Social media includes content communities, blogs, forums, podcasts, social networks, and wikis.  See the table below for examples of each of these. 

Social media refers to online platforms and technologies that enable users to create, share, and interact with content and other users. These platforms facilitate various forms of communication, collaboration, and networking, often in real-time. 

Here's an overview of how social media works and its key components:

• Platforms: Social media platforms are websites or mobile applications where users can create profiles, share content, and interact with others. Examples include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Snapchat.

• Profiles: Users create personal or business profiles on social media platforms, which typically include information such as a profile picture, bio, and interests. Profiles serve as a digital identity for users within the social network.

• Content Sharing: Social media enables users to share various types of content, including text posts, photos, videos, links, and multimedia content. Users can publish content on their profiles or share it with specific individuals, groups, or the public.

• Interactions: Social media facilitates interactions between users through likes, comments, shares, mentions, and direct messages. These interactions allow users to engage with each other's content, express opinions, provide feedback, and build connections.

• Networking: Social media platforms provide opportunities for networking and relationship-building, both on a personal and professional level. Users can connect with friends, family, colleagues, classmates, and like-minded individuals, as well as follow public figures, brands, and organizations.

• Discovery and Exploration: Social media algorithms and features help users discover new content, accounts, and communities based on their interests, preferences, and online behavior. Explore pages, hashtags, trending topics, and recommendations enhance the user experience by surfacing relevant content.

• Privacy and Security: Social media platforms offer privacy settings and security features to control who can view, interact with, and share users' content. Users can adjust their privacy preferences to manage their online presence and protect their personal information.

• Analytics and Insights: Social media platforms provide analytics tools and metrics for users and businesses to track the performance of their content, engagement levels, audience demographics, and other key metrics. These insights help users optimize their social media strategy and measure the effectiveness of their online presence.

What are FORUMS & WIKIS?

• Forums:

  • Forums are online discussion platforms where users can post messages and engage in conversations with others on various topics.

  • They are typically organized into categories or topics, allowing users to find discussions relevant to their interests.

  • Users can create new discussion threads or reply to existing ones, enabling ongoing conversations.

  • Forums often have features such as user profiles, private messaging, and moderators to manage discussions and enforce rules.

  • Examples of forums include Reddit, Stack Overflow, and various niche forums dedicated to specific interests or hobbies.

• Wikis:

  • Wikis are collaborative websites that allow users to contribute, edit, and revise content collectively.

  • They are often used to create knowledge bases, documentation, or informational resources on a particular subject.

  • Wikis typically consist of interconnected pages, with hyperlinks allowing users to navigate between related topics.

  • Users can edit wiki pages directly using a simple markup language or a visual editor, depending on the platform.

  • One of the most famous wikis is Wikipedia, where users from around the world collaboratively create and maintain an extensive encyclopedia covering a wide range of topics.

  • Wikis are commonly used in businesses, educational institutions, and online communities to create and share knowledge internally or publicly.

What's the difference? Blog Post v. Forum Topic

• Blog Post:

  • Authorship: A blog post is typically authored by a single individual or organization.

  • Purpose: The primary purpose of a blog post is to share information, opinions, experiences, or insights with readers.

  • Structure: Blog posts often follow a structured format, with a title, body text, images, and sometimes multimedia elements.

  • Ownership: The author or the website owner owns the content of a blog post, and readers usually interact with the post through comments.

  • Engagement: While readers can comment on blog posts, the interaction is typically limited to responses to the content provided by the author.

  • Promotion: Blogs are often used as a platform for self-expression, branding, thought leadership, or marketing purposes.

• Forum Topic:

  • Community-driven: Forum topics are created by users within a community or forum platform, and the discussion is driven by the contributions of multiple participants.

  • Discussion: The main purpose of a forum topic is to initiate a discussion among members of the community on a specific subject.

  • Structure: Forum topics may have a title and an opening post, but the structure can vary depending on the platform. Replies to the original post contribute to the ongoing conversation.

  • Ownership: While the original poster (OP) initiates the topic, the discussion is collectively owned by the participants who contribute to it.

  • Engagement: Forum topics encourage ongoing conversation and engagement among community members, with participants sharing their perspectives, asking questions, providing answers, and discussing related topics.

