Connect 2013
Social Media Glossary
Bitly A link shortening tool for use on Twitter and other sites. It replaces a long URL (web address) with a short one;
provides metrics about how many people have clicked on the new link.
Facebook An online community for people to connect and share videos, pictures and information. It’s generally used
less in professional networking, but many companies have Facebook ‘Pages’.
Flickr An online site for storing, sharing and commenting on photos
Foursquare A location-based mobile platform that allows users to “check in” at locations via a smartphone app or SMS
to collect points and virtual badges
Google Plus (G+) Google’s social media network. The platform itself is not widely used, but G+ connects Google services
such as Google Calendar, blogs & YouTube (owned by Google).
Hootsuite Browser-based social media dashboard that allows you to control Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and
LinkedIn profiles under a single login. It also includes analytics and search capabilities, and allows for multiple managers
on an account. Hootsuite is based in Vancouver.
Instagram An online photo-sharing and social networking service that lets users take pictures, apply digital filters to
them, and share them on social networking services like Facebook or Twitter.
LinkedIn An online community used to network with fellow professionals.
Pinterest Virtual bookmarking platform that allows users to “pin” pictures from any website to their digital dashboard.
Reddit A social news and entertainment site where users submit content, and other users vote the submission up or
down, ranking the post and determining its position on the site.
Twitter A microblogging community where posts are restricted to 140 characters.
Tumblr A microblogging site designed for easy use and the sharing of photos, music, videos and other media.
SlideShare An online community for uploading and sharing presentations.
YouTube An online site for uploading and discussing videos. Users can subscribe to “channels,” through which other
users broadcast video content.
Connect 2013
Twitter Tips
A good resource for getting started: The #NurseUK Guide to Using Twitter
http://www.slideshare.net/AgencyNurse/nurses-guide-to-using-twitterppt-2
RT: Stands for retweet, Twitter's equivalent of quoting. If you come across a tweet that you want to quote, giving credit
to the original user
Tweeps: Some Twitter users say tweeps to refer to the Twitter community overall
Twitterverse: The universe of people, tools, applications, and services on Twitter, meaning the entire Twitter
community and ecosystem of other related things.
Hashtags: The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by
Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.
 People use the hashtag symbol # before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize
those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search.
 Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets marked with that keyword.
 Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet – at the beginning, middle, or end.
 If you Tweet with a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find your
Tweet
 Don't #spam #with #hashtags. Don't over-tag a single Tweet. (Best practices recommend using no more than 2
hashtags per Tweet.)
 Use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic.
 Hashtags of interest to InspireNet members might be #cdnhealth (Canadian Healthcare), #bchc (BC Healthcare),
#cdnpse (Canadian Post-secondary education), #hcscmca (Healthcare Social Media Canada), #nurses
Other Tips:
 When you’re referencing another Twitter user, use their Twitter handle (i.e. @InspireNetBC) so that the user
can see you mentioned her and so that other users can see who you’re talking about.
 When you first sign up and before you start regularly tweeting, don’t follow hundreds of people. Start out
slowly, following people you know and who know you. Then, as you start tweeting regularly, follow more people
based on your interests.
 Avoid using punctuation in your username. Typing punctuation on mobile devices is difficult.
 Don't share information that you might regret making public.
 Don’t send an update when a direct message is more appropriate — for example, when the update is
meaningless to anyone except one person. If the person doesn’t follow you, you can send an update that
contains her name, asking her to contact you over another medium.
 Don’t feel the need to thank everyone publicly for following you. It’s a nice thing to do, but not always
necessary.
 Don’t think Twitter success has anything to do with your Followers count.