Winter 2015 Vol. 47, Issue II www.prssa.org/FORUM
Social
Media Tips
for Young
Professionals
National Conference Round-Up
BY EMMA FINKBEINER NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
BY ETHAN PARRY
PRSSA VICE PRESIDENT
OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
Let’s face it. Social media is
great for many reasons. It allows
us to keep in touch with our closest
friends, share plenty of cat photos
and catch up on all the latest news.
Social media can also be used for
other purposes as well, such as
building a personal brand. When
using social media professionally,
here are a few tips to consider:
DO NOT FORGET THE ‘SOCIAL’
IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Don’t use your social media
channels to just push out meaningless content to your followers. Be
social! Do more than just retweet
and favorite posts. When trying to
pitch to the media, read journalists’ articles and let them know
what you liked. Also, do not fall
into the trap of sending generic
LinkedIn invitations. A generic
invitation is unprofessional and
communicates that you don’t even
have the time to write a brief introduction message.
THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU POST
As much as we would like to
believe that we can delete posts,
tweets, etc. from the Internet, we
can’t. We may think we have deleted it, but in all actuality it may
still be available. When you are
ready to publish something, ask
yourself, “Will this post positively
or negatively impact my personal
brand? Would I want my future
employer to see this?” If you answer “negatively” or “no” to either
of those two questions, don’t post
it.
BE CONSISTENT
Even though every social
media platform is different, you
can still create a consistent brand.
Start by having the same profile
picture, preferably a professional
headshot, on all of your social
media platforms. Establish a set
amount of tweets, blog posts and
status updates you want to send
out each week, and then stick to
it. Develop a unique voice that can
span across channels and a tone
that doesn’t vary from platform to
platform.
In closing, it is wor F