How to Use Social Media

 Easily the most common use of Social Networking sites, and the main reason for them existing in the first place, is for personal reasons. The majority of people using Facebook or Myspace keep to the “social” label. It is used for its original purpose – to keep in touch with friends.One great way of taking advantage of the personal side of Facebook is keeping in touch with people hundreds of miles away, maybe somebody who has gone travelling or moved to the other side of the world. In the past it would have been nigh on impossible to keep in touch, much less keep up to date with what they are doin

Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and other social networks have become an integral part of online lives. Social networks are a great way to stay connected with others, but you should be wary about how much personal information you post.

Social media is the blending of technology and social interaction for the purpose of communication and co-creation in today's world. Knowing how to use social media is an essential 21st century skill that you can acquire with our new social media topics.

Networking is simply the process of building positive, advantageous relationships, either by making a connection with someone in person or online. While some people have an easier time making new connections than others, it's important to remember that everyone is capable of networking.

Making the decision to start networking can feel a little overwhelming, but it's important to remember that no one builds a network from scratch. Your family and friends already make up a powerful network of different connections.

Reaching out to your existing network is a great way start practicing your networking skills. Over time, you'll feel more comfortable expanding your network and building new connections. Take some time to organize your existing connections and identify networking opportunities that you can pursue.

The most successful networkers are constantly meeting new people and expanding their network.Show an interest in what other people have to say instead of focusing exclusively on your needs. A relationship founded on mutual trust and respect will be the most likely to benefit you in the long term.How you present yourself can have a big impact on the kind of impression you make.It's important to remain positive and optimistic when introducing yourself to others.

Asking a series of purposeful questions can help you engage someone that you're meeting for the first time. Most people generally like talking about themselves, so don't shy away from asking about someone's career and interests.

Listening is the first step in social media. You have to listen to what others are saying about you before you jump into the fire. Listening will tell you what people are saying, and where they are saying it, so you know where to get started.

Many of these tools are Twitter-focused, because Twitter is the easiest place to get started in listening.

                            Some Ways to Use Social Media

a.Be your authentic self.

In the age of personal branding, most of us have a persona we’d like to develop or maintain. Ego-driven tweets focus on an agenda; authenticity communicates from the heart. Talk about the things that really matter to you. If you need advice or support, ask for it. It’s easier to be present when you’re being true to yourself.

b. Experience now, share later.

It’s common to snap a picture with your phone and upload it to Facebook or email it to a friend. This overlaps the experience of being in a moment and sharing it. It also minimizes intimacy, since your entire audience joins your date or gathering in real time. Just as we aim to reduce our internal monologues to be present, we can do the same with our digital narration.

c.Be active, not reactive.

You may receive email updates whenever there is activity on one of your social media accounts, or you might have your cell phone set to give you these types of alerts. This forces you to decide many times throughout the day whether you want or need to respond. Another approach is to choose when to join the conversation, and to use your offline time to decide what value you have to offer.

d.Respond with your full attention.

People often share links without actually reading them, or comment on posts after only scanning them. If the greatest gift we can give someone is our attention, then social media allows us to be endlessly generous.

e.Enjoy social media!

These are merely suggestions to feel present and purposeful when utilizing social media, but they aren’t hard-and-fast rules. Follow your own instincts and have fun with it. If you’re mindful when you’re disconnected from technology, you have all the tools you need to be mindful when you go online.

f.Practice Safe Social Networking

Blogs and social networking can be fun to use, and they can be helpful in staying in touch with friends or forging professional relationships. But posting personal information on your webpage can lead to unwanted attention. The lack of physical interaction provides a false sense of anonymity and security. It is easy to forget that more than just your friends and family can gain access to your site and view your information. When you post personal information in a social network site (such as Facebook or MySpace), you significantly increase the odds of people outside of your intended audience viewing your profile.

g.Be selective about who you accept as a friend on a social network

Identity thieves might create fake profiles in order to get information from you. This is known as social engineering.

h.Limit your personal information

Avoid posting information such as your full name, home address, phone numbers, email address, instant messaging names, age, or birth date publicly to prevent identity theft.

j. To avoid giving away email addresses of your friends, do not allow social networking services to scan your email address book.When you join a new social network, you might receive an offer to enter your email address and password to find out who else is on the network. The site might use this information to send email messages to everyone in your contact list or even everyone you’ve ever sent an email message to with that email address.

i.Avoid Online Quizzes

Avoid random “fun” surveys on the web; they are often decoys for targeted advertisement. Also know that any time you download an application in social networking sites such as Facebook, you are granting that application access to your and your friend’s personal information.

With the rise of Internet Marketing, social media is being embraced by businesses more and more. Innovative ways of utilising these tools by connecting directly with customers are being found.Companies are seeing that the best way to conduct themselves online is to speak to their customers directly using these social networking sites, Twitter being especially useful for this. It increases the reputation of the company, gets them positive reviews and shows that they really care about the customer. It also gives a human face to the large corporation, meaning that customers or potential customers will feel much more comfortable coming back.

There is also the opportunity for business types to network and expand their business on the social networking platform. To get a deal is all about knowing the right people, and if somebody that you went to school with owns a multi million dollar business and your company do what he is looking for, using Facebook could have you on to a winner. A random friend request from somebody you haven’t spoken to since you were 11 years old could be the key to your company’s success.