Strategic Social Networking
for the
Online Instructor
Melissa A. Venable, PhD
Technology, Colleges, and
Community Worldwide Online
Conference
#2013TCC

A Tale of Too Many Facebook
Accounts …
What happens when you need to use Facebook for …
work?
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
 Use your existing personal account?
 Clean up and change use of your existing account?
 Create a new, separate account?

I opened a new account …
Picture selection
About: Employer,
Work History,
Education,
Current City,
Hometown
“Likes”
… and had to develop a new strategy for use.

And then … I converted from Profile
to Page
Profile
 Friends
 Likes: pages the account holder “likes”
 Individuals
Page
 Fans
 Likes: people that “like” the page
 Companies, schools, etc. … and
increasingly individuals

Getting Started: Goal Setting
 Why do you want to join a social network online?
 Allow your purpose to direct your activity in terms
of:
Audience – Message – Content – Voice

Getting Started: Audience
Where you are going to be? Where do you need
to be?
 Students
 Colleagues
 Publishers
 Communities and Groups
 Others?

Getting Started: Message
What do you want to say? What do you have to
contribute?
 Teaching
 Research
 Expertise
 Advocacy

Getting Started: Content
How will you relay your message?
 Specific topics
 Format
 Multimedia
 Platform options

Getting Started: Voice
Who is your audience? How do you want to be
perceived?
 Tone and Style
 Point of View
 Personality Attributes

Managing Multiple Accounts
Hootsuite and IFTTT are just
two applications that
allow you to monitor and
update multiple social
media accounts with a
single sign-in.

Connecting with
Colleagues, Students, and the Public-
at-large
 It’s okay to say “No.” But you can connect with me ….
 Don’t focus on the numbers. – interaction
 Create positive energy. Think “how can I help you?”
 Watch what others are doing. Develop your own
“style.”
 Be yourself. It’s so much easier than being someone
else. ;)

Connecting with
Colleagues, Students, and the Public-
at-large
 Choose one (or two) accounts. Start small and add as
needed.
 Check and re-check the privacy settings. They change
with updates, versions, etc.
 Schedule time to participate. Be available, but not
consumed.
 Set ground rules. Accepting requests, making
connections.
 Revisit, Revise, Reconnect. It’s your account.

What is your advice?
 Concerns
 Experiences
 Recommendations
Share your lessons learned with others!

Resources
The Academic Online: Constructing Persona Through the
WorldWideWeb – Barbour and Marshall
Encouraging a Conference Backchannel on Twitter -
ProfHacker
Finding Your Blog’s Unique Voice – ProBlogger.com
How to Write a Professional Bio – Prof KRG
Getting Started: Social Media for Academics – Mark Carrigan
The Google Yourself Challenge – Background Check via
DR4WARD
LSE Guide to Using Twitter in Research, Teaching, Impact
Activities &LSE Impact Blog – London School of Economics
and Political Science

Questions?
Contact me:
Melissa A. Venable. PhD
 melissa@onlinecollege.org
 @Melissa_Venable
 Inside Online Learning Blog | http://bit.ly/V89jL6
 https://www.facebook.com/melissa.a.venable.phd

Image credits
 Title: aslanmedia, CC: BY-NC-ND
 Slide 4: owenwbrown, CC: BY