Social Media 101 – A starter session: Particularly for Writers who are NOT too sure about Social Media This first session is for those people who are new to Social Media. We will look at the different types of Social Media, and what they do.We will also look at the pleasures and pitfalls of the different types. What is best for you? You don’t HAVE to use any one over another, but Twitter and Facebook are the market leaders for a reason. This is part 1 of 3. All packed with – I hope – useful info. I would, however, recommend going on a Course if you can. My friend Anita Chapman (@neetswriter) runs excellent courses in various locations. Highly worthwhile.
There are SIX main social media platforms.
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Instagram
- Pinterest
- Goodreads
- Youtube
There are other platforms which you CAN use to gather followers and exchange information. I’m not going to cover them in this session.These are:
- LinkedIn,
- Reddit,
- Google+ (now defunct),
- Tumblr and
- MeWe
Facebook is the giant of the bunch, with over 2 BILLION users worldwide.
Twitter is for sharing shorter messages (up to 280 characters). It is very “transient.”
Instagram is a picture-sharing app designed for use with your mobile phone and its camera. It is ridiculously popular for the younger market and their predilection for “selfies”
Pinterest is a “picture collecting” site. I find it useful for research, and it can give you a nice shop-window for your books – WITHOUT you having to update it all the time.
Goodreads is a site you should ALL be on, as authors. It’s a shop window for your books, and, like Pinterest, doesn’t require you to update it all the time.
Youtube is a video sharing site. If you are happy in front of the cameras, this may be for you. It CAN be very effective.
Before you start, pick a “Headshot” for your profile pic. Pick a good one that is unmistakably you. Use this pic for ALL your profiles at this stage.
We want consistency. This is your business! This is your “Brand”
Similarly, write a short bio you can use on all your Social Media sites. You can cut-and-paste it from one to another.
Also, equally important, what name do you want to use?
The choices are
- Your name.
- A Nom-de-plume
- Both.
You may use your “real” name on your personal Facebook page, and restricting your “Friends” to people who are friends or family in the real world.
You can then use a Nom-de-plume for another Personal Page. Set up a simple Gmail account under your nom-de-plume.
You can then use your “Nom-de-plume Page” to set up an Author Page.
For women writers, or teachers and others, there can be a need to keep a degree of separation between your writing life and your home life. This is NOT as complicated as it may sound.
Goodreads.
I thought we would deal with Goodreads first. EVERY author needs a Goodreads page. It is FREE and doesn’t take too much to set up.
Goodreads is a site where you can collect reviews, and also where you can leave reviews of other authors books. The site is owned by Amazon, but there is no direct link between reviews on Amazon and reviews on Goodreads.
Go to https://www.goodreads.com/. Follow the simple instructions. Check out books you have read, or are reading. Add reviews where you can – even if its only a number of stars.
To get your own Author page, go to https://www.goodreads.com/author/program
To apply for the Author Program, you can follow these steps when visiting the desktop version of Goodreads:
- 1. Sign in or create an account, and then search for your most popular book via ISBN, ASIN, or title.
- 2. On the book, click on your author name. Scroll to the bottom of your author profile page.
- 3. Click “Is this you? Let us know!” to complete and submit the application.
They will send you an email when you’re approved within 2 business days. Your login and password will stay the same.
Follow the (fairly) simple instructions.
Once you have added your personal details, pic and bio, add details of any other books.
Basically, that is it. You can follow other authors at your leisure.
If you have a blog, then you can connect it to Goodreads, so that when you update your blog, it will also show, on your Goodreads page.
If you are having a Launch party or event, you can invite your Goodreads friends to attend or join in.When you read a book, please, please review it! Review it on Amazon and then copy that review to Goodreads. Then, hopefully, your friends and readers will review YOUR books. What goes around, comes around!
Facebook.
Facebook is the giant of Social Media, with nearly 3 BILLION pages out there. This is YOUR market!
Everyone starts with a “Personal Page” (Their Profile). I imagine everyone here has a personal Facebook page.
This is – as it says – a Personal page. This is where you post pics of your cats, your grandchildren, your holidays and your friends, or in my case, hedgehogs.
Do NOT post your home address or your home phone number on Facebook! You CAN post the town or area. i.e. York, North London, Cornwall, etc.
You SHOULD enter a mobile number. This is NOT shown on your page. It is there so Facebook can send you a Code to reset your password, should you need to.
