Social media basics focused on finding work and projecting a professional image.

2. First Thing’s First
Do you have an email account you can reach
from this lab?
You need to be able to:
• Find your email login/sign in page by knowing
the address or searching for it.
• Fill in your email address and password to sign
in.
You can’t use social media services without
this!

3. Social What?
Social Media is a set of services you use to share
things on the internet with as many or few people as
you like.
• People have shared things online since the internet was born, but
used to be limited in what they could share and who they could
share it with.
• The internet has been around for a long time. Can you guess how
long?
By the way, sometimes we’ll say “services,” instead of
“sites.” Think of them as web pages that do things
instead of just providing things for you to read.

4. Social What?
1969! Dude!
• That’s when computers started talking to each other using the
Internet Protocol (IP) we use today.
• 1970s: Email allows people to have one on one or private group
conversations.
• 1980: Usenet lets people post to bulletin boards that everyone can
see. It’s still around, but almost nobody uses it – no graphics.
• 1991: Public start of World Wide Web, bringing us web browsers
and web pages that everyone can look at. But you need to know
HTML code to make web pages.
• So you needed to choose between private email or making a web
page.
Then . . .

5. Social What?
• Web 2.0! This is a fancy term for new technologies that let people
create web pages without special skills and easily share stuff. This
stuff is called user generated content.
• It started in the late 1990s and early 2000s, sparking the first wave
of social media including blogs and forums.

6. Social What?
This lead to:
• Sites that let anybody put up text (Blogger), music
(MySpace), pictures (Flickr) and video (Youtube), or a combination
of all of them.
• Sites that let users choose exactly who to share it with: Nobody, one
person, “friends” or the whole world.
• Services that let you subscribe to people, and mashes their content
together in once place: your “feed.”
That’s modern social media!

7. Social What?
• Right now, the big three social media sites/services for job seekers
and business people are Facebook and Twitter (just like they are
for everyone else) as well as LinkedIn, a social media site designed
for business.
• We’re also going to cover other social media sites.
• We’re going to talk about integrating social media together, and on
different devices.
• We’re also going to discuss the basic concepts that make social
media work.

8. Facebook
Introduction
• Founded in 2004, Facebook was originally used by university
students to talk to each other. Ever see the movie The Social
Network? It’s about that!
• You may already have a Facebook account – a billion people do!
• You need an email address to sign up for it. After filling out the
form, Facebook sends an email to you so you can confirm your
registration.
• Facebook is mostly about personal stuff, but there are also ways to
talk about business through pages and other features.

9. Facebook Checklist
Did you:
Get a Facebook account?
Fill in education and work information?
Make friends relevant to work?
Check your privacy settings to make sure work
relationships can’t see anything too personal?
Search for apps, groups and pages to help you with
work?

10. Facebook
The Basics
• Facebook lets you fill out a profile listing personal
information.
• You can also post writing, pictures and video, and
share it with everyone (public setting), or certain
groups of friends. You can also see whatever your
friends share with you on your feed: a page that
collects all this information and updates all the time.
• You can send private messages to anyone on
Facebook who allows it, or chat in real time with
your friends. Video chat is sometimes available as
well.
• You can “Like” things you can see by clicking on the
Like button, and comment on things to add your

11. Facebook
Facebook Friends
• Facebook calls people you connect to “friends,” but these
may be people you don’t know very well. You might have a
hobby, job or home region in common. You might just think
the person is kind of neat.
• Keep separate lists for people truly close to you and people
you don’t know well. You can choose which lists see your
posts and information.
• “Tag” friends by typing their names into a post or on a photo.
This will alert them you are talking about them.
• If you have a falling out or just want to cut down on the
number of friends (Facebook lets you have 5000, tops) you
can unfriend people. You can also unsubscribe so that
they’re still friends, but you don’t see their posts.

12. Facebook
Profile and Timeline
• When you join Facebook, it asks you to fill out personal information
to create your profile page. You don’t have to fill everything out.
Your profile has a web address (URL) just like any other web page
open to the general public – people don’t have to be signed in to
see it.
• Your privacy settings set what the public can see, and what
different friends lists can see.
• Your profile includes your pictures, posts, pages you liked and
anything you’ve been tagged in.
• Your timeline lists this stuff in reverse chronological order. It also
contains life events listed in your profile, such as when you were
born.

