Facebook 101: "Like" it as your page

Hey there,

So in the world of Facebook, where a "Like" is social media currency, if you manage a FB page, either for yourself or your arts company/organization, take some time every day to use Facebook as your page, particularly when it comes to Liking other page's posts, as well as fans' comments.

If you go to the edit page tab, when you click on it, the final option should say "Use Facebook as [name of your page]". Select this and you're good to go.

Now if you look in the upper right hand corner, your Page's profile picture and name should be where yours normally is. Click on the Facebook logo and you'll see the News Feed based on all the pages that you've added to your own page's favorites.

Just in case you don't know how to do this, if you're on Facebook under your personal profile, just click  on the gear icon on the right and you should see an option to "Like As Your Page". If you manage more than one page, you'll get to pick one.

But I digress, when you are using Facebook as your page, well it's pretty self-explanatory.

As you can see, you can like other pages' content. I'd recommend doing this for any organizations that you receive support from (particularly local and state arts agencies or foundations), that you might work with, arts advocacy groups, service organizations for your discipline, or even companies doing similar work in your area.

And not that you have to do it all the time, but every now and then. Maybe start of your day by using Facebook as your page for 5 minutes, or do it before you head home. I would even encourage doing so when you aren't at work.

I also recommend at the very least that you "Like" any fans' interaction with your own page, when they leave a comment on your post, RSVP to an event, etc.

My one suggestion is that you do not "Like" your own content.

Not only is it a given that you like your own content, but it seems a bit...well...I would say it's the social media equivalent of patting one's self on the back or speaking in the royal we.

Anyway, those are some tips for "Like"ing things are your page, on Facebook. Let me know what you think, have you done this? Will you be doing this now? Any other suggestions for what you do as your page, beyond sharing your own content?

- JR

Twitter 101: Lists

Hey there,

This post is to help break down Twitter Lists. There's a great "How to Use Twitter Lists" page that provides the basics, so I thought I'd just provide one reason I encourage using lists, especially from the get go, as well.

They allow you to keep track of someone whom you might not necessarily want to follow for whatever reason. Maybe they tweet too much for you to want to see in your main news feed, maybe they don't follow many people back. But a list allows you to add both people you follow and those you don't.

Not only that, a list becomes a resource that other people can subscribe too as well, if you make it public (which you should).

All that being said, here are several examples of Twitter lists for artists and arts organizations.

You can use a list for the artists you work with:

Tweets from @ClassActsArts/artist-roster

You can use a list to recognize donors and other supporters:

Tweets from @ClassActsArts/supporters

You can use a list to highlight other local organizations doing similar work:

Tweets from @DancePlace/dc-dance-orgs

Or any other ideas that come to mind. Be creative, think about what's relevant to you and to your audience.

Just one note, you can only have up to 20 lists, so don't go list-crazy.

Have any you want to share? Make 'em and then tweet them to me, @HashtagtheArts.

Let me know what you think,

JR

Foursquare 101: Stick it...stick it good

Hey there,

So this weekend I'm putting up a foursquare window cling at Dance Place. It's to remind people to check in.

It looks like this:

You can find out how to get your window cling here, and if you haven't claimed your venue yet, Foursquare will even send you one for free.

Ideally, you want it somewhere that's visible to everyone who enters your venue. For example, I went to eat at Black & Orange and actually didn't go through my usual routine of checking on various social media platforms, as I was with a friend. I just wasn't thinking about it, until I saw the sticker in the window.

And so I checked in. Because it was placed well, on the window, right next to the door everybody passes through in order to enter the establishment.

Unfortunately, I just recently saw an example of bad placement. I won't name the establishment, but it's one I've frequented multiple times over the past month or so. And I never saw their Foursquare window clinger until THIS WEEK.

It was placed on a secondary glass door, that customers don't even have to walk by, much less pass through. And it is designed such that it needs to go on the inside of whatever it is stuck on, as the "front" is the sticky side.

Fortunately, there's a hashtag that Foursquare encourages you to use to share your cling on display, so check it out:

Tweets about "#4sqcling"

But otherwise, just use common sense, and walk into your venue as anyone would. Where can you place it so it is noticeable but not out of place, especially if it's the only sticker.

Maybe if not the front doors, on a box office window or in a display case. Definitely send me pics of your window cling.

Because as with any other "ask" in the arts, sometimes all your audience needs is a prompt and a call to action, to follow through. And Foursquare's window clinger makes it pretty easy, all you need to do is stick it...stick it good.

Bonus points if you got the Salt-N-Pepa reference!!

- JR

Twitter 101: Follow Friday

Hey there,

This post is part of a series on basic things one can do on Twitter. So for those still trying to figure out Twitter, I thought I'd start by breaking down #FollowFriday (aka #FF). Yes it's a hashtag, but I'd have to say this is one of those cases where you are not joining a conversation.

The idea is that with this alliterative hashtag, you recommend Tweeps for others who search for #FF or #FollowFriday can follow. The problem is that Twitter becomes so inundated with #FF tweets, that there is no way sift through the noise. So, in my experience, this is more for your followers, and even more so for the people you mention. One of the first things I do when included in a #FF is to check out and maybe even follow the others included in it.

That being said, I thought I'd provide some examples of how I've used Follow Fridays.

You can use it to highlight Tweeps relevant to your field of work, whether you follow them or not. I also use this sometimes to try and get the attention of people I follow who aren't following me back yet, as they'll get a notice you mentioned them in a tweet. Anyway, in my case (for this blog), here are some social media & arts accounts that I believe share great content.

a social media & art #FF!! @kanter @kivilm @mashable @hesherman @youvecottmail @chadbauman. If you don't follow these tweeps, you should :-)
— Hashtag the Arts (@HashtagTheArts) January 5, 2013

It can be a way to connect with people and organizations which you do work with. At my day job, our artists do a lot of work with libraries, and that came up in conversation, so I decided to do a shout out to some of the area's public libraries:

It's a library #FollowFriday!! @dcpl @aacpl @fredcolibrary @hoco_library @mcpl_libraries @arlingtonvalib @fairfaxlibrary @loudounlibrary #FF
— Class Acts Arts (@ClassActsArts) January 5, 2013

Or it can be a simple way to thank new followers. I like this because sometimes before you realize it, a number of new people have followed your account and you haven't hit 'em back yet. Follow Friday's a great opportunity to do that.

A #FF thanks to new followers in 2013, part 1!! @katycat_forever @hollynobledance @weraadi @danceshare @thedmlrr @maurizioscarroz y'all rock
— Dance Place (@DancePlace) January 5, 2013

&

#FF thx pt 2!! @artsrallytogthr @fcclondon @billyandrews @wedanceww @cjameslane @whitehouse24x7 @adrienneb @scullydance @mwdcco @mochasolar
— Dance Place (@DancePlace) January 5, 2013

Just don't get crazy with it. I usually try not to have more than three tweets worth of people, including some context as to why I'm mentioning them. An exception is if I've participated in a Twitter chat or some kind of large event (like a festival or conference), I'll do a Follow Friday marathon, mentioning those who contributed to the chat or whom were live tweeting from the event.

So those are just some examples. Hope this helps, and definitely leave comments for any other thoughts or ideas or even examples of Follow Fridays you particularly liked,

JR