The 2009 Word of the Year as designated by the Oxford English Dictionary is “unfriend.” Do you know what it means? Do you tweet? Are you LinkedIn? Do you post on Flickr? If this all sounds like nonsense to you, it may be time to login and get with the program.

Social networking services (SNS), also referred to as social media, are now ubiquitous even through they haven’t been around that long. Originally, SNS were simply ways to keep in touch with friends, exchange information and do some online chatting. But now they’ve grown up and gone to work. SNS make it easier for people to communicate, listen, interact, and collaborate with each other, and these uses can apply to business just as easily as they can to one’s social interactions.

Here is what some local entities are doing to utilize tools of the SNS revolution.

CAMW!

Capital Area Michigan Works! provides workforce development services in mid-Michigan. The agency works with between 1,000 and 1,500 people on a daily basis and offers more than 400 programs for job seekers and employers.

At CAMW, Kate Tykocki, chief communications officer, uses SNS for both job seekers and employers. With centers in Lansing, St. Johns and Charlotte, the agency offers workshops in the use of social media services free for anyone who is interested.

Tykocki says, “CAMW’s Facebook account has about 450 followers. This Facebook network gives us the opportunity to promote upcoming events, share news items of interest and provide links to other relevant sites.”

“On Twitter we have about 800 followers. We use Twitter for information about job openings and leads, provide links to sites of interest and re-tweet (forward others’ tweets) when we see something we think our clients could use. We use Flickr to post pictures of events.

“While we still use traditional media, we see value in SNS. With an audience as diverse as ours and with the variety of media consumption habits, both conventional and new media have an important role to play.

“Using SNS, we can provide services for people who might never come into one of our centers. We decided social networking could add value to our service.”

Tycocki gives this advice to those considering using SNS, “It’s important to go online with a particular focus; don’t do it just because everyone else is. There has to be a point, a focus and a plan. State your goals and figure out how to measure your success. Be thoughtful about what you are doing. There are local experts available to help, as well as seminars and workshops like the ones we offer here. Solicit feedback, measure results and modify as necessary. SNS can be a valuable tool if you leverage it well.”

Impression 5

Katie Wittenauer, communications manager of Impression 5 Science Museum, began as an intern at Michigan State University. When she graduated, she was hired with a goal in mind. She says, “The museum wanted to incorporate ways to engage people online.”

Impression 5 continues to use traditional media to get the word out about the museum. However, they are also venturing into the world of online tools to enhance their public relations and marketing efforts. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube are all part of their arsenal.

According to Wittenauer, “We have two Facebook pages. One, with over 1,000 fans, is full of general information about the museum, science facts, event notices, new exhibit alerts and the like. The other is aimed particularly at families and has about 500-600 fans. Both have discussion forums, different threads to follow and a place for questions and answers. We try to be interactive and make our fans feel like they are part of the Museum. We get a lot of feedback, especially from families.

“We use Twitter constantly! Links to items of interest to our followers, information about upcoming events and new exhibits, links to Flickr where we post event photos and answers to questions asked by our followers all go into Twitter. We also like to send out fun science facts and links to science sites. There’s a new tool called Hoot Suite, which allows us to track how many times our followers click on links we’ve provided on Twitter, and YouTube features videos of some of our many events and activities. We have done lots of experimenting to see what works and have revised our online activities based on results.”

According to Wittenauer, “We recently announced an exhibit opening only online and ended up with a good number of people attending. And recently, on Flickr, we registered 624 hits on one day. It’s important to use the tools available to monitor what we are doing and how successful we are. We have really just started with this new way of connecting with people and fostering interactivity. We feel that the use of SNS is really promising.”

“I’d advise people who are considering this move to experiment to see what works, talk with others who are using SNS, have a plan and a strategy and make good use of tools like Hoot Suite to measure activity on their sites.”

The importance of SNS

Jennifer Middlin, marketing, public relations and social media consultant, echoes the need for having a strategy, goal and measurement tools when considering the use of SNS. She says, “It’s essential to have a vision. SNS is a tool, and it can be used in the wrong way. Users need to learn how to be part of this emerging technology to use it to their best advantage.

“There are continual conversations happening online, and a business would do well to interact with people who are having these virtual conversations, whether they are critics, advocates or simply people looking for information. With traditional media, there’s a long lead time, but SNS is instantaneous.

 “Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. International corporations are using SNS and we can see it being used locally as well. Look on the websites of many local businesses and organizations and links will be provided to their social networking sites.

“Betsy Weber (Techsmith), Julielyn Gibbons (i3 Strategies) and Kasey Anderson (Citizen’s Bank, Flint) and I host Mid-Michigan Tweet Up, a monthly networking group that brings together people who have connected online. The group has its own Twitter following where we announce events and related activities. We meet in local restaurants and have been drawing good crowds. 

Ignite Lansing (www.ignitelansing.com) is another new concept on the Lansing scene. One will be coming up sometime in 2010 according to Middlin. “This event gives participants the opportunity to have five minutes on stage to talk about anything they want with the exception of politics, religion or sales pitches. Presenters are allowed to show slides with a time limit of 15 seconds per slide. Our first one in April attracted 250 people, and the second one in September brought in 450 people. And the only publicity was through social networking sites. We’ve posted photos on Flickr and videos on YouTube—there are links to the photos and videos from the website.” 

“SNS is a media tool that allows connections. Everyone should consider becoming part of this revolution. Don’t be afraid of social media; any business can take advantage of this platform to have authentic conversations. People want connections and SNS provides it.”

So jump on the bandwagon: tweet, friend and linkin. Take part in the conversation!