Social media tools can be used strategically to network, research, organize information, collaborate and stay up to date professionally. While personal and work life may blur online, social platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook can strengthen professional identities and connections if profiles are maintained appropriately. Tools like Delicious, Evernote and RSS readers help filter information overload and organize content by tagging and lists for easy accessing.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE JOB
Tools and strategies to network,
research or otherwise do your job or
develop yourself as a professional
Nigel Allan
January 9, 2013

2. WHY THIS TOPIC?
Using social media tools in a more focused way to:
• Organize (filter and sort) information
• Sharing and collaborating
• Researching
• Staying in touch with colleagues

3. CAVEATS
• This is how I use these tools. You will likely use them
differently. (Check out the How I Work series on
LifeHacker.com)
• Be aware of your workplace guidelines around social media
and computer use.

4. PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL
For better or worse the distinction between the personal and professional is blurring.
Source: Social Media and workplace collaboration (Oct 2012), Silk Road,
http://blog.silkroad.com/index.php/2012/10/social-media-policy-workplace-collaboration-infographic/

5. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Challenge Opportunity
• Information overload • Networking
• Work/life balance • Professional Identity
• Privacy & Security • Learning
• Growth of technology • Content discovery
• Self discipline & • Research
productivity • Connect w/ colleagues
• Stay up to date

6. Online Identity
• Do you have a professional profile online? Should you?
• 37% of employers now check social media when hiring (65%
of the respondents said they look to Facebook, 63% cited
LinkedIn, while Twitter was on the radar of only 16% of hiring
managers).*
• Younger generation (“digital natives”) more active on social
media. They share more and they may also be more likely to
look to social media when they want to know about someone.
*Source: Survey: 37% of your prospective employers are looking you up on Facebook CareerBuilder.com via The Next Web
(April 2012),
http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/04/18/survey-37-of-your-prospective-employers-are-looking-you-up-on-
facebook/

7. PERSONAL ORGANIZATION
• Everyone is dealing with information overload.
• Does social media just add to this?
• It can provide a filter if you use the tools.
• Using systems such as tagging (e.g., Delicious.com) or creating
lists (e.g., Facebook or Twitter) to create systems that you find
useful.

8. COMMUNITY & NETWORKING
• Like any conversation, you get out of it what you put in.
• Identify and communicate with others in your area(s) of
interest.
• Online community of practice, maybe outside of your
workplace or your geographic area.

9. WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA SITES?
Source: Social Media and workplace collaboration (Oct 2012), Silk Road,
http://blog.silkroad.com/index.php/2012/10/social-media-policy-workplace-collaboration-infographic/

10. STAY UP TO DATE
Websites for professionals organizations, journals etc. usually
have a link to their social media profiles.
• Now you don’t need to regularly visit their website to stay up to date. They
will share with you.
• View their recent posts first to decide whether they are worth following.

11. TWITTER
• Follow the Twitter accounts of people and organizations that
fall in your areas of interest to discover content and stay up to
date.
• Follow the conversation around an event, conference or
workshop that you are attending or are interested in.
• Create lists on Twitter to organize profiles by areas of interest.
• Use third party tools like Hootsuite.com to organize tweets by
who you are following, favourite searches, lists etc.
More info:
• How to use lists on Twitter: http://bit.ly/U5aRoZ
• Hootsuite: http://hootsuite.com/features/social-networks
• Following conference hashtags: http://bit.ly/TLwKeb

12. FACEBOOK
• Professionally useful for following Facebook pages that
provide information related to your job or to professional
development.
• Create lists to organize Pages around areas of interest.
More info:
• Guide to Facebook Lists: http://on.mash.to/TLxorX

13. LINKEDIN
• A social networking website for people in professional
occupations
• Useful for:
– Following areas of interest
– Connecting with colleagues
– Researching companies
– Finding work

14. LINKEDIN GROUPS
• Groups associated with professional organization, industries,
companies, causes etc. provide a source of information and
networking for your field.
• Discover groups via other similar groups or by your network.

15. SOCIAL BOOKMARKING
Tools to help you easily save, organize and share information. Some examples
(All do similar thing but have different strengths):
– Delicious: General bookmarking
– Pocket: Articles I want to read later
– Evernote: Mostly for research
All of these services provide:
• Plugins that you can use in your web browser to save the webpage
• Apps to view on your mobile device
• Tagging as a way to organize pages
More info:
• Social Bookmarking in Plain English: http://bit.ly/TLCDYG

16. DELICIOUS.COM
A social bookmarking tool that allows you to save pages and
organize them by tags. Access your bookmarks from anywhere.
1. Good article. I want to save for later. 2. Click on bookmarklet 4. Appears on your delicious account.
3. Add some tags
Search bookmarks later, view them
More info: by tag(s) and see what others are
• Find bookmarklet for your browser: posting using the same or similar
https://delicious.com/tools tags.

17. POCKET
A useful tool for saving articles that you want to read later when
you have a little more time. Easily syncs with your mobile device.
3. Appears on your
1. Good article. I want to save for later.
Pocket profile on
mobile or browser
2. Click on plugin
More info:
• How to add things to Pocket: http://getpocket.com/add/
• Promo video for Pocket: http://vimeo.com/40168555

18. EVERNOTE
“Evernote is a suite of software and services designed for
notetaking and archiving.” – Wikipedia
Great for researching as you can organize everything for a
project using tags.
More info:
• Intro to Evernote: http://evernote.com/video/

19. RSS
• RSS = Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary
• Look for on blogs, news sites etc.
• Helps you receive information from many different sources
without the need to remember and visit many different sites.
• Add to Outlook or other RSS reader (e.g., Google Reader,
Netvibes)
More info:
• RSS in Plain English: http://www.commoncraft.com/video/rss

20. SO HOW IS IT USEFUL?
• Finding, collecting, organizing, filtering info
• Staying up to date
• Staying connected w/ colleagues
• Stay cool
Some interesting reports:
• Social Media Policy & Workplace Collaboration: http://bit.ly/TLBh03
• Social Media: A Guide for Researchers: http://bit.ly/TLDjNK