  • Community Building: Forums often serve as platforms for building communities around shared interests, hobbies, or objectives.

What is a blog?

A blog is a type of website that is updated regularly with new content. Most blogs contain short, informal articles called blog posts. These posts usually contain some combination of text, photos, videos, and other media. At its core, a blog is just a space on the Web that you can create to record and express your opinions, experiences, and interests.

Who blogs?

The people who write blogs are called bloggers. From what you hear on the news, you might think bloggers are all a certain type of people—young, politically inclined, and tech-savvy. Or maybe you've heard about bloggers who've written about amazing experiences or ambitious projects, then turned their blogs into bestselling books. 

Why blog?

As you saw in the infographic on the last page, most bloggers consider blogging a hobby. It can be a fairly time-consuming hobby, as many bloggers spend several hours each week writing blog posts, replying to comments, and more. 

There are many reasons why people blog, but here are some of the most common reasons:

• To share your experiences and expertise

• To speak up about an issue you care about

• To become more involved with hobbies and passions

• To be part of a community

• To advance your career or start a career in writing

• To keep family and friends updated about your life

Blogging for money

Another reason some people blog is to earn money. People earn money from their blogs by hosting advertisements, selling products, or publishing their blog posts in the form of a book or printed articles.

The media often reports on bloggers who have done this successfully, turning their blogs into careers and even a book and movie deals.  

What do people blog about?

A blog can be about literally anything. There are people blogging about every topic imaginable, from their political views to their pets. Think of any interest or hobby, no matter how unusual or specialized—there's bound to be an entire community of blogs devoted to discussing it.

What's the best choice for you?

Blogging openly

For example, if you're like Elena and want to use your blog to promote yourself or build a career, you'll need to include at least some personal information.

Blogging anonymously

On the other hand, if you have a more personal blog you may not want to link real-life information like your full name and location to the things you write.

Blogging cautiously

Whether you choose to make your identity public or be completely anonymous, you should be cautious about sharing personal details online. As you decide how much you feel comfortable sharing, keep this in mind: Once you post information about yourself online, it's almost impossible to be totally anonymous later, even if you remove the information you shared.

What is a blog service?

A blog service is a website that lets you create and maintain a blog. It hosts your blog, which means it gives your blog its own web address, or URL. Your blog service also stores your blog's data. Each blog service has different features, but they all let you share your opinions, interests, photos, and more.

There are two basic types of blog services:

• Traditional blog services: Traditional blog services let you create a website for your blog. Blogs created with these services can include sections, categories, and other features that let you organize your blog posts. These services also include features that let you permit and manage comments, as well as tools to customize the appearance of your blog.

• Microblogging services: Microblogging services let you create blog posts that are very short, often consisting of only a line of text, an image, or a link. Most microblogging services are designed to be used in a certain way. 

Traditional blog services

The two biggest traditional blog services are WordPress and Blogger. Both allow you to create and customize your own blog, and both offer good options for creating all types of posts. 

WordPress

WordPress is the most popular traditional blog service. It offers advanced blog customization features that let you control your blog's appearance and manage comments, blog post drafts, and more. 

Blogger

Blogger is the second most popular traditional blog service. It offers slightly fewer blog customization and management features than WordPress, but it still includes plenty of ways to control your blog's appearance, including a large selection of themes. Because it includes fewer options, Blogger's interface is simpler than WordPress', so you may find it easier to use.

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social networking site that makes it easy for you to connect and share with family and friends online. Originally designed for college students, Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg while he was enrolled at Harvard University. By 2006, anyone over the age of 13 with a valid email address could join Facebook. 

Why use Facebook?

Have you ever wondered why people like using Facebook? After all, there are already a lot of other ways to communicate online, like through email, instant messaging, and so on. What makes Facebook unique is the ability to connect and share with the people you care about at the same time.

How does Facebook sharing work?

Facebook allows you to send messages and post status updates to keep in touch with friends and family. You can also share different types of content, like photos and links. But sharing something on Facebook is a bit different from other types of online communication. 

While Facebook offers privacy tools to help you limit who can see the things you share, it's important to understand that Facebook is designed to be more open and social than traditional communication tools. 

