Add This

One of the easiest ways to “capture” web content, both hyperlinks and images from other websites and share it to Facebook is to use a browser plug-in.  One plug-in that is easy to use and you can place as a shortcut on your browser tab is: Add This.  You will have an orange-red button with a white plus sign installed on your browser bookmark list.  Once installed in your browser toolbar, you can customize to list the social media sites you use most.   You can then share a webpage via email, to Facebook, twitter, blogger, Pinterest, etc.,  

Now you can easily share any website you find! If you are signed into Facebook and using it as your page, use Add This to share some content, it will be shared as your page. If you are signed in as yourself and use add this to share some content, it will be shared on your Timeline.

Generally, one wants to sprinkle Facebook posts throughout the day, and avoid posting a series of shares at one time. This annoys your followers and reduces the importance of your posts. Recent analytic studies show that shares of posts are highest on Saturday mornings. 

Using Facebook without being Friends

As Facebook become more popular beyond its original core audience (college kids) it became apparent that there needed to be other ways to allow people to connect. The creation of the Facebook Page has enabled folks to share information without necessarily being "Friends" on Facebook.

Do I have to have a Facebook Timeline Page?

Yes, however, you do not need to friend your Facebook fans. Which means that you can post as your page, without worrying that your Page's Fans will also see your posts on your own timeline. Thus that silly joke between you and your neighbor about whose team will make it into the Final Four won't appear on your Page. As of this writing, Page Administrators have a choice about letting followers know who is administrating the page. There are of course, pros and cons to this practice. On the pro side, followers won't worry about individual administrators, trusting that the posts on the page represent the viewpoints of the page as a whole. On the con side, we've seen teens set up pages and use the ability to be anonymous to bully. With concerted effort those types of pages can be removed.

Trusted Administrators

Facebook has expanded the ability of users to have more than one person operate a Facebook page. This can be a great way to increase family leadership.  

First Things First

Before handing over the reins to your Facebook Page, it is a good idea to have a written communication plan.  This plan can be quite simple, but should outline the objectives that your organization hopes to achieve by using Facebook. It might be as simple as increasing traffic to your website, or encouraging visitors to take action on a particular activity, or it may be that you are interested in informing others about issues. A good place to start is the SocialFish white paper on social media policies. This white paper really helps users to think about the various levels of awareness and responsibility that different members might have for the organization's social media activities.

Whatever your objective, starting with a plan can guide you as you determine your page's "voice".  It is also important to be explicit with other administrator's about your expectations. Your page probably isn't the place to discuss who you are rooting for in the Super Bowl--unless your page is focused on sports fans--but, using the Super Bowl as a topic you might be able to generate interest in your page.  For instance, if your page is focused on young children with disabilities, asking how families include their child in big family events like a Super Bowl party might be a great way to generate discussion. Or you might want to talk about recent letter  from the US Department of Education regarding the importance of insuring that children with disabilities have access to school sports.

Using a communication plan can help you to schedule your posts and stay consistent with your level of activity.

Now what?

Now that you have your objectives clarified and have a communication plan in place it is time to encourage others to assist with managing the page. It will get messy. This is an opportunity to practice, post and evaluate. Remember, if all of your posts are "safe" or tame, you will not generate much buzz. On the other hand, buzzworthy posts often generate strong opinions.  It will be up to leadership to determine how much controversy is to much. Setting aside time to review posts and discuss how people are deciding what to post and when is a good way to insure that everyone is staying true to the organization's message. Generally, it is a good idea to begin by setting a timetable to review activity, rather than waiting for a misstep to schedule a discussion.

Is there another way to generate activity?

If you aren't ready to turn over the reins, or believe that you might need to spend more time supporting other content creators, there are other ways to increase your reach. One way to increase activity, without sharing administration of your page, is to ask others to share and re-share your content.  You can even create multiple sample posts, that connect with the posts shared on your page and encourage family leaders to share your page to their own timeline.  This can have a two-fold advantage, as it can increase your reach, and it can help model how to  craft an effective post.

Using YouTube to Inform

Despite being owned by Google, YouTube is still the number one search engine. While most of the videos on YouTube are there for entertainment value, there are many educational videos out there.

Finding Videos

The US Department of Education has a YouTube channel with hundreds of videos. Many of the technical assistance centers funded by the US Dept of Ed also have their own YouTube channels with hundreds of uploaded videos. Channels funded with education dollars include: 

The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center has many wonderful training videos. The Technical Assistance Center on Social and Emotional Intervention for Young Children or TACSEI channel has wonderful videos about supporting young children's social and emotional development. There are also YouTube channels featuring the work of many of the Parent and Training and Information Centers, which are funded with funds from Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  

Creating Playlists

One way to make it easier for families, and the professionals who support them, to find high quality videos that address their informational needs is to create playlists. Playlists can be grouped by topic area, for instance, Assistive Technology, or Social and Emotional Interventions. Another great option is to use your YouTube channel to feature different videos.  An organization might choose to showcase a different video each month.  

