With 1.8 million Irish people on
Bebo, over 500,000 Irish people on
Facebook, and the usage of tools such as
LinkedIn (for professional networking) and
Twitter (for micro-blogging - giving 140 character updates on whatever you like) increasing rapidly, people are now turning to social networks to broadcast information. From job openings to articles about the latest trends to news as it happens, people are spreading the word.
With this in mind, we've created this short introduction to using social networks to broadcast information.
Step 1: Shorten!When broadcasting any information, we recommend shortening the URL using any one of a number of free online tools out there. Shortening the URL is most useful for Twitter, where there’s a 140 character limit, but also has advantages across all social networks - short messages are more quickly read, and long URLs can put people off.
Step 2: Broadcast to your professional network on LinkedIn A quick way to post information on LinkedIn is via the ‘status’ function. When you log into LinkedIn, you'll see a textbox with the text above, “What are you working on now?” on your home page. Type a message summarising your information, and the shortened link, into this box.
To take things farther, if you’re a member of any groups where your information might be relevant or useful, post it there as well by clicking on the "+" sign beside Groups on the left-hand menu of your home page and then clicking on the list. From the resulting groups page, go to the "Action" dropdown, and choose "Start a Discussion" (Not "Share"!). Post your message on that screen, and it’s worth keeping the "Follow this discussion" box ticked, in case there are any questions or further conversation!
Step 3: Broadcast more informally through FacebookFacebook is a more informal social network than LinkedIn, but a similar approach applies. When you log in, you'll seee a similar text box to the Linkedin text box, with the text “What’s on your mind?”. Again, type a message summarising your information, and the shortened URL, into this box. Do remember to phrase the message according to your own network on Facebook. Since Facebook is a social medium more than a business one, a different way of phrasing your information may apply.
Step 4: Twittering your messageTwitter is a micro-blogging tool, allowing people to post 140 characters on any subject they like. People tend to post about what they're doing, what they've just done, what they're going to do, and also pass information rapidly between them. To broadcast using Twitter, log into your Twitter account via the website or your Twitter client (if you use a piece of software to manage your Twitter account), and post your information, with the shortened URL. It's always worth keeping your message to about 120 characters, not 140, as this allows people to "retweet" it, or forward it on to their own networks.
There you have it - four simple steps to getting your information broadcast!
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