13. Facebook
Promoting with Pages and Groups
• You can set up a Facebook Page about a topic. When people Like
it, it appears on their profiles. You can also add new information
about the topic through its page.
• A Facebook Group creates a place where people can share
information about a topic. You can make them for social clubs,
hobbies and more. When you add more information, all subscribers
see it.
• Use both to promote a business or organization, or even yourself, if
you’re an artist or someone else who would have fans.

14. Facebook
Apps
• Facebook lets you install apps (short for “applications”): games and
other special features that act like programs inside a Facebook web
page.
• Take a look at Branchout and BeKnown. To find them, type their
names in the Facebook search bar.
• Some apps have good reputations, some don’t. Learn about every
app before you install it. Bad apps can expose your private
information and pretend to be you to bother other people. Google it!

15. Facebook
Privacy
• On Facebook, privacy is your biggest concern.
• A privacy leak can not only embarrass you, but expose you to
criminal fraud and identity theft.
• Check your privacy settings to make sure you only share what you
want to share. Type “privacy” in the Facebook search bar to find
your settings.
• Whenever you put anything on Facebook, ask three questions:
1. Should anyone NOT see this?
2. Am I sure certain people can’t see what I want to keep private from
them?
3. Could I live with it if those people saw it anyway?
If the answer to any of these questions is I DON’T KNOW or
NO, think twice about putting it on Facebook!

16. Facebook
Even More About Privacy
• Use a strong password (see the handout)!
• Facebook changes its layout, services and privacy settings.
Check them regularly, or whenever you notice a change in
how Facebook looks, and make sure the settings still work for
you.
• Keep your email address, phone number, birthday and
current location private except to people you trust.
• Note that details like your phone number will show up in the
smartphone contacts of anyone you share them with. You
don’t have to give Facebook your phone number if you don’t
want to!
• When you post comments to other people’s posts or they
share your posts, they use your privacy settings and theirs.
That means that someone you blocked from seeing a post
might be able to see it anyway, though your friends!

17. Facebook
Looking Professional
• Many employers now check Facebook to find out about potential employees.
• Never post:
▫ Pictures and descriptions of being intoxicated.
▫ Nudity or pornography (Facebook screens some of this, but is not 100% successful)
▫ Anything that in a professional environment would be considered cause for a human rights
complaint.
• Check privacy settings to lock down:
▫ Venting about work or business
▫ Family or social drama
▫ Remember, comments to other people’s stuff can be seen by those other peoples’ friends and
maybe more.
• Let people see:
▫ Any employment history you want to show off
▫ Connections to past employers and references
▫ Positive, respectful descriptions of your professional life.
▫ Hobbies that you wouldn’t be afraid to talk about at the office
• Know your rights and responsibilities
▫ The Ontario Human Rights Commission advises employers not to ask you for your Facebook
password, as it may be a violation.
▫ Sharing your password is against Facebook’s terms of service and Facebook advises against
it.
Some people keep a separate Facebook account for professional purposes only.
Other people are very careful with what they share and who they share it with. The
solution is up to you.

18. Facebook
Work Strategies
• Tell people you’re looking for work, clients or partnerships. Be
friendly and honest.
• Be interesting and funny. Nobody wants to work with boring
people. Think of it like the “hobbies and interests” part of your
resume.
• Join or start pages and groups to promote your business.
Post content to them frequently. Set a regular schedule.
• Request friendship with people in industries you’re
interested in, but only if you are also interested in them as
people.
• Try job apps such as Branchout and BeKnown.
Facebook isn’t really a place to look for work directly
as much a place to present yourself as a pro able to do
the job, and meet people who might be able to connect
you to work because they like you.

19. Twitter
Introduction
• Founded in 2006, Twitter started as a way to send text
messages to the internet to share with a group of people. You
can still send text messages to Twitter today, but most people
use smartphone apps, desktop programs or their web
browsers.
• Millions of people use Twitter, including celebrities, politicians
and organizations.
• To get a Twitter account you need an email address and you
need to pick a unique username. You can add some short
information about yourself and a picture.
• Once you set it up, your Twitter posts and a link to your profile
appear at a web address: www.twitter.com/(whatever your
username is).

