A blog for social media communicators at MIT
Popular Categories
Tag Cloud
Don't send Facebook posts directly to Twitter
September 4, 2012
When it comes to automating posts, you might consider sending the post from the platform with the most limitations and automate from there. Otherwise, you run into trouble. For example, if you are sending posts from Facebook to Twitter automatically, posts will appear truncated on Twitter because Twitter's character...
Read the PostUse IFTTT for Automatic Content Archival
August 27, 2012
IFTTT ("if this then that") is an automation tool that allows you to make "recipes" consisting of triggers. Here's how it works. You register all your social (and other internet-based) accounts with IFTTT. Then you can make a recipe, such as "whenever I get tagged on Facebook, send me an email." You can use this tool...
Read the PostAvoid Getting Hacked on Twitter
August 20, 2012
Updated July 16, 2014 The difference between spam and hacking when it comes to Twitter is that spam usually comes from a stranger (or from friends who use social media in annoying ways, but that's another issue). Attempts at hacking your account, however, can come from someone you trust, not because that trusted...
Read the PostInfluencers and Brand Advocates
August 10, 2012
There are two specific groups with whom you should be cultivating relationships to more effectively reach your target audience: influencers and brand advocates. Part of reaching out to a large audience involves reaching out to key influencers and brand advocates who in turn reach specific groups of people with their...
Read the PostTweeter's Block
June 19, 2012
You're posting for your department and you can't think of anything interesting to tweet. In essence, you have Tweeter's block. Remember, your department is bustling with activity - this is MIT! Inventions, research, hacks, socials, conversations, innovations, awards, news. There is a lot going on. Your audience is...
Read the PostHootSuite: How to Automatically Send RSS Content to Social Media Accounts
April 26, 2012
When you're overwhelmed as a communicator, automation can be key. This post deals with taking the new content of an existing RSS feed and sending it automatically to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Let's say, for example, that MIT News often writes articles about your department, and...
Read the Post12 MIT Professors to Follow on Twitter
April 25, 2012
Enjoy this list of MIT professors who are active on Twitter. #onlyatMIT RT @ccmillsMIT: Professor is doing "tweaching" where you can tweet questions using the hashtag #6_02. I love MIT. — Mikey Yang (@MikeyMIT) September 9, 2011 Ed Boyden, @EBoyden3 Associate Professor, Program in Media Arts and Sciences (@medialab)...
Read the Post4 Benefits of Joining Twitter Chats
April 17, 2012
A few Tuesdays ago I participated in the weekly Twitter chat called #influencechat. We discussed disruption and innovation (concepts made popular by Clayton Christensen, @claychristensen, a well-known professor at Harvard Business School @HarvardBiz). After debating the difference between the two terms, we discussed...
Read the PostTwitter 101
April 10, 2012
How to start a Twitter account for your department You will need: An email account (your Twitter account will be tied to this) A username (search on Twitter to make sure the username you want is not taken). This should be as short as possible and should contain 'MIT' if possible. For example, the Department of...
Read the PostHow to Create Pre-written Tweets
April 3, 2012
If you've visited a site like New York Times or Mashable, you may have seen that you can click on a "share" or "tweet this" button to share the article you are reading on Twitter. On many of these sites, when you do share the article, a pre-written tweet pops up with the title of the article and the URL so all you...
Read the Post