Facebook for mobile devices

Facebook makes it easy to connect on the go. In fact, most Facebook users primarily access the site from a mobile device. Facebook offers an official mobile app on a variety of smartphones and tablets, including iOS and Android. 

You can use the mobile app to do just about everything you can do in the desktop version of Facebook: post status updates and pictures, read stories and updates, and chat with friends.

Why is Facebook privacy important?

If you choose to share things publicly on Facebook, anyone with an account will be able to find and view your Facebook information, posts, and activity. 

For example:

• You could be sharing personal information you’d rather keep private, like your birth date or address.

• Anything you post, such as photos, comments, and status updates, will be visible to people you don’t know.

• Embarrassing or unflattering posts could negatively affect your personal and professional reputation.

• Third-party websites and applications can access and share information from your Facebook account.

Sharing and privacy

Even if you customize your privacy settings, it's important to understand that the things you share on Facebook are visible to a lot of other people. This is because Facebook is designed to be more open and social than traditional communication tools.

For example, let's say you post a photo on a friend's Timeline. By default, that photo will be visible to all of your friends on Facebook, not just the person you shared it with. The photo will also be visible to anyone who is friends with your friend. 

Facebook privacy across the Web

You may not realize that your Facebook account extends across the Web. The Facebook Platform is a tool that lets other websites connect with your Facebook account and view your public information. If you've ever seen an option to Login with Facebook on another website, you've seen the Facebook Platform in action. 

There are three other ways third-party websites can integrate your Facebook account.

Instant personalization

Instant personalization allows sites to personalize your experience while signed in to Facebook. 

Social plug-ins

Social plug-ins are tools that let you easily share a site's content on Facebook.

Platform apps

Platform apps let you link your Facebook account to an external site. When you add a platform app, you'll be able to use your Facebook user name and password to sign in to that site. 

Instagram is a platform designed for sharing visual content. While it started off as a photo-sharing app, now there's a vast array of different features. In this first lesson, we'll go over...

• what makes Instagram unique

• how to set up a basic personal profile

• how to start following other users

Why Instagram?

You might be wondering: what makes Instagram special? Do I really need a separate app for posting stuff? One reason for the platform's popularity is its clean and simple layout. 

Many people turn to Instagram for motivation, lifestyle tips, and entertainment. You can follow friends you know in real life, as well as "influencers," celebrities, companies, and organizations. 

Before we get started, it’s important to know three things...

• You must be at least 13 years old to set up an account. You can read more about their Terms of Use here.

• While it used to be that you needed a smartphone to use the Instagram app, now you can access your account from your computer or laptop.

• Thirdly, the platform is being tweaked all the time. Instagram's team is always adding or modifying features, so don't be surprised if you see small changes here and there.

Setting up an account

• To use Instagram on your smartphone, you'll need to download the app. Visit either Google Play (if you have an Android phone) or the App Store (if you have an iPhone) to do so. 

• If you want to create an account from your computer/laptop, visit Instagram's main page. Where it says "Don't have an account? Sign up," tap Sign up and it will direct you through the process. 

• After downloading the Instagram app, you can create your account. You can use your email address, phone number, or an active Facebook account to do so. 

• You will need access to the phone number or account you entered, since it will send you a Confirmation Code. Enter the code you received.

• It will then ask for your Full name. You can change this at a later date. (This is different from your Instagram "handle" or username that everyone will see).

• Afterwards, you will need to choose a Password. Feel free to check out our lesson on creating strong passwords.

• Next up, Instagram will ask you to Add Your Birthday. You should be able to scroll up and down to select the month, day, and year.

• If you entered an email address, Instagram assumes you want to use the same username as your email. You can either tap Next if you’re okay with that, or Change Username. 

• On the next screen, you’ll be prompted to add a profile photo. You can choose one that’s currently on your phone, import a profile pic from another social media app, or just take a new selfie using your phone’s camera instead.

• Instagram once again gives you the option to Connect to Facebook or Connect contacts.  

• The Discover People section is also where you can find some popular users to follow. 