20. Twitter Checklist
Did you:
Get a Twitter account?
Follow people and organizations relevant to your work?
Start tweeting regularly?
Use @ to start conversations?
Use retweets, hashtags and favourites to increase
your social profile?

21. Twitter
The Basics
• Twitter is a service that lets you send messages that are no
more than 140 characters (a character is a single
letter, number, symbol or space) long. These are called
“tweets.” They are usually public, appearing on web pages
for your feed and profile. You can set your account so that
only followers you choose can see them.
• You can follow people on Twitter, so that their public posts
appear on a page together in your feed. They can follow
you, too. You don’t need permission to follow someone, but
they can block you if they want. Anyone can see who you
follow and your followers are.
• People use Twitter to comment on current events as they
happen, have conversations and follow people important to
them.

22. Twitter
Tweeting, Direct Messages, @People and Replies
• You can post a tweet the whole world can see just by typing it in and
clicking a button unless you set your account to be private.
• Send private messages to followers (nobody else) over Twitter using the
Direct Message link.
• You can send a tweet everyone can see but calls out specific people by
putting @ in front of their usernames. This appears in the “Connect”
section. For example, call out to Tekdesk’s Twitter accounts by putting
@Tekdesk in the tweet.
• Hit Reply to someone else’s tweet and it automatically puts their
@username in the tweet. You can then click on a tweet from that exchange
and see others in the same conversation.
• If you put a web address in a link, people will be able to click on it to get to
the web page its connected to.
• Twitter also has a “Favorite” button, similar to “Like” on Facebook.
Twitter is all about real time conversation, like exchanging text messages,
except that you can share this conversation with the world.

23. Twitter
Retweets, Groups and #Hashtags
• When you want to share something you found on
Twitter, “retweet” it instead of using copy/paste. This shares it
with your followers but gives credit to the person who found it.
You can also see who else has retweeted it.
• When you put a hash mark (#) right beside a word (no
spaces) it creates a link. Clicking on it shows you anyone who
used the same hash-word combination. This is called a
hashtag.
• When lots of people use the same hashtag, Twitter notes it as
a trending topic, and posts a link for everyone to look at.
• Anyone can start a hashtag. TV shows, advertisers and other
groups suggest hashtags. You can always make your
own, though, and hope that other people use it as well.

24. Twitter
Problems with Twitter
• Twitter has a lot of fake and hacked accounts. These may
post spam as public tweets, @conversations or direct
messages. These may lead annoying web links or viruses.
• Short snippets and quick replies mean that conversations
may explode into arguments. These make you look bad.
• If you annoy one person you might end up annoying their
followers, too, and they might get unpleasant.
• Twitter is a bad place for negotiations or other important
conversations. Use email instead.
• Caught up in the fast pace of tweets, it’s easy to accidentally
post information that should be private.

25. Twitter
Privacy
• Use a strong password!
• Remember: Except for direct messages, everything is public!
• Never post anything you wouldn’t tell a random stranger.
• For the greatest safety, avoid posting your personal email
address, location and family information.

26. Twitter
Looking Professional
• Some employers look at your Twitter feed to learn more about you.
• Follow people and organizations related to the work you want.
• Never post:
▫ Links to nudity, pornography or material likely to give offence in an office.
Don’t follow people who frequently post this material.
▫ Arguments, insults and drama
▫ Venting about work and business
• Do post:
▫ Questions and friendly comments for people in fields you want to get closer
to.
▫ Compliments and retweets of interesting things.
▫ Hashtags you invent, and find other people using to start a larger
conversation.
▫ Cool things you find online
▫ Your accomplishments
Some people keep separate personal and professional Twitter accounts.
If you have a business where you are the main communicator, you should
probably set up a dedicated business Twitter account.

27. Twitter
Work Strategies
• Tell people you are looking for work. Post links to your resume or
LinkedIn profile.
• Follow potential employers, clients and partners.
• Follow organizations that list jobs or post information about the field
you’re interested in. Lots of organizations have official Twitter feeds. Check
them out!
• Post questions and start conversations with successful people in your
field. Use @ so that everyone can see them.
• Use Twitter’s search function to look for jobs. Specify location and the
type of work in your search.
• Don’t be boring! Post about funny and interesting stuff as well. Do it
frequently to remind people you’re out there.
Think of Twitter as a big common room where everyone is
talking and can hear each other, but you need to concentrate to
“tune in” to conversations. Listen to work-related followers
and say things that convince them to listen to you.

