De Montfort University's Thom Corah provides an accessible overview of what social media is and how it can used. This is from our EPSRC Gooddeeds project

1. Social Media

2. Today
 What is social media?
 The power of social media
 How can we use it?

3. What is social media?
 Social media are media for social
interaction, using highly accessible and
scalable publishing techniques.
(wikipedia)

4. Examples?
 Internet forums
 social blogs
 microblogging
 wikis
 social networks
 podcasts

5. Examples
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Instagram
 Soundcloud
 Blogger
 Wordpress
 flickr
 …..

6. Twitter
 Microblogging service – 140 character
limit
 #CCLeic – hashtag, like a keyword or
subject
 @PhoenixLeic – reference to a username

7. “Ideas spread more rapidly in densely
connected social networks. So tools that
increase the density of social connection
are instrumental to the changes that
spread”
- Stowe Boyd (following the “Twitter
Revolution” in Tunisia, Feb 2011)

8. Vive La Révolution!
Phillipines, 2001
“Full mblsn tday EDSA”

9. Tunisia – 2010-11
 Fueled by Twitter and Wikileaks (?)

10. Tunisia – most popular Tweets
Voice of Tunisia @Voiceoftunisia
Tunisians too early for congratulations, we did not succeed yet.
power is still in the corrupt RCD party. #sidibouzid #tunisia
#jasminrevolt
6:53 PM - 14 Jan 2011
Mona Eltahawy @monaeltahawy
Every #Arab leader is watching #Tunisia in fear. Every Arab citizen
is watching Tunisia in hope and solidarity. #Sidibouzid.
6:39 PM - 13 Jan 2011
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking
Tunisia's President Ben Ali steps down amid ongoing protests and
leaves the country
5:52 PM - 14 Jan 2011

11. Tunisia
 #tunisia peaked at 28 tweets per second
 Total tweets mentioning Tunisia – 196k
 Appeared in Twitter streams 329m times
 Reaching 26m Twitter users

12. But also
 Finding missing people
 Enhancing education
 Marketing brands
 Understanding health following childbirth?

15. Twitter
 We’re going to start off using Twitter.

16. How can we use it?
 Website
 Mobile App
 Tablet App
 All broadly similar

21. Now it’s your turn!!
 Thanks
 Any questions?