Your profile page and your feed

Completing your profile

• First you need to get to your profile page. If you're not already there, tap your profile pic in the lower right corner of the bottom toolbar.

• If you scroll down past the Discover people section of your profile page, you will be prompted to Complete Your Profile.

• Under Complete Your Profile, you can tap Add Your Name or Add a Bio. You might also get a pop-up to Create your avatar.  

• Once you’re in Edit Profile mode, you can add your Name, Pronouns, and type your Bio. If you have a personal or business website, you also have the option to Add Links.

• Afterwards, tap Done in the upper right corner.  

Sharing content

If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably eager to start sharing your own content! 

Sharing videos

Sharing a simple, unedited video is similar to sharing a photo. While Instagram refers to videos as "reels," reels generally include editing, songs, special filters, and more. Let’s stick to the basics for now.

• From your profile page or your feed, tap the Plus icon in the upper right corner. Once again, tap Post in the pop-up menu.

• This will bring you to your album. If you need to add the video from your phone, tap Manage, then find/select it. You can preview the video once you’ve selected it. Tap Next.

• You might get a notification that “Video posts are now shared as reels.” Read through the description. Tap Ok, or Go to settings if you want to adjust your settings. 

• You can Edit cover, or choose the still you want to be the “cover” of your video. 

• Then type your Caption. You can also tag people and add a location. Once you’re finished, tap Share.

What is it?

• • LinkedIn(Linktree, Linkin.bio, etc.) is a feature that allows you to include multiple links within your social media profile, typically on platforms like Instagram where you can't share clickable links in your posts.

Why use LinkedIn?

More and more businesses use LinkedIn to screen and recruit potential employees. This is why creating a LinkedIn account can make a difference when searching for your next job. Once you've signed up, you can add information to your profile page, which is a brief summary of your skills and employment history that effectively serves as an online resume. 

**To build your network, you can add contacts (also known as connections) with other LinkedIn users. As you make connections, you’ll be able to get skill endorsements, ask for recommendations, and find new job opportunities.**

How does it work?

• • You set up a landing page with services like Linktree or Linkin.bio, where you can add multiple links to your various content, such as blog posts, products, videos, etc.

  • You then place this unique URL in your social media profile's bio section.

  • When someone clicks on the link in your bio, they are directed to your Link in Bio landing page where they can select from the various links you've provided.

Benefits:

• • Centralized location: Instead of constantly changing the link in your bio, you can direct followers to one place where they can access all your content.

  • Improved engagement: Users can easily navigate to the content they're interested in without searching through your posts or website.

  • Analytics: Many Link in Bio services offer analytics, allowing you to track clicks and user engagement with your linked content.

Examples of platforms:

• • Linktree: One of the most popular services, Linktree offers a simple way to create a landing page with multiple links.

  • Linkin.bio: Offered by Later, Linkin.bio integrates with your Later account to turn your Instagram posts into clickable links.

Best practices:

• • Keep your Link in Bio page organized and visually appealing.

  • Regularly update your links to keep them relevant.

  • Monitor analytics to understand which links are performing best and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Common LinkedIn terms

Connections? Endorsements? Recruiters? If you're new to LinkedIn, there are a few terms that may seem a little confusing at first. Reviewing some of the most commonly used terms will give you a better understanding of how LinkedIn works and what to expect as you get started.

Profile

Your profile is what other people see when they find you on LinkedIn. You can think of your profile as a resume, where you can add information about your employment history, education, and skills. 

Recruiter

A recruiter is someone who works for a company to find new employees. On LinkedIn, recruiters will post job openings and search for new candidates. 

Connection

A connection is a person you’ve added to your LinkedIn network, similar to having a friend on Facebook. 

Recommendation

A recommendation is a short paragraph about your professional strengths and skills that's found on your profile. Recommendations are written by your connections, and you can ask them to write a recommendation if you want. 

Endorsement

An endorsement is when your connections vouch for the skills on your LinkedIn profile.

Profile

Your profile page is effectively a digital resume, and it's what other people see when they find you on LinkedIn. After clicking your photo, you can add your profile information, edit a photo, and change your career interests, among other things.

Search

You can use the search box to look for just about anything on LinkedIn, including people, job openings, and company pages. Simply type your search term, then click the magnifying glass or press Enter on your keyboard.