1. Click on Edit Profile
2. Click on About, and add as much detail as you are comfortable with.
3. Under contacts, you will see: Mobile phones 07123 456789 · Texts Activated · Remove and a small icon.
4. Click on the icon and select “Only Me” illustrated by a padlock.
5. Put your birthday in. Ladies may not want to put their year of birth in. That’s fine.
Also, add details of ALL your social media and authors links.
This is mine:WEBSITES AND SOCIAL LINKS
Websites
Social links
Also, if the site allows, your Profile Page. The Romantic Novelists Association, the Crime Writers Association, and Promoting Yorkshire Authors ALL have Profile Pages. https://romanticnovelistsassociation.org/rna_author/john-jackson/
Remember – this is FREE ADVERTISING for you. Make it as easy as possible for potential readers to find you.
You should now have a working Personal Page. You will start to acquire Friends immediately. You can acquire your own Friends as well. Don’t go off and send 200 Friend requests at once though. Do it steadily.
You NEED an Author Personal Page. You can’t join or be added to some Groups just as an Author Page. Again, remember – you need to connect with people. This is business!
A good place to find Friends is to look at those who belong to your “Peer Groups,” i.e. the Facebook Group “Promoting Yorkshire Authors.” or also, in my case, The Romantic Novelists Association
Click on “Members” and look down the list and send Friend Requests to as many as you feel happy with – especially if you know them in real life.
At the start, if you get Friend requests, feel free to decline any you are not happy with. If you get any spam requests, i.e. from US Generals, or sundry Sheiks, just click on “Mark as Spam”.
In the next session, I will cover having your own Author Page, Facebook Groups, and setting up your OWN Authors Facebook Group.
Twitter
Twitter is probably the most popular social media among writers. Twitter posts are for immediate short-term announcements. You are limited to 280 characters, which forces you to concentrate on the substance of your message.Also, because Twitter handles a lot of traffic, you will find your messages scroll up the screen rather quickly. How to get a Twitter account.
- 1. Choose a profile name. This is the name you’ll be known as on Twitter (also known as your @name or twitter handle). Be consistent; have it recognisable as your writing name.
- 2. Add a photo of you, not your logo. The same photo as your Facebook account. Again, its consistency, and becoming your “brand.”
- 3. Complete your bio. Be guided by your Facebook bio.
- 4. Add your website address.
- 5. Follow some people. Celebrities, news media, friends, etc.
- 6. Get tweeting! Cat pictures are allowed.
- 7. Check your mentions regularly.
I recommend you use Tweetdeck. This is a good way of displaying your Twitter feed on your laptop. Tweetdeck is owned by Twitter! It’s at https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/
As you can see, it organises traffic into columns. Types of Tweetdeck columns and what they display
- 1. Home: Home timeline for any specific account.
- 2. User: Tweets from a specific account.
- 3. Notifications: Notifications for a specific account, including when the account’s Tweets are Retweeted, liked, or mentioned, and when someone follows the account.
- 4. Search: A specific search term.
- 5. Lists: Create or connect a list you already follow.
- 6. Collection: A timeline of curated Tweets, hand-selected by you, to share with others.
- 7. Activity: What’s happening with the accounts you follow.
- 8. Likes: Tweets marked as likes from a specific account.
- 9. Messages (one account): Direct Messages for a specific account.
- 10. Mentions (one account): When someone mentions a specific account.
- 11. Followers: Follow activity for a specific account.
- 12. Scheduled: Your scheduled Tweets.
- 13. Messages (all accounts): Direct Messages from all your authorized accounts in aggregate.
- 14. Mentions (all accounts): Mentions from all accounts.
- 15. Trending: Specific worldwide trends.
Just click on the “+” sign in the left-hand column to set up a new column. You will start to build up a collection of Followers quite quickly.
If you post your new Twitter handle on the RNA group page, or any other group you belong to, on FACEBOOK, then your friends and co-authors will follow you.
Instagram
Instagram is VERY popular. It is a photo-sharing site and is particularly oriented towards Smartphone cameras. When you see people taking “selfies” of themselves, you can be pretty sure they will be posting it to Instagram.
Again, for YOU, as an author, it is Free Advertising.
Why is it so popular? Instagram is Social: People are social creatures. We like to tell others what we are doing, eating, buying, and seeing.
