I’ll use Tech Talk to discuss all the tools, gadgets and platforms that I love…and hate in web 2.0. I thought a great way to kick it off was to give you a download on all the social media tools I use to connect and communicate. However, like I mention in my manifesto, not all tools work for everyone. These are the ones that I find useful. I’ll try and add something new every week.

My Social Media Mixer

Facebook

Facebook, more or less, is a personal network for me. At times, I use it to connect with other professionals in the industry, but usually don’t make that connection until I have met someone face to face first. There are a couple of things that you should be aware of as you start building out your FB network.

I started using FB in college, as a social networking tool. It was great because I was a transfer student at the time and didn’t know a single person and I used it to connect with people in some of my classes. After a couple of months I joined a couple of student organizations, PRSSA and IABC, and used it as a resource to keep up with any news and event info. Yes, I was a nerd, and served as student president of IABC, and treasurer of PRSSA. I think at that point I really saw how useful fan pages and groups could be for an administrator.

Your Profile

The first thing you will want to do is create a profile. I’m always a fan, as with most other tools, of using a real picture, versus a company logo or avatar. While you can insert as much or as little information as you would like into your profile – I would say if there is ANY chance you will using FB to connect with business contacts that you should think twice about using/posting photos or information of yourself running around half naked, drunk, on drugs, or whatever else you may term socially acceptable. Remember, what’s “socially acceptable” in your book may be shocking to others. All of this may seem blatantly obvious – but trust me – it’s really not to most out there. We forget that our virtual networks are easily searchable and can often reveal information we never thought possible.

I also suggest double checking your privacy settings before making your profile public. There are certain profile characteristics that are always viewable to others by search functions, unless you specify otherwise.

Finding People

Most of the people I connect with on FB are people I know personally, or are a friend of a friend. On that note, I usually don’t request to add someone as a friend if I have never met them face to face or have not developed a relationship with them on a more personal level. When I do search for people I want to add as friends, I usually search by name. Or if I know that they are a friend of a friend, I use the search function within that friend’s profile to locate the person. When I meet someone at networking event, like SMC Chicago for example, and would like to get to know them a little better after speaking with them – I may request to add them as a friend on FB.  I usually like to wait until I have gotten better acquainted with that person or until they suggest we connect on FB.

Staying Connected

For the most part, I post to a friend’s wall if I am trying to connect with them. I also am a fan of personal messages when I am sending something that I want to be exclusive and private to that friend. Another tool I find useful is FB chat – located at the bottom right hand corner of your page. FB chat enables you to see all of the friends that are currently online and chat with them live, just as you would using AOL Instant Messenger, for example.

Another way to keep up with everything going on is the news feed located on your home page, which provides you with updates and communications of friends. I use my news feed to check up on anything I may have missed after a couple of days away from FB – it seems to be the quickest and easiest way to get a quick glimpse into what everyone has been up to.

Groups

Like I mention above, I use groups a lot and am a big fan of a group’s capability to share information and manage members. I think the best part of becoming a member is your ability to upload photos, links and videos that pertain to a particular group – which gives other members the opportunity to share information as well. For example, I use my FLIP video cam to record all of the guest speakers at SMC Chicago each month. I am able to edit the videos quickly and easily and then upload them to the video section of the SMC Chicago page where members can view the video after the fact – always great to have if you miss a meeting.

Twitter – Tweet Tweet

Twitter serves as an instant two way chat forum where I can share information, links, and other useful information. It is the stomping grounds for first time meet and greets – an introduction to someone half across the world is made possible through Twitter. We all use Twitter differently. I thought this would be a good opportunity to share how I got started and the strategies I use in my everyday engagement. So here goes…

Your Profile

First things first…I recommend using a real picture of yourself. It’s always nice to be able to put a face to a name – a good rule of thumb that holds true in the virtual space as well. With that said, creating a username that uses your real name, or some variation of it, is important to me – as opposed to a company name – which I think can easily get lost in the mix. Remember people relate to people, not products and services.

I like to be able to take a quick glance at your info and learn a little about who you are. Whether it is what you like to eat, read, listen to, or do on a daily basis, fill in a sentence or two so I have an idea what you’re all about.

Following and Getting Followed

You have some options here. To start, I would begin by using Twitter Search to look for relevant topics, people, and areas of interest. You can find people in your field, your city, or even someone who finds knitting, cooking, shopping, etc. as amusing and entertaining as you do.

Twellow is my other favorite search tool. You can search by username or by keyword within a category. For example, if I want to search locally in Chicago for Communications Specialist I would search by the keyword Chicago and use the Category Communications to narrow down my search. Twellow organizes your search results by number of followers. So the person with the most followers will appear first.

Getting followed is not as easy – it takes some time and effort. Give back to the community you are in and they will give back to you. I find the majority of the time I am sharing new information or passing along interesting stuff others have shared. However, the real value comes as a result of the conversations you have. Building relationships is a key component on Twitter and one of the only ways, I believe, you can grow your network – something I am still working on.

What are all those @ and # about??

@ – at replies. Use the @ sign to respond to or direct a tweet to certain individual. An @ sign should look like this: @TwitterUserNameHere. When you place @TwitterUserNameHere in the very beginning of your tweet – your message will only be seen by that individual and/or the people that follow both you and that individual. If you place @TwitterUserNameHere in the middle of your tweet, it will be visible to both the person you directed your @ reply to, as well as everyone that follows you.

DM – Direct Messages. Direct messages are used to respond to or reach out to someone individually. Unlike @ replies – only the recipient can view your DM. The only stipulation with DMs however, is that you cannot send a DM to someone who you are not following or someone who is not following you. DMs are great when you want to address someone individually and share thoughts/information that really may not apply to anyone else in your community.

RT – Retweets. Use a retweet anytime you hear or see of something interesting and want to share that information with the rest of your Twitter community – an article, a quote, whatever. This is an easy way share information and give some credit to the person who shared it to begin with. Place RT immediately before your @ reply like this: RT @TwitterUserNameHere.

# - Hashtags. Hastags are used to group different topics or key words. By following a tweet with a #keyword/topic you have the ability to search by that #keyword/topic and follow the stream of conversation related to that particular #keyword/topic. Anyone can make up a #keyword/topic, just make sure that you do a little research first and make sure someone hasn’t already created it. Place the # anywhere within your tweet – I usually put them at the end of my tweets – but it is completely up to you.

The Terminology

This is where I would normally list a bunch of Twitter abbreviations. Fortunately, in doing a little research, I was able to find a few lists that were full of some great stuff…

Twitter Lingo Demystified!

My Twittonary – Every Twitter Term and Tool I Can Find

Still to come….Yammer, LinkedIn, Delicious, Blog