Home

Your homepage will appear whenever you sign in to LinkedIn. From here, you can see recent posts and updates from your connections, as well as icons that let you quickly navigate LinkedIn. 

My Network

From here, you can look for people you know on LinkedIn and add them as connections. You can also find groups to follow, trending hashtags, and any pending invitations from other LinkedIn users. 

Jobs

By clicking the Jobs icon, you can use LinkedIn's job search tool to look for openings that have been posted on the site. This tool allows you to sort your search results by location, experience level, and other types of filters.

Messaging

This lets you review all of your LinkedIn messages. LinkedIn automatically sorts your messages into categories, like connection status, InMail, and spam. 

Notifications

This icon shows your recent notifications. For example, if someone views your profile you'll see who viewed it and when they viewed it. 

Me icon

Through the Me icon, you can quickly change your basic settings, privacy preferences, and more advanced account options. You can also manage your post history, change your preferred language on LinkedIn, and sign out of your account.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a popular social network. While other social networks like Facebook and Twitter focus on personal sharing and status updates, Pinterest is all about collecting and sharing the things you find online.

Why use Pinterest?

We use the Internet to search for all kinds of information, but it can be difficult to keep everything we find organized. Think of Pinterest as a sort of digital bulletin board or scrapbook for collecting the things you find online.

Pinterest isn't just about creating your own boards. It also allows you to follow the pins created by your friends and other users, or pinners as they're called on Pinterest. Whenever you're browsing Pinterest, you can easily save pins you discover to your own boards. 

Navigating Pinterest

Here's a guide on how to navigate Pinterest effectively:

Home Feed:

• • When you log in to Pinterest, the Home Feed is the first thing you see. It consists of pins from accounts and boards you follow, as well as recommended pins based on your interests and activity.

  • Scroll through your Home Feed to discover new ideas, inspiration, and content from users you follow.

Search:

• • Use the search bar at the top of the screen to find specific pins, boards, or users. You can search for keywords, topics, or hashtags.

  • Pinterest also offers guided search suggestions as you type, helping you refine your search query.

Pins:

• • Pins are images or videos saved to Pinterest. Clicking on a pin will open it in a larger view, where you can see more details, including the source website, descriptions, related pins, and comments.

  • You can save pins to your own boards, like them, or share them with others.

Boards:

• • Boards are collections of pins organized around specific themes or topics. You can create your own boards and save pins to them.

  • Explore other users' boards to find inspiration and ideas. You can follow boards to see updates from them in your Home Feed.

Profile:

• • Your profile contains your boards, pins, and other information about your activity on Pinterest.

  • You can edit your profile, including your bio, profile picture, and website link.

Notifications:

• • Notifications alert you to activity related to your account, such as when someone likes or saves one of your pins, follows you, or comments on your pins.

  • Access your notifications by clicking on the bell icon in the top right corner of the screen.

Messages:

• • Pinterest offers messaging functionality, allowing you to send and receive messages with other users.

  • You can access your messages by clicking on the speech bubble icon in the top right corner of the screen.

Settings:

• • Access your account settings by clicking on the three dots (...) in the top right corner of the screen.

  • Here, you can manage your account settings, privacy, notifications, and more.

Explore Tab:

• • The Explore tab, located at the bottom of the screen (on mobile), offers curated content and trending ideas across various categories.

Following Tab:

• • The Following tab, located next to the Home tab (on mobile), shows the latest pins from users and boards you follow.

Understanding privacy on Pinterest

It's important to realize that with the exception of your secret boards, anything you pin on Pinterest is completely public. This is why we recommend always using your best judgment when pinning things to Pinterest. Also note that pinning something obscene or overtly offensive can result in the termination of your Pinterest account.

Creating a secret board

If you don't want anyone to see the things you're pinning, you can create a secret board. To do this, simply create a board as you normally would, but make sure to toggle the Secret option from No to Yes.

Pinterest for mobile devices

It's easy to access Pinterest on the go with the Pinterest app. Available for iOS and Android, the Pinterest app allows you to explore recent pins, create new boards, and more. You can also pin things directly from the web using your device's built-in browser.