Instagram is Free: Though it is downloadable from the iTunes store, all the photo-editing bells and whistles of Instagram are completely free to users. Another big benefit to users is the lack of advertisements cluttering up the screen, a common complaint of Facebook users
Instagram is Easy and Fun: Instagram doesn’t need a complicated help page to get it up and running. Snap a picture, edit, caption, comment, like and share are simple tasks to accomplish, so the learning curve is easily manageable.
Through the use of filters, borders and other special effects, people with little artistic ability can drastically change the look of any picture they snap. That is just plain fun.
Instagram is Instant: Clumsy user interface and long loading times were criticisms of other photo-sharing applications, and even of Instagram’s early versions. The current version loads quickly, and in this age of “instant gratification”, this feature alone gets points with users.
Instagram is Creative: While a status update on Facebook or Twitter of “Bought a pair of red shoes” can be boring to read, illustrating the purchase with a snappy photo including a border and a retro filter effect is visually appealing and allows the user to show some creativity.
Anyone and everyone can show their artistic sides with Instagram. Ordinary, everyday objects can be transformed into works of art in a few moments, then shared with the Instagram world and other social media friends to admire your previously unknown artistic ability.
To actually get on to Instagram:
1. Download the app. Instagram is different from other social networks in that it is primarily a mobile phone platform. Once your account is set up, you will have a page that can be viewed on a desktop, but the majority of your activity will take place within the mobile app. Click here to download the app.
2. Choose a recognisable username.You can sign up for Instagram with an email address or a personal Facebook account.
3. Once you sign up, you’ll be asked to choose a username.Your username will display publicly and will be what people see when they find you on Instagram. Make sure the username you choose is recognisable and is as close to your business or organisation’s name as possible.
4. When signing up, Instagram will also ask for your full name. Here, you can put your business name or pen name which will make it easier for people to find you through Instagram’s search function.
5. Update your profileInstagram lets you fill out a 150 character bio about your business. Use your standard Author bio. You can also add your business’s website, which users will be able to click to visit right from their mobile device.
6. Add your profile picture. Your profile photo can only be updated on a mobile device. If you don’t have your logo saved to your smartphone or tablet, Instagram has the option to import it from Facebook or Twitter. You can also take a new photo with Instagram.
7. Research. Otherwise known as poking around and looking at what other people have posted. It might not sound fun, but without having a good understanding of the type of pictures others are posting, you won’t know what content tends to do well. Happily, for you, Instagram research is less staring-at-piles-of-data-wearing-a-lab-coat kind of research and more look-at-pretty-pictures kind of research. Start by finding a writer in your genre who has a hefty Instagram following and high levels of engagement. What do they tend to send, and when do they tend to send it?
8. Even if you want to differentiate yourself from the competition, it’s essential that you know what others are doing.
9. Post your first photo
Okay, now that your profile is set up, it’s time to take your first photo.
Here’s a quick run-through of how Instagram works:
- 1. Take a picture.
- 2. Click on “Share”
- 3. Select Instagram
- 4. Decide whether to Crop it.
- 5. Decide if you want to use a “filter” (but its OK to skip this)
- 6. Click NEXT in the top right of the screen. Add a caption or description, if you want.
- 7. You can also tag people and name the location.
Setting up your location. When you click” Add Location” you will see a list of previously used locations in your general area. Give a “general location”, i.e. York, rather than a precise address.
After your photo is posted, you will see the location name in blue. When you click on your location name, you’ll be able to see every picture that has been tagged there.
Tell people you’re on Instagram. Tell your Facebook Friends and Twitter Followers. This goes for EVERY new account you set up.
TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES! If you have an email list, you can send out an announcement and ask readers to follow you.
Follow others. Instagram’s search function makes it easy to find people and brands to follow. You can search by username, or choose a hashtag that may be relevant to your business. Following more people and businesses is a great way to make new connections and can also provide inspiration for your Instagram account.
Get social. You’ve set up your account, learned the basics, and found the right people to follow; now you’re ready to start building a presence for you and your books on Instagram.
The key is engaging with the people who follow you. When someone likes or comments on your photo, you will receive a notification.
You can respond within the comments of a photo by including the “@” symbol, followed by their username.
You will also receive notifications when someone tags you in a photo.
You can view all of the photos you’ve been tagged in, on your Instagram profile.
