The second social media (SOC2) session at the 2009 HighEdWeb national conference in Milwaukee, WI.

1. Nurturing Communities
With Social Networking
Kristofer Layon
University of Minnesota
HighEdWeb: open+connected
October 5, 2009
1
Good morning, and welcome to the second session in today’s social media track, entitled “Nurturing
Communities with social networking”. My name is Kristofer Layon, I direct web design and online
collaboration for the University of Minnesota’s central administration, and I want to thank you for
coming to my presentation.

2. 2
I would like to begin this morning with a basic premise that I have experienced myself: namely, that
social networking can nurture and even create community. Hopefully some of you have experienced
this already, too. If you haven’t, hopefully you can allow yourself to consider how this might work
for you. But before I go any further, I need to do what any good academic presenter does: review
some key definitions, so that we’re all thinking about the same things.

3. community
A group of people having a
religion, race, profession, or
other particular characteristic
in common.
3
There’s more than one definition of community that informs today’s discussion. Here’s the first.

4. community
A group of people having a
religion, race, profession, or
other particular characteristic
in common.
4
As someone who majored in German as an undergrad, I often can’t keep myself from being a
language geek and, in this case, observing that the word “common” shares its root with
“community”. Let’s keep this in mind.

5. community
A feeling of fellowship with
others, as a result of sharing
common attitudes, interests,
and goals.
5
Here’s another definition. I like this one even more.

6. community
A feeling of fellowship with
others, as a result of sharing
common attitudes, interests,
and goals.
6
“Feeling of fellowship.” Think about this a moment. Perhaps you belong to a church or other
community organization, who can relate to the word “fellowship” when you participate in an event
with other members of your group. Or, perhaps you recall the book “The Fellowship of the Ring”
and think about what fellowship means in the context of travel and adventure. I think both aspects
are equally relevant for us here today.

7. community
A group of interdependent
organisms of different species
growing or living together in a
specified habitat.
7
But here’s a third definition. And isn’t this where it starts to get even more interesting?

8. community
A group of interdependent
organisms of different species
growing or living together in a
specified habitat.
8

9. community
A group of interdependent
organisms of different species
growing or living together in a
specified habitat.
9

10. community
A group of interdependent
organisms of different species
growing or living together in a
specified habitat.
10

11. community
A group of interdependent
organisms of different species
growing or living together in a
specified habitat.
11
Is anyone here today who is not representing the human species?

12. community
A group of interdependent
organisms of different species
growing or living together in a
specified habitat.
12

13. community
A group of interdependent
organisms of different species
growing or living together in a
specified habitat.
13

14. community
A group of interdependent
organisms of different species
growing or living together in a
specified habitat.
14

15. 15
So to remain philosophical here for another minute or two, what I’m trying to emphasize is that the
purpose of social networking is to create community. It can be used to bring different people
together around a common cause; or, share information that a group of similar people may find
interesting; it can even enrich a common environment and allow people to thrive, or perform at a
higher level. On the one hand, these are fairly profound things. But on the other hand, they’re
rather simple and just basic to humanity.

16. principles of good social
media personae
• be factual most of the time
• be sincere and polite all of the time
• carefully weigh entering into politics…
• …or otherwise straying off-topic
• be human
16
I think by keeping the idea of persona development in mind as you update a Facebook page or
status, or Twitter feed, you’ll do a better job of providing information and ideas that nurture a
group identity. Not keeping this in mind, or even being reckless with one’s persona online, can
quickly cause people to question your online sincerity. Just as they would in person.

17. 17
For example: over and over again, when I hear people talk about Facebook, I hear the same story. “I
use it to reconnect with people from high school.” But what does this really mean? What makes it
enjoyable or important -- is Facebook really just about high school?

18. 18
Sometimes it can be, especially around reunion time (which I just experienced myself this summer).
But when you distill the assertion further, it really means that it is used to bridge distance and time.
Yet it is also used to keep people connected with shared interests, backgrounds, or experiences.
Perhaps their closest friends were on a team or in an organization together. These are aspects that
we must keep in mind; it regards more than just high school, but what drives people to desire and
maintain networks. Bridging distances; bridging time; sharing common ideas, information, or even
emotions.

19. 19
And yet we still often treat social networking as something high tech and cool, which can suggest
that it’s not for everyone. But in reality, social networking on the Web is just a newer version of
things that we’ve had around for generations. Web social networking is newspapers, plus television,
plus letter writing or sending cards, plus chatting, plus sharing photos, plus sharing referrals and
opinions on other media such as music and film.

20. { university examples }
20
So what do these places look like?

21. Blogging
21

22. 22
Let’s not underestimate the value of blogging, despite it being so common now, and despite us
having grown jaded with people’s passive-aggressive blog comments. A focused blog that is well-
written can still be a great communications tool. This is one of our blogs at the University of
Minnesota.