Download the App:

• • Go to the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android) on your device.

  • Search for "Pinterest" in the search bar.

  • Tap on the Pinterest app from the search results.

  • Tap the "Download" or "Install" button and follow the prompts to install the app on your device.

Sign Up or Log In:

• • If you're a new user, you'll need to sign up for a Pinterest account. You can do this using your email address, Facebook account, or Google account.

  • If you already have a Pinterest account, simply log in using your existing credentials.

Explore Pins:

• • Upon logging in, you'll be taken to your Home Feed, where you can scroll through a curated selection of pins based on your interests.

  • Tap on any pin to view it in detail. From there, you can like, save, or share the pin.

Search for Pins:

• • Use the search bar at the top of the screen to search for specific pins, boards, or users.

  • Enter keywords, topics, or hashtags to find relevant content.

Save Pins and Create Boards:

• • To save a pin, tap the bookmark icon on the bottom right corner of the pin.

  • To create a new board, tap on your profile picture, then tap the "+" icon. Give your board a name and description, and tap "Create" to save it.

Discover Content:

• • Explore different categories and topics by tapping on the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen. Pinterest offers a wide range of curated collections, including home decor, fashion, food, travel, and more.

Profile and Settings:

• • Access your profile by tapping on your profile picture icon. From there, you can view your saved pins, boards, and followers.

  • Tap on the three dots (...) to access settings, where you can manage your account preferences, notifications, and privacy settings.

Pin from the Web:

• • Use the Pinterest app's built-in browser extension to pin content directly from the web. Open the Pinterest app, tap the "+" icon, and select "Save from site." Follow the prompts to save the content to one of your boards.

What is Skype?

Skype is a free program that allows you to talk to friends and family on your computer or mobile device. You can even talk to each other live over video chat. All of this is possible through a technology called voiceover IP, or VoIP (pronounced voyp), which can transmit your voice over the Internet. Skype uses VoIP to let you make phone calls, video calls, group calls, and more over the Internet instead of using traditional phone lines.

Alternatives to Skype

Skype isn't the only software that can be used to make VoIP and video calls. Check out some of these other options as well.

• Facebook Video Calling

• Google Hangouts

• Apple FaceTime

• Yahoo! Messenger

• FaceFlow

• ooVoo

Before your first video call

Are you ready to talk face to face? On Skype, video calls are easy, whether you have a built-in webcam or one you've purchased separately.

Before you begin, make sure:

• You're connected to the Internet

• Your volume is turned up

• Your speakers and microphone are plugged in (if they're not already built in to your computer)

• Your webcam is plugged in (if it's not already built in to your computer)

• You know your basic voice call settings are working; if you're not sure, you can always make a test call, which is covered in our lesson on Making Voice Calls with Skype.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is a free messaging and social networking app for smartphones. Available for both Android and iOS, Snapchat allows you to send text messages, pictures, and short videos to friends and family. 

Why use Snapchat?

While these temporary messages might sound a bit impractical, they're actually a big part of what makes Snapchat so popular. Because most of the things you post on Snapchat aren't permanent, it makes it easier to share silly photos, goofy videos, and small moments from your daily life. Snapchat also includes special features that let you add drawings and illustrations to your photos before sharing. 

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a cross-platform messaging app for smartphones that allows you to send text messages and make voice calls using your phone's Internet connection. In addition to sending texts, you can send pictures, videos, documents, and voice messages.

Why use WhatsApp?

You might be thinking WhatsApp sounds pretty similar to standard texting and calling.

• Messages and phone calls are made using an Internet connection instead of through a cellular plan. You won't have to worry about using up minutes or being charged SMS fees. However, if you're not using a Wi-Fi connection, WhatsApp will use data from your data plan.

• You can call and text other people internationally for free, which would normally be expensive or not possible.

• If you're connected to Wi-Fi, you can still make calls and send texts if you have no cell service.

• WhatsApp is a cross-platform app, meaning it can be used across a variety of mobile devices, including on desktop computers and in Internet browsers.

• You can send documents as large as 100MB, including PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, and slideshows.

