Social Media in a Nutshell!
Facebook
Group: Use a closed or secret group to communicate with parents from your unit, or leaders in your district, division or county. People can search for closed groups and request to join (recommended). Secret groups can’t be searched for, and invites must be sent via email. For both types, posts are only visible to members of the group.
Join other groups to communicate and share ideas with Guiding members across the country. Girlguiding doesn’t have an official group but there are a number of useful groups run in an unofficial capacity by members. Examples of unofficial groups you might like to join include:
· Girl Guiding UK
· Guiding Buy, Sell or Swop
· Girlguiding Challenge Badges
· Girlguiding Brownie Leader Support Group (United Kingdom)
· Girlguiding Guide Leader Support Group (United Kingdom)
· Girl Guiding Pack Holiday Camp and Sleepover Ideas
Page: A page is an open, public-facing page which can be viewed by anyone. Use a page to advertise guiding in your area using key messages, exciting images and links. Best used at district level upwards. You can access analytics for your page to help you optimise it. Girlguiding has an official page you can follow.
Twitter
An open, public-facing social media channel, accessible by anyone on the internet. Tweet messages in 140 characters or fewer. Use images, hashtags and @ mentions to increase engagement. Great for short, snappy updates. You can access analytics for your tweets to help you optimise engagement. Girlguiding has an official account you can follow.
Instagram
Photo-sharing app. Take engaging photos, add filters, tag other users and use lots of hashtags. Young people use this a lot at the moment. Girlguiding has an official account you can follow.
Snapchat
Take a photo, add some text, and upload it to a “story”. This can be an event or topic, which multiple people can contribute to. Young people use this a lot at the moment.
Create online pinboards of images. Images link through to the original website, so it’s a brilliant tool for bookmarking craft and other activity ideas. You can also search other people’s pins for ideas.
Storify
An excellent tool for gathering posts on a particular topic from across a wide range of websites and social media channels. Create a “story” by searching and archiving posts on a particular event or topic. Girlguiding has an official account you can follow.
Bit.ly
Link-shortening website to turn long web links into shorter, neater ones. It also gives you stats on how many times each link has been clicked. Very useful for tracking engagement.
Tweetdeck or Hootsuite
Useful tools for scheduling social media posts in advance and tracking engagement.
Worried about online safety?
New technologies bring great opportunities,but alsonew risks that we need to be aware of to safeguard our members. It’s great to hear your stories and see your photos, but please remember that social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are external sites and that any information you share is shared at your own risk. For guidance and tips on how to use social networks safely, read A Safe Cyberspace.
Find out more about protecting yourself online and how you can safely use social networking as part of guiding.