Pinterest.
Pinterest is another picture-sharing site. You can Pin and keep almost any picture you see on-line – and your own pictures.
I find it VERY useful for research. When writing Heart of Stone, I used it extensively for pictures of costume from the 18th Century.
It’s also very useful for pics of the site where your book is set (or where you imagine it to be)
You can log into Pinterest with both Twitter or Facebook, or by setting up a User name and password of your own.
1. Choose Your Topics of Interest
Once you’ve signed in using Twitter or Facebook, you’ll be presented with a visual grid of 28 topics. You’ll be asked to choose your topics of interest so that Pinterest can make better suggestions of who you should follow.
Pick some topics, then click the blue “Follow People” button at the bottom of the page. You’ll see some images of people and Boards based on the selection of topics you just made.
2. Create Boards
Next, you’ll be given a default selection of pinboards (or “Boards”) to choose from, such as “Products I love,” “For the Home,” and many more.
You can also click the “Add” button at the bottom of the screen to add your own Board with a custom name of your choosing. These Boards represent topics that you can “pin” pictures to.
You can create as few or as many boards as you like. You can also edit the titles of Boards you’ve created or delete them altogether.
Allow other people to contribute to your boards by clicking the “Edit” button at the bottom of your Board.
Next, find the option “Who can pin?” and change the setting from “Just Me” to “Me + Contributors.” You have to follow at least one Board belonging to a Pinterest member in order to add him or her as a contributor to your boards.
3. Install the “Pin It” Button and Start Pinning
Once you’ve created some Boards, you’ll be directed to a page where you can install a bookmarklet, called “Pin It” in your browser.
The Pin It button gets installed on your browser’s bookmarks bar so that when you find images on a website that you’d like to pin to one your Boards, you simply click the button.
The Pinterest application will open, showing you a grid of thumbnails of all the images available on the website. When you scroll your mouse over any image, click the “Pin This” button to pin the image to your Board.
A pop-up window will open and you can choose the Board you’d like to pin the image to from a drop-down menu of the Boards you’ve created in Pinterest.
Select the appropriate Board, give the image a description (this is mandatory) and click the red “Pin It” button.
Another pop-up window will open, confirming your successful pin and providing you the options to “See your Pin,” “Tweet your Pin,” or “Share on Facebook.”
Pinterest takes care of attributing the sources of the images, and every pinned image contains an embedded, clickable link back to the original website from which it came.
4. Get Social
Once you’ve created some Boards and you’ve pinned a bunch of images to them, you can begin the process of finding, connecting, and sharing with other Pinterest members.
You’ll find a search bar in the top left-hand corner of the Pinterest home page. Type a keyword that you’re interested in finding and click the Enter key.
You can refine your searches by selecting “Pins,” “Boards,” or “People.” Once you’ve found some interesting matches you can follow individual Boards, or follow all Boards from any Pinterest member you’re interested in.
Following a Board places it on your Pinterest homepage so that you can visit the Board any time to see and interact with any updates made to it.
You can “Like” an individual image (or “Pin”) using Pinterest’s own Like button, or you can Like it with the Facebook Like button at the side of the Pin’s page.
You can tweet the Pin to your followers, email a link to your friends, and even “Repin” an image to one of your own Boards.
Anyone familiar with other social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Google+ should have no problem finding their way around, and making the most out of Pinterest, in no time at all.
Youtube.
Youtube is a video-sharing site. Some authors find it very useful and can use it with ease and comfort.
It has a VAST number of subscribers. One of the best Vloggers is RNA member Nikki Moore. Nikki produces some very good and very useful Youtube Vlogs for writers. If you’ve got the knack, you could do it too.
My local writing Group, Promoting Yorkshire Authors has its own Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VdN2-Dl1qM
It’s easy to do this on either the desktop or mobile versions of YouTube.
YouTube and Google accounts share logins, so if you have Gmail or another Google account, then you already have a YouTube account as well.
You can create a new YouTube account with any email address on the desktop YouTube website, or by creating a new Gmail account on the YouTube mobile app.
If you have already got a Google account:
1. Open YouTube. Go to https://www.youtube.com/ in your computer’s web browser. This will take you to the YouTube home page.
2. Click SIGN IN. If you aren’t signed into a Google Account in your web browser, this option is in the top-right corner of the YouTube home page.
