tweeting: not just for the birds
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Tweeting: Not Just For The Birds. Social Media and Public Lands Recreation Travis Mason-Bushman, Alaska Region USDA Forest Service RLM/SCA. What is Social Media?. An emerging set of mass communications platforms distinguished by the following features: User-created content - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Social Media and Public Lands Recreation
Travis Mason-Bushman, Alaska Region USDA Forest Service RLM/SCA
Tweeting:Not Just For The Birds
An emerging set of mass communications platforms distinguished by the following features:
User-created contentInherently interactiveSymmetrical relationshipsSimple, easy to useFrequent content updatesShort, concise messagesMobile-optimized
What is Social Media?
Social media matters: the numbers
FlickrCNN
MySpaceWordPressCraigslistBlogspot
WikipediaTwitter
YouTubeFacebook
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Unique visitors (millions)
Source: Google Analytics/Quantcast, Dec. 2010 (U.S.)
22 percent of all online time is spent on social media (Nielsen)
Facebook accounts for 25 percent of all U.S. Internet pageviews (comScore)
In today’s world, being engaged with social media is as critical as having a Web site or a phone number
Social Media Is Not Optional
Help, I’m drowning in a sea of logos!
Nobody uses every possible social media outlet
Pick the best platforms for specific needsReaching the most people with the least effortMedia-centric sites (video, photos, etc.)Connect with diverse populations
Bottom line for us: follow the crowdWe’ll focus on three dominant platforms:
FacebookYouTubeTwitter
So how do you choose?
Getting The (Green) Pants Beat Off UsOr, how the National Park Service is drinking our milkshake when it comes to social media
NPS has embraced multi-platform social media
Even small sites have major presences
Units authorized to use the following, and moreFacebookYouTubeVimeo
Resources, staff have been committed to development
The NPS is leading the way
“We want to connect with you, and keep you
connected with us.”
Promoting science and research
Announcing related local events
Answering visitor questions
Delivering safety and resource protection messages to the public
@YosemiteNPS on Twitter – with 6,000+ followers
Yosemite on Facebook
Glacier National Park on YouTube – thousands are watching
If the Forest Service doesn’t want to be left behind, social media policies and priorities need to start changing
Units need decentralized authority to create Facebook pages, develop and post YouTube videos, etc.
Staff should be empowered to connect on these platforms, share what they’re doing, reach out to build relationships with visitors and stakeholders
The bottom line
Going social:Really not that scary. Honest.
“If you really can’t trust your employees with social media, you have
a hiring problem.”–Amber Naslund, VP Social Strategy,
Radian6
The most revolutionary part of social media is how really easy it is to use
Creating a Twitter account takes about 30 seconds
Updates should be regular, but need not be hyperactively-frequent.
Quality: Good enough, really isPeople watching YouTube videos don’t expect
technical brilliance or world-class special effects
The substance of content trumps its presentation
Social media: it ain’t rocket surgery
Social media is just that – socialThis means staff using social media must be
encouraged to engage in community conversationInvite discussion and feedback on issuesRespond to questions and comments from followersBuild a diverse, interested, active constituency
Trying to do social media without the “social” aspect is worse than useless – it breeds distrust/mockery along with slow or negative network growth
One-way is the wrong way
Building an audience requires making people aware that you existCreate a network by
“following” related sites, agencies, organizations, local media outlets, partners, etc.
Establish links on unit Web sites
KEEP CONTENT FRESH
OK, but is anyone listening?
Include sharing options on Web pages to encourage social media users to spread your links around
Retweet relevant tweets from other sources
Participate in #FollowFridayInclude relevant @-links in tweets
Be patient! Like anything else, it takes time to build a following
Getting people to listen, continued
We can learn about our sites by seeing who’s talking about them
Social search also helps find related people and organizations for network-building
The Power of Search
It’s not breaking news that Mendenhall Glacier is awesome - but here we have direct visitor feedback
Everyone in @faythlevine’s network just heard about, and was linked to, a picture of the glacier
What people are saying, matters
A Grand Experiment
The use of social media platforms for natural resources interpretation and communication is an emerging field with few boundaries yet surveyed
Little to no detailed research has been done to determine best practices and quantify effectiveness, etc. (I hope to rectify that!)
So… don’t be afraid to try something new, because all of this is new, even for those of us who have been tweeting and Facebooking since the beginning
The possibilities are endless
Woodsy and Twitter: sharing an ecosystemQuestions? Comments? Brickbats?Thanks to Jeff Miller and the Student Conservation Association for making it possible for me to be here.