Social media can be an effective way to disseminate information, build networks, and engage stakeholders if used strategically. The document reviews options like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and provides tips on using each platform. It finds Twitter and Facebook have been the most effective for the CCRI so far. Proper use of hashtags, tagging relevant users, and sharing content can help maximize reach on Twitter. Images allow more tagging without using characters. The CCRI currently gets about 60-70k impressions per month on Twitter.

1. Social Media
A brief guide for CCRI
Nick Lewis & Katie Hickford

2. Why bother?
• It is (increasingly) expected – H2020 projects expect
dissemination and engagement with stakeholders
• It is effective (when done well)
• It can be efficient, but also time consuming
• Build networks & find partners
• Get feedback on work
• Can reach a truly global audience
• Spread the word of CCRI

3. Social Media Options
• Twitter - Text of up to 280 characters. This excludes media attachments
(photos, images, videos, etc.) and quoted tweets (displaying someone else's
tweet within your own) but includes links (a URL is always altered to 23
characters)
• Facebook - Text (no character limit), photos, GIFs, videos, links, etc.
• LinkedIn - Text (no character limit), photos, GIFs, videos, links, etc.
• Instagram – pictures only
• YouTube & Vimeo – audio-visual content
• Flickr – pictures only
• SlideShare – Presentations and documents
• Other options – Pintrest, Reddit, Tumblr, Qzone……

4. What do we use?
• Twitter – 2200 following, 2800 followers
• Facebook – 374 followers
• Instagram – 71 followers
• Flickr – 5 followers
• SlideShare – 25 followers
• YouTube – 17 subscribers
• “EU-funded projects mostly use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,
Google+, Instagram and Pinterest (with most preferring
Twitter)”.
(EU Social media guide for EU funded R&I projects 2018)
• Clearly some are more likely to be more effective than others…We
have used Twitter and Facebook for similar period of time.

5. Facebook

6. Facebook - Terminology
• Page – The outward facing profile of a project/organisation, it can be
managed by several users, with varying levels of control (admin/editor etc.)
• Friend – two users who know each other and are friends (virtual or actual)
• ‘Likes’ – A user or a page can ‘like’ another page (similar to being a friend).
• A user or page can also ‘like’ or react to a post
• Following – When a user or a page sees all of the content you publish
• Post – When something is published on your page.
• Share – When someone shares your content (or you share theirs)
• I have used the term ‘user’ as a person who has a Facebook account.

7. Facebook Stats
Engagement is critical!

8. Twitter

9. Twitter - Terminology
• Tweet – An announcement to your followers, limited to 280 characters
• Hashtag ‘#’ - Added in front of any word or phrase in a post, this makes it
easier for users to locate specific content or themes
• #CCRI2018 #H2020 #SoilScience
• Why? It makes the keyword or phrase in the post searchable. The same way keywords
do when scientific papers are published.
• Common # - #MondayMotivation #WednesdayWisdom #FridayFeeling
• Specific events will use a # such as #WorldSoilDay #WorldEnvironmentDay
• Handle ‘@’ - Unique user name mainly used to identify a person,
organisation or a project’s account.
• @CCRI_UK @DamianMaye @RuralResearcher
• Why? It is unique and you can alert or engage with someone directly
• You can directly reply to someone by using their handle
• You can mention someone, that may be interested/linked to a particular tweet
• You can tag someone in an image within a tweet, WITHOUT using your character
limit

10. Twitter - Terminology
• Followers / Following – Twitter accounts that you follow, or follow you
• Re-Tweet – When you tweet someone else’s tweet
• Like – A reaction to a tweet – often a way of acknowledgment, when a re-
tweet isn’t necessary
• Notifications – Twitter alerts you if someone follows or tags you or if
someone re-tweets or likes one of your tweets
• Tagging/Mention – Specifically mentioning a Twitter user within a tweet or
re-tweet
• This is how you alert relevant organisations or people to content that you
think will be of interest.
• This is how you MAXIMISE engagement and reach of your Tweets
• Including a picture allows you to tag 10 users without using character
count

11. How to Tweet…

14. Could be better…
Why?
• Little or no use of Hashtags
• Little or no tagging of people who may be interested/associated
• The ‘image’ is automatic done by Twitter
• Using a relevant jpg. Would allow for more tagging of other
people, without using up character limit
• Headline in the tweet could be better

15. Creating an effective Tweet
• Get to the point with the headline. What is the ‘hook’?
• This is to allow people to decide ‘am I interested in this’?
• Type it out…see if you need to shorten it, can you use fewer characters?
• Who might this be of interest to?
• Tag them
• Are there any relevant Hashtags?
• Search for them if uncertain
• Would a picture(s) enhance the tweet, is it
relevant/necessary?
• A picture allows an additional 10 people to be tagged

16. Supporting Tweets
• A simple re-tweet helps the reach of any Tweet
• Tagging others will further enhance this, particularly if it has a
number of tagged people AND/OR the person re-tweeting has a
big following
• If you have a small number of people following you, then
your tweets will only have a small reach
• A ‘like’ is more of an acknowledgement - it doesn’t really DO
anything…RT much more beneficial
• Ask for a re-tweet – particularly if you have a friend/colleague
also on Twitter

17. Other hints & tips
• Create thematic lists of organisations you follow on
Twitter, or look at ours
• Doing this sooner is much easier & can allow you to seek
organisations in the future
• Try to use regular/trending hashtags in your Tweets, or
strategically create a Tweet based upon a forthcoming
event/associated #
• Build reciprocal relationships with Twitter users
• We have a number of ‘reciprocal groups’
• It is important to share/support people on Twitter – it
isn’t all about you.
• Follow people & organisations, share, RT

18. Twitter Stats
Typically we get about 60-70K impressions per month

19. Twitter Stats

20. Trying to avoid…