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November Edition 2017

Making better use of Social Media.

When sending a letter or email of complaint we usually address it to a person or an organisation and we might copy it to others involved in the hope of getting more attention.

We now often express our outrage on social media, gain public support and engage users opinions but rarely do we target those who could be doing something about it.

Do you want Results from your Facebook Postings?

Here we're going to attempt to explain how we could be using social media to get the attention of the right people, in greater numbers and gain a United Community impact.

Social Media is NOT a Letter.

Twitter and Facebook are Public forums more similar to a noticeboards than letters.

Whether your posting will have an impact depends on its content, reaching the right users, and if it's really easy to share and promote.

Before we make use of it we need to understand a few significant things:

1. LEGAL STATUS:

No longer a private conversation your Facebook or Twitter postings are public broadcasts so you could be sued for so many things: making statements that are false, insulting, incited hatred........etc AND also for sharing them. Reference Article

Facebook has been in the news for several months trying to find a way to manage 'Fake News' without restricting freedom of expression or being sued as a promoter. Reference Article

Think of a printed Newspaper where a journalist makes a false statement - you'd sue the newspaper not the journalist! However both Twitter and individuals have been sued in UK courts. Reference Article

If you don't think it can happen here then read the 2012 article by the Journal.ie and the 2017 articles by the Irish Times and you'll see where YOU now stand.

Can you get arrested for things you say on Facebook and Twitter? Short answer: yes.

Man sues Facebook over post calling him Dundalk’s biggest drug dealer Social media company denies man was defamed; Says it is not a publisher but a facilitator of material

Couple awarded €30,000 for Facebook defamation by neighbourJudge warns posting social media comments can be a ‘highly dangerous activity’

2. REACH

Your posting can go further than you imagined.

When your 'friends' interact by liking or commenting they are playing a role in promoting it to others within their own personal network without even using the official 'Share' button.

Some of your followers will be 'Friend Collectors' and some will have thousands of 'Friends' and their interaction could set the post off on a viral path.

3. DELETE

You can't take back what you've posted whether it was a letter, email or social media posting.

Deleting your post does not mean that it hasn't been seen, shared or copied.

These postings can stay with us for life.

4. USERS

You might assume everyone in Ireland uses social media but the statistics recently published by www.ipsosmrbi.com might surprise you.

41% don't use Facebook
63% don't use Linkedin
72% don't use Instagram
75% don't use Twitter
79% don't use Google+
85% don't use Pinterest
95% don't use Tinder

There are quite a lot more Non Users than we imagined.

5. VISIBILITY

Facebook Pages belonging to groups can have different levels of page visibility.

Just like you can adjust your own personal security settings to restrict who can see your information and posts so can Groups.

https://www.facebook.com/help/220336891328465 explains the Page types Facebook Offers.

Navan South Communities Unite

Join Your Community Noticeboard

Our Community Noticeboard: Navan South - Communities Unite is a Closed Group meaning only members can see the posts created within it and our comments within the group stay there.

This explains why most postings can't be shared and those that can will not take Closed Group comments with them for non members to see.

How this relates to YOU:

N.S.C.U. could accumulate over 3,000 members from the Johnstown and surrounding areas based on the usage statistics and our local population.

The posts made within the group potentially reach all the members but they don't reach anyone else.

Given also that the postings and discussions are private then it's highly likely they are NOT reaching the individuals, groups and organisations who could act and resolve some of the issues being mentioned.

Connect People in the Posting

Similar to writing a letter you could address your posting to someone.

Some devices are better than others but generally use the @ symbol before typing a name and Facebook will attempt to Tag the name of a user from either your list of 'Friends' or known organisations. Alternatively look up their Facebook Page and find out the individual @'.........' next to their Name. Not everyone has one but big groups usually do.

Twitter uses the hashtag # to create traffic, in a similar way that Facebook uses the @ to tag parties.

If you can't Tag parties yourself there's nothing to stop other users from doing so in their own comments.

A quick glance through the NSCU posts reveals that very few members use these 'Tags' which notify the person or group about the posting. Quite a few comments do Tag individuals to ensure they see the posts but only if they are members.

A Significant Problem.

If the original post is written within the N.S.C.U. Page then Tags are useless unless those mentioned are members too.

Also, members cannot Share the post beyond the group.

To overcome this simply make the posting on your own page before sharing it to the private group. Those User Tags will notify them to view your own original post.

Then Share your post to any private group to now effectively have 2 separate postings - one in public and one in private.

The private member's comments stay private but they can at least share your original post, including the Tags, which increases its reach and impact.

Who to Tag?

If the purpose of the posting is to have an outcome by someone involved then treat it like a letter and address it using Tags within the content.

If for example I was posting about severe antisocial behaviour I might decide to Tag some or all of the following on Facebook, the potential followers are listed alongside and rounded up :

Government

An Garda Síochána, 160K
Meath Crime Prevention, 25K
Meath County Council, 6K
County Councillors, potentially 1K each
TDs, potentially 5K each
Department of Justice and Equality, 8k Twitter
Department of Children and Youth Affairs, 8k Twitter
Child and Family Agency - Tusla , 13k

Local Groups

My Residents Association, Less than 300
My Neighbourhood Watch Group, Less than 500
Navan South Communities Unite, 1,600
Safer Meath Campaign, Less than 100

Media

The Johnstown Times, 700
Meath Chronicle, 37K
LMFM, 24K

This particular example notifies at least 15 Facebook Page owners drawing attention to the posting with the aim of them either doing something about the issue or promoting it within their own networks.

Add up all the potential followers and the posting now has exposure to around 289,000

If you want a long list of Government Groups then you'll discover them on Meath Partnership's website www.meathpartnership.ie

Not all Government Groups or individual parties have Facebook Pages or Twitter Accounts and some will not all allow you to Tag them.

Here's a quick List of some of our local groups.

Negative PR

Complaints are not usually promoted by those responsible but you could copy your post and paste on their Facebook Pages. There's high chance of it being deleted by the owner but it's worth a shot.

Summary

If you want your posting to be more effective and stand more chance of gaining an outcome:

Post on your own page before sharing it to a private group.
Get your point across without using 'false statements'.
Tag relevant people / groups / organisations in your original post.
Ask people to share it - most don't assume to do this without being asked.
Don't create a posting that requires users to write an email / Copy and Post - MOST DON'T - it's effort and time is precious.
Share or Post your original to individual Facebook Pages as a visitor.
Add Tags to other people's original public posts if you believe it is appropriate.

Facebook is only one of the platforms. You could make use of all the others if you really wanted to make a statement.

You could also Pay Facebook to promote you're post and quickly boost it's reach but you'd need to be very angry or concerned to go down that path.