, and a touch of personality.
- Wordpress offers free pre-made templates that suit article-style posts
- Tumblr is free, simple, super-social and ideal for visual content
- Add the domain name to your email signatures and social media account bios and start getting the word out!
- You can buy a co.uk domain name for under £20 – and reserving yours (even if you don’t use it) could save you a domain name squabble further down the line.
Look out for the 2nd installment next week - a quick guide on how to win friends and influence people on your chosen platform. If you have any comments or tips you'd like to see us include you know where to find us - on Twitter and Facebook!
