FAQ: Social Media Tool Descriptions

Posted by Greg Friese at 3 December, 2009, 4:40 pm

As a Social Media Public Information Officer one of the questions I receive frequently is “In 20-60 words can you describe what XYZ social media tool is so I can put it in our next newsletter, article, or blog post.” Have you been asked that question?

Podcast
A podcast is an audio or video program that is optimized for delivery and listening on a smart phone, mp3 player, or computer. Audio content can be easily captured and edited with free software An RSS feed delivers the content to a service like iTunes. The MedicCast.com, EMSEduCast.com, and EMSGarage.com are three popular podcasts. In 2010 PIOSocialMediaTraining.com will be launching a podcast.

Blog
Blog is shorthand for web log. A blog is meant to be a dynamic portion of a website or a stand-alone website. Using a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor a blogger can quickly add a new page or new posts to the blog. EverydayEMSTips.com and PIOSocialMediaTraining.com are two blogs powered by WordPress blogging software. Blogger is another popular blogging tool.

Microblogging
Twitter is a common and widely known microblogging tool that allows users to post messages that are 140 characters or less. Twitter features allow users to follow and read the posts (called Tweets) of other users, reply to Tweets, and forward Tweets to other Twitter users. Follow @PIOSMTraining, @DavidKonig, and @gfriese after you create a Twitter account.

Social Networking Sites
Social Networking sites, like Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace, are used to build and maintain relationships. Every emergency response agency should have a Facebook fan page as either its “hub” or as a “spoke.” Use your Facebook fan page to post events, share videos and photos, and link people to blog posts and content on other spokes. Make sure you become a fan of the PIOSocialMediaTraining.com Facebook fan page.

Media Sharing Sites
Upload training and injury prevention videos to your agency’s own YouTube channel. Viewers can subscribe for notification of future videos. Allow viewers to embed your videos in their blogs to increase the reach. Flickr is a photo sharing website. Post and tag training photos to your Flickr account, another spoke. You can also embed Flickr photos or slideshows into your blog posts.

Screencasting
Screenr is a screencasting tool that captures your on-screen actions and audio from a microphone. Use Screenr to create a quick narrated slide show, demonstrate a software process, or instruct viewers on how to receive your blog feed in an RSS reader. I use Screenr to showcase PIO websites. Check out our showcase page.

About the author

Greg Friese wrote 58 articles on this blog.

Greg Friese, MS, NREMT-P is an author, podcaster, blogger, and advocate for emergency response agencies to use social media before, during, and after any incident. Greg is the Director of Education for CentreLearn Solutions, LLC. He is also the co-host of the EMSEduCast podcast and is a paramedic for a 911 agency in northeast Wisconsin