Here are some tips to enhance your experience with WhatsApp:

• Customize Notifications: You can customize notifications for individual contacts or groups. Go to the chat, tap on the contact/group name at the top, then tap on "Custom Notifications." Here you can adjust message and call notifications as per your preference.

• Star Important Messages: Long-press on a message and tap the star icon to mark it as important. You can access these messages later by tapping on the three-dot menu > Starred Messages.

• Mute Chats: If you're part of a group chat that's particularly active or if there's a contact who messages frequently, you can mute the chat. Long-press on the chat, tap on the mute icon, and select the duration.

• Archive Chats: To keep your chat list organized without deleting chats, you can archive them. Swipe left on the chat and tap on the archive icon. Archived chats can be accessed by scrolling to the bottom of your chat list or by searching for the contact's name.

• Use WhatsApp Web/Desktop: You can use WhatsApp on your computer through the WhatsApp Web interface or the desktop app. This allows you to type more comfortably using a physical keyboard and access your messages seamlessly.

• Broadcast Lists: Create broadcast lists to send the same message to multiple contacts without starting a group chat. Go to the Chats tab, tap on the three-dot menu > New broadcast, select contacts, and compose your message.

• WhatsApp Status: Share updates, photos, and videos with your contacts via WhatsApp Status. These updates disappear after 24 hours. You can also control who can see your status updates in privacy settings.

• Use WhatsApp Pay: In regions where it's available, you can use WhatsApp Pay to send and receive money securely within chats.

• Check Data Usage: Keep an eye on your data usage by going to Settings > Data and Storage Usage > Network Usage. Here you can see how much data WhatsApp is consuming for calls, messages, media, etc.

• Backup Chats: Regularly backup your chats to Google Drive (Android) or iCloud (iOS) to avoid losing important messages. Go to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup to set up automatic backups.

What is YouTube?

YouTube is a free video sharing website that makes it easy to watch online videos. You can even create and upload your own videos to share with others. 

Why use YouTube?

One reason YouTube is so popular is the sheer number of videos you can find. On average, 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, so there's always something new to watch! And you'll find all kinds of videos on YouTube—adorable cats, quirky cooking demos, funny science lessons, quick fashion tips, and a whole lot more.

Is YouTube appropriate for everyone?

With so much content on YouTube, it's important to note that not all YouTube videos are appropriate for everyone, especially children under the age of 13.

Navigating YouTube

Once you have a Google account, you're ready to sign in and start watching videos. Simply go to www.youtube.com, click Sign In in the upper-right corner, and enter your Google account information.

The YouTube homepage

Once you've signed in, the YouTube homepage will appear, and you'll see trending and popular videos, videos recommend for you, and more. 

The Guide

No matter where you are on YouTube, you can use the Guide on the left to quickly navigate the site.

YouTube for mobile devices

In fact, more than 40 percent of YouTube's traffic comes from mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. And because the free YouTube app for Android and iOS devices is designed to be very similar to the desktop version of the site, you'll find it especially easy to use if you're already familiar with the YouTube interface. 

Recording your own videos

Webcam

A lot of videos on YouTube—including the ones we've shown you throughout this tutorial—are recorded with a webcam. Webcams are best for recording yourself, which allows for a very personal, informal style. 

Mobile device

Another great way to record content for YouTube is with a smartphone or other mobile device. Because you'll probably have these devices with you at all times, they're especially convenient for capturing a video right in the moment.

Professional recording equipment

Along with a high-quality video camera, you'll want to consider purchasing items like additional lighting, microphones, and tripods. You may also want to purchase separate video editing software. Built-in software like iMovie and the Windows Photos app should be able to handle basic editing tasks, but if you want that extra level of polish, professional software like Adobe Premiere Pro CC or Final Cut Pro may be a better option for you. 

YouTube Creator Academy

Whichever method you choose for recording your videos, these tutorials from YouTube Creator Academy can help you learn more about the technical aspects of video production.

Video privacy

As we mentioned above, you'll be able to choose from a few visibility options for any video you upload:

• Public: This is visible to all YouTube users and others online.

• Unlisted: This is visible only to people who have the URL address for the video.

• Private: This is visible only to you and the people you choose to share it with (these users will be required to sign in with a Google account to view the video).