1. Introduction to
Online Social Networking
for Girlstart Staff
Author: Clare Richardson
Disclaimer: This presentation is a compilation of the
resources found on slide 17 and personal experience.
This contains no original research or data, and I do not
claim responsibility for the accuracy of the information.
2. What is online social networking?
“Facebook is a social utility that
connects you with the people around
you.”
“MySpace is an online community that
lets you meet your friends' friends.”
5. History Lesson
Facebook MySpace
Site launches
Jan 2004
Launches from
Feb 2004 Feb 2004
Harvard Dorm Room Reaches 1 million users
March 2004 Expands to 4 colleges
MySpace Music launches
April 2004
Fall Out Boy has 1 million
May 2004
friends
Reaches 5 million users
Nov 2004
Reaches almost 1
Dec 2004
million users
Expands to 800 colleges
May 2005 Bought for $580 million
July 2005
by News Corporation
Adds high school networks
Sept 2005
MySpace Records label
Nov 2005 launches
Adds work networks
May 2006
Registrations opens to everyone
Sept 2006
Reaches over 200 million
Sept 2007 users
Reaches over 50 million users
Oct 2007
6. Marketing to Teen Girls: MySpace
• 55% of online teens (age 12 – 17) have a social
networking profile
– 66% of teens’ profiles have limited public access
• 91% use network to maintain current friendships, 49%
use network to make new friends
• 81% of teen girls with a profile use MySpace most often
(only 9% on Facebook)
• Older girls ages 15 – 17 are more likely to use social
networking
– 70% of older girls have used an online social network
– 44% of younger girls have used an online social network
• Ethnicity and income do not significantly affect likelihood
of using social networking
7. Marketing to College Girls: Facebook
• Facebook demographics in the U.S.:
35
13 - 18 - 25 -
+
17 24 34
11% 57% 16% 6%
– 60% of users are female
• Users spend average of 20 minutes daily on site
• Users tend to search for people they are already
connected to offline (especially old acquaintances),
instead of browsing for strangers to meet
• Has become part of social capital: Number of Facebook
friends, wall posts, groups, and photos of you
• “Facebook” has become a verb (“I Facebooked her”).
8. Perceptions of Site Differences
Facebook:
• Interface has a clean look
• Users tend to be more affluent
• Teens are white and college bound
MySpace:
• Profiles are more customized and glitzy/gaudy
• More single-parent, low-income families
• Teens are Latino or “alternative”, expected to
get a job after high school
• More child predators
9. Social Networking Etiquette
aka How to Not Be Creepy
• Not everyone wants to make new friends.
– Only contact someone online that you have
met in person (however briefly).
• People want to maintain friendships with
people they rarely see.
– Expect for people to find you.
• Half of users visit their network at least
once a day. Most visit at least weekly.
– Keep up with expectations of a fast response.
– Don’t delay on friend or connection requests.
10. Communication Preferences
In general, one-on-one communication is best:
1. Post on friend’s wall / leave comment for short
messages (viewable by their other friends)
2. Send private message within site (extension of e-mail)
Methods of mass contact:
1. Form a group (“Turtle lovers in Texas”, “We love
Girlstart”)
2. Mass private message to friends or Bulletin (“Vote for
me on HotOrNot”)
3. Create an event (“I got a new cell phone number”,
“John’s Farewell Party”)
11. Profile Common Sense
Again, expect for people to find you. Your
profile becomes part of your reputation
and personal brand.
• Help people find you: Join relevant groups
and networks
• Keep your profile clean and clutter-free
• Be careful of inappropriate pictures and
information (posted by you or others)
• Use privacy controls
• Use email notification controls
12. LinkedIn
• Business oriented networking, as opposed to
social networking
– 16 million professionals globally, 150 industries
• Profile: Online version of your resume
– can be public or visible to only LinkedIn members
• Easy way to investigate other’s background,
credentials, and affiliations (and for them to
investigate you!)
• Easy way to visualize and keep track of your
network and contacts
13. LinkedIn Features
• Connections
• Introductions
• Recommendations
• Groups
• Email Contacts Search
• Past Colleagues and
Coworkers Search
• Jobs & Hiring
• Answers
14. LinkedIn Stats
• People with more than 20 connections are 34
times more likely to be approached with a job
opportunity than people with less than five.
• The average number of connections for Harvard
Business School grads is 58.
• All 500 of the Fortune 500 are represented in
LinkedIn. In fact, 499 of them are represented by
director-level and above employees.
• Users have average household income of nearly
$140,000.
15. LinkedIn Tips
• Use the privacy controls to limit what people see in
your public profile
– Your public profile is Google’able.
• Increase your visibility:
– Set up a profile URL if your profile is public:
www.linkedin.com/in/clarerichardson
– Add everyone you can find as a connection (at least 20 – 30)
• Only request and accept connections for people you
know
• Don’t get bullied into account upgrades
• Don’t get bullied into “profile completeness”
16. Recommendations for Girlstart
• Get on LinkedIn and connect to each other
• Create a Girlstart profile in MySpace
• Create a Girlstart group in Facebook
• Consider creating a LinkedIn Group badge
– “Friends of Girlstart”, “I Donated to Girlstart”
• Actively invite program participants to become
Girlstart’s “online friend” and introduce their
friends to Girlstart
• Do not request or accept online friendships with
participants from your personal account
20. User Account Information
Select based on which email address you
want to use (alumni, personal, or work
address). You can join additional networks
later.
21. Step 1: Find Friends
Select your free personal account
(Yahoo, Gmail, etc) to search
your address book
22. Step 2: Fill out Profile Info
This information will help you find networks
to join and help others find you.
23. Step 3: Join a Network
Joining your city network will allow others
to find you and allow you view others’
profiles in Austin.
24. Complete your Profile
Click None to join networks
such as college and city.
Many students find “No
network” people to be creepy
(and you can only see the
profiles of people within your
network). A best practice is
to at least select college
alumni.
25. Fill out as much
information on each
tab as you feel
comfortable with.
You’ll control who can
see what later.
26. Set Privacy Controls
Go through each
settings list to limit
who can view
items to your
networks, friends,
or only you.
27. Set Email Notifications
Click Account, then
Notifications.
Select when you want to
be notified by email. If
you will log in very often
(once a day), you don’t
need to be notified of
much by email.
30. Complete Profile
Your profile can
look however you
want thanks to
HTML and CSS.
Many sites offer
free MySpace
profile templates
you can copy and
paste here.
31. Set Privacy Controls
Select who your profile will be viewable
by and other privacy settings.
33. Pick Your MySpace URL
If your profile will be viewable by the public (not just your friends),
consider selecting a unique URL.
Example: www.myspace.com/clarerichardson
38. Edit Your Profile
Fill out your
profile. Your
main profile
will be entirely
visible to your
connections.
Click Edit My
Public Profile
to set the
sections that
the public can
see on your
profile.
39. Pick Your LinkedIn URL
If your profile will be public, pick an easy URL to access it.
Example: www.linkedin.com/in/clarerichardson
41. Find Connections
Find people you know by searching your Outlook contacts,
webmail address books, importing from any address book
software, or enter contacts manually.
