5 Easy Social Media Tips for Technologists

A couple of weeks ago, Skip and I spoke at the Chariot Solutions offices for a Social Media "Lunch & Learn". Our audience? Open source technologists!

We reviewed some of the basics, but also discussed why a person in the technical field should care. Granted, many of these technologists are already "hip" to social technology. Some have embraced the tools and are harnessing social technology to build & nurture relationships and share/collaborate with other technologists.

Quite frankly, it's refreshing that Chariot is "leading the charge" (pun intended!) and encouraging their employees to participate in social media. It's really a no-brainer; in some cases, employees of small and medium sized companies can be the best content generators and evangelists of the company brand. Of course, mileage will vary depending on your industry, how many employees you have, etc.  I'll save that for another "brand & reputation management" post, though.

Anyways, we had a lot to cover in the session since it was only an hour long, but we revealed some easy things technologists can integrate into their daily routines to participate in the company's social media efforts. Most of these things can take 20 minutes or less a day to do!

1. Share your Google Reader with other employees. If you're already using Google Reader to read the latest news and blog posts from the technological world - why not SHARE interesting links/info with your fellow employees?
2. Use Twitter to connect & share with your co-workers as well as RT (re-tweet) company news (if they have a corporate Twitter account). If you're creating a professional account, consider including your company name or area of specialty in your Twitter account. For example: "OpenSourceFrank"
3. Find and join groups on LinkedIn. Try to focus on those related to your technology niche. For example, if you're an open source developer, start your search with "open source" or "open source development".  Use keywords related to your specialty to find those relevant groups.
4. Utilize social bookmarking sites (for example: Dzone - which is like Digg, but for developers) to share news articles, blog posts, and interesting videos. Google Reader offers easy social sharing functionality. Many websites, blogs, and social networking platforms also have this social sharing functionality built-in as well. It's easy to use, you just need an account on the social bookmarking sites.
5. Comment on your company's blog. Seriously. Your blog comment doesn't have to be a dissertation. It can be simply agreeing with and supporting what the blog post is about. Naturally, we also encourage regular commenting on other, industry blogs. Do so as time permits.

There's many other things technologists can do to participate in the company's social media, of course. Knowing what your company's social media strategy, though, is key. If they don't have one, it's time for them to step up & create one. But we'll leave that for another blog post.

What are some of YOUR social media tips for technologists?

Best,
Marilyn Moran

Comments

[Bill Rowland]

Marilyn,

You offer some really good points; employees can definitely be among the most effective content generators and evangelists. Furthermore, your suggestion that those that want to help in the social media effort must understand the company's strategy is right on the money. Too often social media users allow themselves to get distracted by "shiny new things" without any thought to how it will match their goals.