3. If you’re already signed in to a Google account in your web browser, then you are also logged in to your YouTube account. There’s nothing more you need to do – you can get started using YouTube right away
If you DON’T have a Google account:
1. Click Create account. It’s a link near the bottom-left side of the sign-in page. Doing so opens an account creation form.
2. Fill out the Google Account form. Type your information into the following fields:· First name and Last name — Enter your first and last name, respectively.· Your email address — Type in a working email address to which you have access. This cannot be a Gmail account.· Password — Type in the password you want to use to log in.· Confirm password — Re-enter the password you just typed in.
3. Click NEXT. It’s at the bottom of the page.
4. Retrieve your email address verification code. To do so:· Open your email address inbox and sign in if necessary.· Click the “Verify your email address” email from Google.· Note the six-digit code in the middle of the email’s body.· Enter the verification code. Type the six-digit verification code from the email into the text box in the middle of the Google Account creation page.
5. Click VERIFY. It’s below the text box.
6. Enter your date of birth and your gender. Select your birthday’s month, day, and year, then click the “Gender” drop-down box and select a gender.
7. You can also enter your phone number here, but doing so is optional.
8. Click NEXT. This option is at the bottom of the page.
9. Scroll down and click I AGREE. You’ll find it at the bottom of the list of terms. Doing so will create your Google Account, log you into YouTube, and take you back to the YouTube page
On Mobile
1. Open YouTube. Tap the YouTube app icon, which resembles a white triangle on a red background.
2. Tap the “Profile” icon. It’s in the top-right corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
3. Tap SIGN IN. This option is in the drop-down menu. Doing so opens a new menu.
4. If you’re already signed into a YouTube account, you’ll tap Switch account here instead.
5. Tap Add account. It’s near the bottom of the menu.
6. On Android, tap ＋ in the top-right corner of the menu.
7. Tap the Create account link. This option is near the bottom of the screen.
8. Enter your first and last name. Type your first name into the “First name” text box, then type your last name into the “Last name” text box.
9. Tap NEXT. It’s a blue button at the bottom of the page.
10. Enter your date of birth and your gender. Select the month, day, and year of your birthday, then tap the “Gender” box and select your gender.
11. Tap NEXT.
12. Create a Gmail username. You can’t use an existing, non-Gmail address to create a Google Account through the YouTube app, so you’ll need to create a new Gmail address by typing whatever you want to use for your Gmail address’ username into the “Username” text box.· For example, typing in “iamabanana” here will set your Gmail address to “iamabanana@gmail.com”.· When creating a YouTube account on your mobile, you’ll have to create a Gmail account rather than using a separate email address. If you want to use a non-Gmail address, use the YouTube website to create your YouTube account.
13. Tap NEXT.
14. Enter a password twice. Type your preferred password into the “Create password” text box, then repeat the password in the “Confirm password” text box.
15. Tap NEXT.
16. Scroll down and tap SKIP. It’s at the bottom of the page.
17. Scroll down and tap I AGREE. This option is at the bottom of the list of YouTube terms.
You can post any videos you take on your smartphone or with any other camera. Some people find this very easy, and review books on video.
If you want to see other people’s videos, just search in the box for Book Reviews, to give you an idea of what is out these.
What is the quickest way to increase Friends and Followers for ALL Social Media? There are lots of FREE ways to do this.
1. Do Follow/Unfollow
2. Find people who like similar things. Follow them or send them a Friend request.
3. Comment, Like and Share / Retweet / Repost.· Find interesting or amusing content on your platforms. Comment on it, then like them and share, retweet or repost.
4. Build friendships
5. This is Social Media so BE social! Make friends and follow people.· There is a real buzz when you get a tap on the shoulder, and turn to meet someone new, who says “Hi, John. We’re friends on Facebook*” (*insert Social Media platform of choice.)
6. Hashtag research· Use #hashtags! Use #hashtags on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. # A good hashtag can bring in thousands of new people a post, and ALWAYS include #yourbooktitle. i.e. for me, I always include #heartofstone.
7. Post it everywhere
8. Self explanatory. Post on one platform, and share it to others.
Don’t let your life be dominated by Social Media. It is a tool for us to use, not an end product on its own, and DON’T try to read EVERY message or Tweet that crosses your feed. You will soon get used to picking out the info that is interesting for you.
The key to ALL Social Media is “Engagement”
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