28. LinkedIn
Introduction
• Launched in 2003, LinkedIn has grown to become the major social
network for work and business.
• People use LinkedIn to talk about their work history and stay in
touch with both friends and professional connections.
• Employers often look at LinkedIn profiles in addition to or even
instead of resumes.
• If you’re using social media for work, a LinkedIn account is
practically mandatory. You can present yourself, look for jobs and
send messages.
• To register with LinkedIn you need an email address (as usual). This
should be the email address you would put on your resume – don’t
use joke addresses or ones you don’t want to share.
• LinkedIn has both free and paid services. The free service is still
quite valuable – that’s what most people use.

29. LinkedIn Checklist
Did you:
Get a LinkedIn account?
Fill out your profile?
Make work-related connections?
Ask for recommendations from former associates?
Recommend and endorse former associates?
Use the Jobs tool?

30. LinkedIn
Basics
• LinkedIn lets you create a profile that includes your work
history, education and other information that would be interesting to
professional connections. It’s like an online resume or CV. This can be seen
both in LinkedIn and from web searches.
• It also lets you add and follow connections. Both people need to agree to
make a connection. You can see not only your connections, but people
connected to your connections, listed in how many steps away from you
they are – for example, your connection’s boss might be 2 steps from you if
she added the boss to her direct (1 step) connections. You can see other
people’s connections and they can see yours.
• LinkedIn includes a powerful Jobs tool that tries to match jobs to your skills
and location. You can even apply for jobs through LinkedIn.
• LinkedIn features an internal private message inbox.
• LinkedIn has numerous other features from interest groups to the ability to
integrate other social media services.
LinkedIn is about presenting yourself as a professional. Think of it like a
combination resume, cover letter and “first handshake” for anybody
you’d like to work with

31. LinkedIn
Your Profile
• Your profile is your online resume. It includes your education, skills and
work history.
• Keep a copy of your resume and other work information on hand when you
fill out your profile.
• LinkedIn profiles include many sections not found on traditional resumes for
pictures, portfolios, publications and more.
• You may want to include a nice picture of yourself on your computer that’s
ready to upload.
• If you operate a website you want to share with employers, post the primary
address in your profile.
• LinkedIn provides suggestions on how to fill in your profile until it’s 100%
complete. Try to get it there if you can! It’s your professional presence on
the internet.
• LinkedIn uses your profile information to suggest jobs in its Jobs tool, and
makes it easier for people to find you and see your qualifications. The more
you fill your profile in, the better the Jobs feature works.

32. LinkedIn
Connections, Recommendations and Endorsements
• To connect to someone on LinkedIn you need to already know
them somehow or have a mutual connection on the site. LinkedIn
lists suggestions based on reading your profile and email contacts
(if you allow access).
• Don’t be shy about asking for a connection!
• Once you connect you can meet more people and see their
LinkedIn activity in a common feed.
• If your connection used to be a colleague, subordinate or
supervisor, they can recommend your work right in your
profile, where other people can see it.
• Don’t be afraid to request recommendations! The best way to get
recommendations is to give them.
• You can decide whether to make a recommendation visible to
others.
• When you list skills, LinkedIn will ask your connections if they
endorse them. This is a quick one-click process. Again, the best
way to get endorsements is to give them.

33. LinkedIn
Privacy
• Even though a LinkedIn profile acts like an online
resume, don’t share your address or phone number. Save
that for private messages with people you trust or traditional
resume submissions.
• The best way to control your privacy is to take a close look at
anyone you might make a connection with. If you’re
connecting through someone you trust, probably okay to add
them. If you don’t know your mutual connection well, think
twice!
• Watch out for job offers that look too good to be true or where
the nature of the work or compensation isn’t clear. Be
especially careful of home businesses or “multi-level”
opportunities. These are often scams, or as close to scams as
they can get while remaining technically legal.

