Make social media work for you: step 2
If you’re studying art, design, journalism, business, tech, law, marketing, politics or any number of associated subjects, social media is likely 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 university 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 second installment!
If you haven't read part 1, check it out here before reading on!
2. Win the interest of influencers
Social media is designed to feel like a game – which is why it can be addictive! Like any game, there are ways to get good at it. All it takes is practice, observation of etiquette and a little patience. Here are some tips to bear in mind.
- Follow your heroes. Identify the influential voices within your community and follow them, learn about their interests and chat to them – it’s a great way to gain insights into an industry or community and make new connections
- Research your area. Look up trade journals, job boards, and journalists who write in your chosen field, or connect with societies and camapigns you admire – all will help you gain a better understanding of what opportunities open to you, and allow you to see how others are succeeding
- Enlarge your network. Discover new voices by seeing who the influencers you know about follow/retweet/share/reblog
- Be generous. Give other voices a platform and make new friends by commenting on other people’s posts, retweeting/reblogging/linking to their work to highlight their value to your network. If you help them reach new audiences, they might return the favour!
- Namecheck people. Avoid fall-outs by crediting other users with ideas, links and jokes by tagging them, @-mentioning them or including a short 'H/T to @Person' (meaning 'Hat-Tip'). People will appreciate your thoughtfulness. Plus, let's face it, internet plagairism is way more anti-social than its (equally inadvisable) academic cousin - making it the opposite of what you should be doing on social media...
- Be helpful. People use social media to source answers, find new leads and get interesting links. Be observant, and when you see someone you admire asking for help in an area you know about, you can impress them by offering useful expertise
- Use hashtags. These give you a presence in larger conversations and allow you to test your ideas with particular communites, e.g. #MDXYou or the perennially popular and interactive #newsnight
Look out for the 3rd installment, coming soon - a quick guide on fighting distraction and acheiving your goals 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!