How are Families Using Their Own Videos to Inform and Support?

Creating, and even editing, videos is getting so easy these days. Many phones take high quality video. Families of young children with disabilities use their phones to take and share videos. These videos may be used to show their children's strengths or to illustrate specific challenges. Families use video to celebrate hard won achievements, like those first steps, or the first time a child figures out how to propel their wheelchair. Families often share videos with one another, this can be particularly helpful when a child is resistant to using new equipment, or when a parent might want to see how someone else coaches their child to try something new.  It is important that the professionals who support families be aware of these practices and provide guidance to families on how they can protect their privacy.   Using video can definitely help families to feel supported, however families need to be aware that once videos are out on the web, they have little control over who sees or shares them.

How Can You Use Social Media to Develop Leaders?

Social Media really lends itself to developing leaders. Social Media can be used to provide new leaders with an opportunity to develop their communication skills. The instant messaging features of Facebook or the ability to hold a live chat using twitter can provide new leaders with an opportunity to use technology to gather, share experiences, ask questions and develop new skills.

Got Writer's Block?  How To Get that Blogpost Written

When working with new leaders it is often important to provide a recipe. In the Guest blogpost above the family leader was asked to share about her experience attending her first national conference.  The organizers provided her with a list of questions to get her started.  The questions included:  How were you picked to attend the conference?  Did you need to submit an application?  What did you do to get ready to attend the conference (did you meet with other members of your state team before the conference?  Did you have to make your travel arrangements?  How did you handle childcare while you were out of town?  What types of clothing did you pack for the trip).  What did you learn during the conference?  How will you bring that information back to your state?  What didn't you know before heading out town, that you wished you had known?

New Role?  Want to Share?

Another way to expand family leadership skills is to ask family leaders who may have new roles, Chair of a Committee, Chair of a Council, or staff to a committee.  To write a few blog posts about this new experience. This type of blogging can help answer questions for other family leaders.  It can provide a forum to explore changing roles, the complications that arise when a family leader moves into a role or when a family leader is also a provider or professional staff. Sharing these experiences can be helpful to other family leaders, and can create a community of practice.

Expand the Reach of Others

One of the reasons we like to Web 2.0 is how easy it is to share, repackage, and re-share content.  Sometimes the content we find is too complicated or uses legalese, sometimes it is too vague for our purposes. But thanks to the advances available to us we can rework content to suit our needs.  

Don't Forget to Hit the Share Button

We also like to hit that share button on Facebook or the retweet button on twitter. It's the 2013 version of that Breck's commercial: I told someone and she told someone, and so on! With only a few minutes, we have a quick blurb and can quickly share information with our followers that they might not have seen from the original poster.  We can even add our own spin, by writing our own blogpost that explores our thoughts on the topic, link to the original site and share the whole thing via Facebook and Twitter!

Won't Our Followers Be Overwhelmed?

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your viewpoint, there is so much content floating around on the web that sharing, re-packaging and re-sharing is necessary. In addition, it does take visitors time to view, absorb and act on content.  Thus re-sharing is often a necessary activity on the web.

Start With A Plan

When using social media to inform and support it is important to start with a plan of action. The first thing to do is to decide how frequently you plan on updating your contact. You can simply pull out a calendar and start scheduling your content. It is important to think about how much time it might take to develop that content. You can spend time drafting content beforehand, so that you have content ready for posting.  

Use a Calendar

One way to begin is to use a calendar and review various awareness months. April is Autism awareness, June is Aphasia awareness and October is the Campaign for Healthier Babies. Using these months can help you to plan topics. If you are trying to educate families regarding the Part C or Part B of IDEA system, then using the APR/SPP (Annual Performance Report/State Performance Plan) calendars.  For instance, a blogpost about the importance of family involvement in the development of the Annual Performance Report, would have more impact if it posted in the late Fall/early winter. 

Frequency

Decide how often you can post.  While you write a blog once a month? If you only have 12 ideas for blog posts, than once a month might be the right schedule.  It is definitely preferable to do one post per month, than to upload 12 posts in 12 days, and follow that with nothing.  You might generate some great buzz in those first 12 days, but your followers will be long gone in three months when they realize you don't have anything else to say.  You can also use other social media sites to generate buzz about your posts and to drive people to your blog or website.

What's your endgame?

Finally, it is always important to keep in mind your endgame.  Why are you writing your blog?  What do you want people to do after they've read your post?  Do you want them to contact you?  Are you hoping that they'll take some sort of action? If so, have you helped them to figure out what to do, when to do it and how to do it? If not, you'll have to go back and revise your plan to include reference to your endgame.