23. 23
If you’ve seen this film or read the book, you know that the key element to the story is a blog
written by Julie as she works her way through Julia Child’s “The Art of French Cooking”.

24. 24
It’s a true story, and Julie’s blog is still online. What more of an argument do you need about the
value of blogging, then it can lead to a book deal, and then a movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy
Adams?

25. Social
Networking
25
We’re also using social networking sites like Facebook and Ning at the University of Minnesota.

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28

29. 29

30. Photo / Video
Sharing
30
And don’t forget that photo and video publishing has become photo and video sharing. Which
makes this social, too.

31. 31

32. Micro-blogging
32
Then there’s the latest development, micro-blogging. Most people know of this by the dominant
platform, Twitter.

33. 33
As you can see at the time of this screen shot (May 2009), Minnesota’s UMNews service had 919
followers on Twitter...

34. 34
...4 months later they are approaching 4,000 followers.

35. Integrated
Social Media:
MinneWebCon
35
At this point, I would like to focus a bit more closely on a particular case study at the University of
Minnesota: our annual web conference.

36. 36

37. 37

38. 38
In the case of the Twitter account for our university’s web conference, MinneWebCon, our follow
count is about the same as our event’s attendance. Which, although it would be nice if it were
higher, is still pretty significant. It suggests that we have a loyal base of satisfied attendees, which
means that its organizers don’t need to be as concerned about filling the event each year.

39. What was our Twitter
ROI for MinneWebCon
2009?
39
So besides our follows, let’s talk about something else we can measure: our return on investment.

40. income - cost
cost
40

41. $1500 - $100
$100
41
So this is the ROI equation for Twitter, and the results are...

42. 1,400%
42

43. What was our Facebook
advertising ROI for
MinneWebCon 2009?
43

44. $250 - $65
$65
44
And this is the ROI equation for Facebook advertising, and the results are…

45. 285%
45

46. What was my banner
advertising ROI for
MinneWebCon?
46

47. $250 - $540
$540
47
Finally, this is the ROI equation for our traditional web banner advertising campaign, and the results
are…

48. -54%
48

49. {a non-university example}
49

50. Integrated
Social Media:
Paperedtogether
50
I’m using this example because it’s such an excellent case study. It shows a level of integration and
community-building that exceeds our web conference examples at the U of M.

51. 51
Paperedtogether is a printing studio in Minneapolis, and this is their web site. And it’s the only
nonsocial aspect of their communications plan.

52. 52
Here’s paperedtogether’s Etsy page. As you might know, Etsy is sort of the Amazon.com of
handmade or artisan products. And, like Amazon, one of Etsy’s strengths is its social aspect.

53. 53
And here’s their Flickr page. It’s quite similar to Twitter, when you think about it. Twitter is a
stream of text that can fit in a box. Flickr is a stream of photographic images that can fit in a box.

54. 54
And here’s paperedtogether’s Twitter page.

55. Some people have
garage sales
Krista has a $40,000
garage business
55

56. What does social media
success require?
56
I believe that successful social media requires persistence more than anything. The implementation
of social media may feel instantaneous, but its successes do not come so easily. Like most
rewarding things, social media use requires time and patience.

57. 57
Much like marathon running…

58. 58

59. 59
Or making a fine cheese…

60. 60

61. 61
Or making a fine wine.

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63. 63
And, it might be helpful to remember that visually, a pixel alone is usually not very compelling.

64. 64
But as you start to consistently add more…

65. 65
You start to get more of a pattern…

66. 66
And out of that pattern you get something entirely different and with a new scale, and it represents
something else that is very new, unified, and whole -- despite it being made of many tiny parts.
This is your social community.

67. plan
67
So just as with running marathons, and making cheese or wine, a plan is essential. There’s a
considerable distance between a bucket of milk and a bleu cheese, or a bushel of grapes and a
bottle of cabernet. Your social media plan should include frequency of updates, who is making
updates if there are multiple people involved, and any topical constraints and other protocols that
will keep your communications focused, reliable, and consistent.

68. patience
68
Logging into a social network might be able to give you instant gratification as a user, but don’t
confuse that feeling with a social networking content provider. Having an active community requires
patience. And even after your network is more established and mature, don’t expect to get replies
to status updates all of the time.

69. humility
69
Humility is important for two main reasons. First, people both love and hate experts. People want
expertise, and yet distrust people who act like they have all of the answers. So be humble in your
social communications: ask as many questions as you post advice, links, or tips. Second, pay
attention to tone as well as content. Even 140 characters can convey attitude: are you conveying the
right attitude in your updates?

70. persistence
70
Finally, don’t underestimate the amount of persistence required for establishing a successful
community with social networking.

71. { thank you }
71

72. klayon@umn.edu
twitter.com/klayon
72