34. LinkedIn
Looking Professional
• As usual, never post profanity, adult or offensive content.
• Proofread anything you put in your profile. Run it through a
word processor first.
• Choose a profile picture that reflects how you’d like to be
seen on the job.
• If there’s part of your working life you don’t want to share,
leave it out of your profile.
• People look at connections closely. Stick to connections that
make you look good.
• If you want to connect to someone you don’t know well, write
a short note introducing yourself and explain why you want to
connect.

35. LinkedIn
Work Strategies
• Complete your profile!
• Use LinkedIn’s Jobs tool! It’s pretty good!
• Make connections with people in your field.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations.
• Add the address of your LinkedIn profile to
resumes, cover letters and other communications related
to work.
• Post updates mentioning that you’re looking for
work or clients.
• Leave some room for the personal touch. Nobody
wants to work with robots.
Always ask: “What do my listed skills, experience and
connections tell partners and employers about me?”

36. Beyond the Big Three: Other Social Media
Dozens of other social networks exist. Some of them are
specific to one region, activity or type of community. Others
are just not as popular as the Big Three for one reason or
another.
Examples:
• Youtube is the most popular social media site for
video, but even though you can post comments and
profiles there, most people just stick to watching videos.
• Googke+ is a growing social media service run by
Google.
• Tumblr is a blogging service that lets you follow other
people in a feed and reshare what other people post.

37. Other Social Media Checklist
Did you:
Check out Google+?
Look into starting a blog through WordPress or
Blogger?
Find important forums related to your work?
Find job boards?
Find smaller social media sites that fit your niche?
You don’t need to do everything! Stick with whatever
fits your personality and goals.

38. Beyond the Big Three: Other Social Media
Google+ -- The New Kid
• Google+ is a social network by Google, Inc. – makers of the
Google search engine, Gmail, and lots more. It started in
2011.
• It’s growing rapidly – it now has 400 million users, compared
to Facebook’s billion users.
• A Gmail account automatically gives you a Google+
account. It uses Gmail and other information to suggest
people to add.
• Users make circles of connections, and can post so that
anyone or just selected circles can see. These are a lot like
friends lists in Facebook.
• To join, just click on your username with the + sign where you
see it in Gmail, or register at http://plus.google.com

39. Beyond the Big Three: Other Social Media
Older Social Media
Some older forms of social media can still be very useful for work and self-
promotion.
Examples:
• Blogging is keeping an online journal called a blog. Blog is also a
verb, meaning to write and post entries. Blogs put these entries on web
pages, listed by date.
▫ WordPress and Blogger are the two most popular services, and let you create
blogs for free.
▫ Tumblr is a newer service that also allows you to share other people’s blog posts.
▫ Blogging is a simple way to get information about yourself (like your resume)
online, and a way to publish writing, photos and other media online.
▫ The more often and regularly you blog, the more effective it is.
• Web forums (also called bulletin boards) allow people to post discussions
about specific topics, organized in conversational “threads.”
▫ Different fields and hobbies have their own popular forums. Find these out for
anything you’re interested in by Googling.

40. Beyond the Big Three: Other Social Media
Job Boards
These websites often have social features, letting you post that you’re looking for work, comments on
postings, resumes and connections to other social networks. The exact features depend on the job board.
• Craigslist
▫ Very simple board with jobs and “gigs” for short term employment as well as all other
kinds of classifieds. There’s a different board for each city/region. You have to search
separately in each place you want to find work.
▫ There is some adult/potentially offensive content. Most of it is confined to adult-
labelled spaces or personals. Be careful of scams and do not post your real name or
other critical personal information. Craigslist provides its own contact information
instead of yours.
• Kijiji
▫ Competitor for Craigslist more popular in Canada. Another online classified service.
“Cleaner” than Craigslist. Like Craigslist, there is a separate Kijiji for each city/region.
▫ In addition to job ads, Craigslist also features items for sale and promotions from local
businesses.
• Monster
▫ Job board that also allows you to post your resume.
▫ Connects to Facebook through the BeKnown app.
• Workopolis
▫ Job board that allows you to post your resume, and has other features.
▫ Can connect to Facebook and Twitter.

