To view this page ensure that Adobe Flash Player version 11.1.0 or greater is installed.

EDUCATION & TRAINING Let’s get digital: Social Media at work – a guide Over the past ten years social media has become a hugely popular method of communication for people of all ages. Users of Facebook and Twitter are posting and tweeting on a daily basis from their phones, tablets and desktop computers to keep in touch with friends, share their thoughts and be the first to hear the latest news. Social media can also be a great way for reps to help raise the profile of the union, organise events in the workplace and communicate with other members. Getting Started www. usdaw.org.uk Follow us @UsdawUnion If you’re not signed up to any social media websites and want to get involved then a good way to get started is to speak to your friends and colleagues and find out which social media websites they use. They can help to sign you up and set you on your way. Most social media websites make it easy for you to sign up with a step-by-step guide to help get you started. Visit the website of your chosen social network to sign up. Facebook – the basics Instagram UsdawUnion YouTube UsdawUnion Users of Facebook all have their own profile page where they can post a picture and details about themselves. You can take anything you’ve seen on the internet and share it with your friends through your Facebook profile page. If your settings allow, your friends on Facebook can comment on the things you post to your profile and you can reply to their comments. You, in turn, can comment on anything your friends post to their own profile pages. Twitter – the basics Flickr UsdawUnion Twitter works on the principle of ‘Followers’. When you choose to follow another Twitter user, that user’s tweets appear on your own 26 Network September/October 2015 Twitter page for you to see. By choosing to follow people, companies and organisations that you’re interested in you’re creating your own customised newsfeed on your Twitter page. As well as posting your own tweets you can comment on, ‘favourite’ and share the posts of the users you follow which will bring them to the attention of your own followers. Social media for reps Organising a campaign day Facebook allows you to set up event pages and invite your friends to join. You could post details about the campaign and ask your friends to share the page with their friends to spread the word. On your campaign day you could post pictures and encourage others to do the same. You can also use Twitter to tweet pictures from your campaign day to your followers or tweet them to @UsdawUnion. Recruiting new members Posting and tweeting about the benefits of being a member of Usdaw is a great way to promote the union. Encourage your friends to share your tweets, posts and photos from Usdaw events and get the message out there. The more a post is shared means more people will see it. Communicating Social media is a great tool for keeping in touch with friends, colleagues and fellow reps. It’s also a good agent for group conversations. You can publically post about anything you want and start a conversation. You can also have private one-to- one and group conversations on Twitter and Facebook to keep things confidential, just make sure they’re Direct Messages (Twitter) or Private Messages (Facebook). CAROLINE WILLIAMSON GRAHAM NEWPORT