Introduction to Social Media - University of South Florida

What is social media? Social media is an internet-based form of communication. Social media platforms allow users to have conversations, share information and ... SkiptoMainContent Marketing SkipOverBreadcrumbsandSecondaryNavigation BreadcrumbNavigation UCMHome Marketing IntroductiontoSocialMedia SecondaryNavigation Overview BrandManagement BrandAssets CommunicationsandMarketing Web SocialMedia USFPolicies IntroductiontoSocialMedia Whenusedproperly,socialmediacanbeavaluableadditiontoadepartment'scommunications strategy.Becausemanyemployeeshaveexpressedaninterestindevelopingandmaintaining asocialmediapresenceinpersonalandprofessionalcapacities,theOfficeofUniversity CommunicationsandMarketinghascraftedthefollowingintroductiontosocialmedia. Pleasereadthisoverviewpriortodevelopingyoursocialmediapresence. Whatissocialmedia?Socialmediaisaninternet-basedformofcommunication.Socialmediaplatformsallow userstohaveconversations,shareinformationandcreatewebcontent.Therearemany formsofsocialmedia,includingblogs,micro-blogs,wikis,socialnetworkingsites, photo-sharingsites,instantmessaging,video-sharingsites,podcasts,widgets,virtual worlds,andmore. Whatarethebenefitsofusingsocialmedia?Billionsofpeoplearoundtheworldusesocialmediatoshareinformationandmake connections.Onapersonallevel,socialmediaallowsyoutocommunicatewithfriends andfamily,learnnewthings,developyourinterests,andbeentertained.Onaprofessional level,youcanusesocialmediatobroadenyourknowledgeinaparticularfieldand buildyourprofessionalnetworkbyconnectingwithotherprofessionalsinyourindustry. Atthecompanylevel,socialmediaallowsyoutohaveaconversationwithyouraudience, gaincustomerfeedback,andelevateyourbrand. ShouldIcreatesocialmediaaccountsformydepartment?Onlyuniversityemployeeswhoareauthorizedbytheirdepartmentsmayusesocialnetworking toconductuniversitybusiness.Makesurethatyourdepartmentdoesnotalreadyhave asocialmediaaccountonthesitesyouplantouse.Ifanaccounthasalreadybeen created,donotcreateanotherone.Instead,contactthecurrentaccountmanagerif youwishtoaddcontent. Whatsocialmediasitesshouldmydepartmentbeon?Withsomanynewsocialmediasiteslaunchingeachyear,decidingwhichoneisright foryourdepartmentcanbeoverwhelming.Itisimportanttobeawareofemergingsocial mediasites,andunderstandhowtheycouldfitintoyourcommunicationsstrategy. However,notallsocialmediasiteswillbeconducivetoyourdepartment'sbrandor marketinggoals. Beforeyoulaunchanofficialaccountonanewsocialmediasiteforyourdepartment, tryitonapersonallevel.Createanaccountforyourself,andthenuseit.Study howotherindividualsandcompaniesusethesite.Whattypeofcontentispostedon thesite?Whichpostsarethemostpopularonthesite?Howoftenareusersandcompanies posting? Then,thinkabouthowyourdepartmentwouldfitin.Justbecauseyoucanbeonasocial mediasite,doesn'tnecessarilymeanyoushouldbe.Spreadingyourselfacrosstoo manysocialmediasitescoulddiluteyoursocialstrategy,preventingyoufromusing anyofthemeffectively.Instead,focusonthesocialmediasitesthatallowyouto shareyourcontentwiththeappropriateaudience. WhatsocialmediasitesdoestheUniversityofSouthFloridause?Whiletherearemanytypesofsocialmediasitesavailableforuse,theUniversity ofSouthFloridahasestablishedanofficialuniversitypresenceonsevensites:Facebook, Instagram,LinkedIn,Snapchat,TikTok,Twitter,andYouTube.Theseuniversitysocial mediaaccountsareallmaintainedbytheOfficeofUniversityCommunicationsandMarketing. Reviewasummaryofeachnetwork. Ihavedecidedtocreateanofficialsocialmediaaccountformydepartment.Nowwhat?PleasecontactthesocialmediateaminUniversityCommunicationsandMarketingforguidelines. IamaUSFemployeeandwanttocreateapersonalsocialmediaaccount.Arethere anyguidelines?UniversityCommunicationsandMarketinghasdevelopedasetofguidelinesforemployees andfacultywhowishtocreateindividualsocialmediaaccountsforpersonalorprofessional use.PleasecontactthesocialmediateaminUniversityCommunicationsandMarketingforbestpractices.