41. Integration
Integration is managing your social media presence all
together instead of jumping from one service to
another, or needing to use just one type of device to
get into your social media. Doing it all together
whenever we can makes it more convenient.
We’re going to look at three types of integration:
• Desktop apps
• Mobile apps
• Cross-posting

42. Integration Checklist
Did you:
Get a dashboard app to see and post to multiple social
media sites?
Get mobile apps to access your social media from
smartphones and/or tablets?
Investigate other ways to streamline using your social
media, such as cross posting?

43. Integration
Dashboards and Other Desktop Apps
• These programs let you read and post to multiple services
from your PC and some tablets.
Examples:
• Tweetdeck and Hootsuite are social media dashboards,
letting you read and post to Facebook, Twitter and other
services at the same time.
• Web browsers such as Google Chrome and Firefox have
optional plugins allowing you to share content and post
across multiple platforms.
• Many chat programs also allow Facebook chat, Google chat
or both.

44. Integration
Mobile Apps
• Mobile apps let you use one or more social media services
through your smartphone.
• Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all have official mobile apps
for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone.
• There are third party apps . Only use these if you have
heard good things about them from friends. A few that let you
view and post to multiple services. Flipboard is one example
of this.
• Android apps also run on Android tablets. iPhone apps also
run on iPad. This portability is not true for Windows Phone or
Blackberry devices.

45. Integration
Posting Across Platforms
Many sites and apps give you the option to post “across
platforms.” That means information on one site or service
can be used on others, and you can transfer information
back and forth.
• Some Facebook apps let you transfer Twitter tweets to
Facebook.
• Some sites let you sign in using Facebook, Google or Twitter
instead of making a separate account.
• Many sites and services let you share what you are doing or
“Like” them on social media. Look for the buttons.
• If you are required to grant permission to access your account
or install an app, always read which permissions you are
granting and decide carefully if you are comfortable sharing
information.

46. Summing it Up
• For work and business, the big three are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook is about
who you are, Twitter is about what you say, when you say it, LinkedIn is about what you do.
They are all about who you know.
• Manage Privacy: Always be careful about sharing personal information. You may want to have
separate personal and professional accounts.
• Manage Reputation: Project a professional image in any feed a potential client, employer or
partner may have access to. Don’t share anything rude and don’t get in fights online.
• Be a Straight Shooter: Tell them what you can do and that you’re looking for work.
• Be Cool: Don’t be a robot! Share interesting things. Don’t be all about business.
• Be Generous: If you want “Likes” and “Favorites,” do that for other people. Comment on things.
Talk about other people.
• Search: Use search tools to find jobs, groups and pages related to what you want to do.
• Integrate: Try out different ways of updating your social media presence through apps and
services until you find the best way for you to keep on top of social media.
• Personalize: It’s all about you. Join the sites and post things that suit who you are and what
you want. Less well known forms of social media might be perfect for your niche. You may know
how to get across special ideas like nobody else. Don’t be afraid to communicate in your own
style!

47. Thank You!
Social media covers a huge group of sites and
services filled with opportunities, but it also
takes time to get used to. Play around, protect
your privacy and find out the best way for You
to use them.
Thank you very much for sharing this
workshop with me. I appreciate it!

48. Links
Major Social Networks
Facebook: http://facebook.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com
Google+: http://plus.google.com
Twitter Feeds
COIN: http://twitter.com/COIN_Ptbo
Tekdesk: http://twitter.com/tekdesk
• Tekdesk training and social
enterprise.
AboriginalLYNX:
http://twitter.com/AboriginalLYNX
• Aboriginal student jobs, with many
followers in other sectors.
Nationtalk on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/nationtalk
• Twitter for Nationtalk: social news
with a First Nations business focus.
Blogging
WordPress: http://wordpress.com for a
free blog, or http://wordpress.org to host
your own (requires medium to
advanced computer literacy).
Blogger: http://blogger.com for a free
blog.
Job Boards
Craigslist: http://craigslist.org
Kijiji: http://kijiji.ca
Monster: http://monster.ca
Workopolis: http://workopolis.ca
Social Media Dashboards
Tweetdeck: http://tweetdeck.com
Hootsuite: http://hootsuite.com
Don’t forget to look up apps for your
smartphone or tablet!