Social media allows for sharing of information and content through user-generated dialogues rather than traditional one-way communication. It has become extremely popular for personal, political, and business uses by allowing people to connect online and form relationships. The document provides examples of popular social media platforms Twitter and Facebook, describing their key features and how millions of people use them every day to stay connected with friends and share photos, links, and videos. It also shares a success story of a community crisis center that was able to raise over $160k needed to stay open by utilizing social media like Twitter for emergency fundraising.

1. Presented by Deanna Ferrari of WordWritePresented by Deanna Ferrari of WordWrite
Communications to Redstone Highlands’ ‘Lunch Bunch’Communications to Redstone Highlands’ ‘Lunch Bunch’
February 2, 2010February 2, 2010
Social Media “101”

2. What is social media?
. . . A shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and
content
. . . A fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one
to many) into dialogues (many to many)
. . . The democratization of information, transforming people from
content readers into publishers
. . . Extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online
world to form relationships for personal, political and business use
. . . User‐generated content (UGC) or consumer‐generated
media (CGM).
— Wikipedia.org

3. What is Twitter?

4. • Twitter lets you write and read messages of up to 140
characters, or the very length of this sentence,
including all punctuation and spaces.
• Every day, millions of people use Twitter to create,
discover and share ideas with others. Now, people
are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach
out to businesses and nonprofits, too.

5. What are people “tweeting” about?

6. What is Facebook?

7. • Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and
make the world more open and connected.
• Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with
friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and
videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

8. What’s the point?

9. The OLD way . . .

10. The NEW way . . .

11. Catching up with loved ones or
old friends

13. Have your voice heard

15. Win stuff!

16. Raise money or donate to a
great cause

18. It’s newsworthy

19. Who’s on these sites?

20. Success Story:
Community Crisis Center; Elgin, IL

21. • Situation: In the summer of 2009, the
center had eliminated positions, drastically
cut its budget and managed its resources
responsibly, but without emergency
funding, the center would have to close --
unless it raised $150k overnight
• With help of “twelebrity” Sarah Evans, the
center raised over $160k

22. Questions? Comments?
Thank you!