Perfect post recipes to be played with.

Like most recipes, this infographic on how and when to compose / post social media provides a great set of instructions that can be altered, juiced up, toned down, as needed.

Getting started by getting dark.

As I prep Electronic Communication for the 2018 spring semester, and consider all the online platforms I am asking students to use, all the time I am asking them to spend on screens rather than with people, I can’t help but wonder: just because I call the class “social media for social good,” is social media really good for my students?

Orge Castellano paints a dark but well-considered picture: “Social Media Giants are Hacking Your Brain–this is how.” Can we resist? Can we implement the tools in a way to build a house we want to live in? Let’s think about the course that way and see what happens.

4 interesting things about “Best Time to Post” #ec457

I asked you to read the LinkedIn chapter in SMSG this week, but we haven’t talked about and I haven’t received any requests to be Linked (hint hing). But I got a notification from the Social Media for NonProfits group that I belong to on LinkedIn, and that led me to reflect on 4 things about this post, “What are the Best Times to Post on Social Media?”

#1. Having this post pushed to me by my LinkedIn group reminds me / you / us that LinkedIn can be more than a place to post your resume. This group hasn’t been very active over the last year, but I usually get quality content when someone posts.

#2. The topic is interesting and important, especially for organizations working towards a big return on #givinghearts16. If a group is primarily using Facebook for promotions, last Thursday and Friday should have been very active days for them, as they are typically the best days to post. Having GHD on a Thursday might help scoop in a few users who haven’t been paying attention, but I’m guessing last Thursday and Friday would be the big promo days.

#3. The article (blog) was written in January of 2015, so it is over a year old but it was found and circulated on a group with about 80,000 members.  That’s a good reason to blog–your content can be found any time.  Unless you are running for President, you old Tweets won’t be circulated a year later.

#4. The article is written entirely as an information graphic. If you are interested in a career in social media, consider learning to master the infographic as a powerful way to communicate in our visual, digital communication environment.

Further reading: one year later, the same blogger (Neil Patel) posted an article with 8 suggestions for using Facebook, and one of the key takeaways is that his 2015 infographic might be giving people bad advice.  Sunday posts lead to the best engagement, “How to Win on Facebook” says, in part because so many people are posting on Thursday and Friday that many posts get ignored or overwhelmed.  How many #givinghearts16 posts did you see Sunday morning?

 

10 Skills for Social Media Managers

Heather Mansfield is one of my g0-to social media gurus, and her 2014 list of skills for social media managers is still relevant for students in this class, spring 2016. My favorite: community building!

Rockstar Social Media Manager

The Work At Home Wife has some great advice on how to be a free lance social media manager. By the time you are done this course, you too can be a rockstar, a social media manager, a work at home domestic partner, or all three.