Building Professional Connections Online

Strengthen Your Online Presence Through Effective Communication

Genevieve Howard

Sharon Wood-Turley

Building Professional Connections Online Genevieve Howard & Sharon Wood-Turley

Where you are now

• What are you currently doing?

• Google yourself. Check regularly and set up Google alerts.

Building Professional Connections Online Genevieve Howard & Sharon Wood-Turley

Where you want to be

Why build a strong online presence?

• Connect with other academics in your field.

• Help you on the job market.

• Find speaking engagements.

• Promote your group or business.

Building Professional Connections Online Genevieve Howard & Sharon Wood-Turley

Social Media: the big ones

• Linkedin: page on CAFNR to help you set it up.

• Facebook: keep it clean, check your privacy settings.

• Twitter: try it to see if appropriate.

• Blogging: be ready for time commitment and topics. WordPress is customizable.

• Academia.edu (research).

Building Professional Connections Online Genevieve Howard & Sharon Wood-Turley

• @ sign + user name = responding to someone. These are publically visible. @cafnr

• RT = retweet. This means you are resending someone else’s message. RT @cafnr

• # = hash tag. These add context to your tweets. #ag

• D = direct message. You can send direct messages to people who are following you. These are not publically visible. D cafnr

• Backchannel = Tweets during a live presentation

How to talk Twitter

Building Professional Connections Online Genevieve Howard & Sharon Wood-Turley

Is Twitter right for you personally?

• Yes, if you like this kind of online participation. Do you want to follow trends and learn from others in your specialized area?

• Find people by looking at who your colleagues follow.

• Who Should I Follow?

• Wefollow

• Listorious

• Most people use an application to manage Twitter, such as TweetDeck or Hootsuite.

Building Professional Connections Online Genevieve Howard & Sharon Wood-Turley

Ideas for using Twitter academically

• Post reminders on assignments.

• Send links to relevant readings.

• Promote upcoming events.

• Ask for opinions, “What should we name our next flavor of ice cream?”

• Use in the classroom to share questions and thoughts, an official backchannel.

– Helps to have a person monitoring Twitter stream

– Use a # hashtag

Building Professional Connections Online Genevieve Howard & Sharon Wood-Turley

Web

• Each MU student has 200 mg of server space.

• You can use it to post papers and articles.

• There are also many hosting options. Check for pricing and features.

• Set up your Google profile page. This will help your name in search results.

• Slideshare for presentations.

Building Professional Connections Online Genevieve Howard & Sharon Wood-Turley

E-mail management

• Electronic signature: add links to where you want people to go.

• Maintain consistent tone across media.

• Remember grammar and punctuation.

• Think of your e-mail as public. You never know where it will be forwarded.

• Less is more. Limit the quantity that you send. People will appreciate it and give more respect to yours when you do send it.

Building Professional Connections Online Genevieve Howard & Sharon Wood-Turley

Other considerations

• How to handle negativity

• Measurement

• Transparency: Personal vs. private vs. professional

Thank you! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Genevieve Howard, howardg@missouri.edu

Sharon Wood-Turley, swt@missouri.edu