Association of Registered Nurses of British Columbia

1. Association of Registered Nurses of British Columbia Social Media Guide

2. Welcome! This short guide will help you understand the basics behind Twitter, Facebook and the ARNBC blog.

3. Why should I care about social media? Social media provides the chance to engage in real-time interactions, knowledge sharing, and conversations with nursing colleagues on real issues. In the middle of an election, staying connected matters!

4. Twitter Q: What is twitter? A: Twitter is a social networking tool that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Q: What is a tweet? A: A tweet is a message that is sent via Twitter and is no longer than 140 characters (including spaces). It can be read by any of the people ‘following’ you on Twitter and can be ‘retweeted’ by anyone to their own network. Tweets contain information and links that are of interest to our community of followers. People will ‘retweet’ content if they feel it contains info of interest to their personal community and vice versa. Remember, you don’t need to have a Twitter account to see what’s being “tweeted”. Just go to https://twitter.com/BCRNsand have a read!

5. More Twitter! Still not convinced? Try it. Sign up for Twitter. It’s free and it’s easy! • Go to twitter.com and sign up for an account. • Once you are signed up you can use the ‘search’ function to find @BCRNs (that’s us!). CNA is also there, look for them @canadanurses. Guess what, your election candidates are probably on Twitter too! Check out our list of candidates for those we know are on Twitter, or search for them by name. People will follow you back as well! • Once you’ve followed a few people, read what they have to say. Click on the links they share. Retweet something someone else has sent. • You can see who others are following too. Go to the @BCRNs page and click on the link on the right that reads ‘following’. This will show you who we think are good people to follow on Twitter because we think they have valuable information to share. Have a look and see if there’s anyone you like. You might see some familiar faces. • Experiment with sending your own Tweet. In the upper right of the Twitter interface you’ll see this icon, If you click on this a composition box will open. Perhaps you want to share a link? Comment on an issue. You can do so in this box! Remember though, you only have 140 characters.

6. ARNBC’s Twitter Feed

7. Facebook Q: What is Facebook and why should I care? A: Facebook is the world’s largest social networking site. Friends, family, professional colleagues all connect and share information via this powerful communication tool. Q: Is Facebook secure? A: Facebook has personalized privacy settings that you can set to control what people can see on your profile.

8. More Facebook! • Facebook has nearly 1 billion users. If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s third most populous. • Facebook and Twitter are pathways to instantaneous resource sharing opportunities. • Facebook is what you want it to be. It can be a place where you communicate with your friends or it can be a strictly professional networking platform. Or both! • ARNBC has a Facebook page. You can find it by putting ARNBC in the search box you see at the top of the Facebook page. We post stuff that we think our members will care about and will want to interact with. You will need a Facebook account to participate, so sign up! It too is easy and free (just like Twitter). • Once you have signed up find the ARNBC page and ‘Like’ us. This means you will see updates. If you see an update that you would like to comment on, do so! Unlike Twitter you’re not limited to 140 characters. So use your voice and share your thoughts with others who ‘Like’ the ARNBC Facebook page.

9. ARNBC’s Facebook Page

10. The Blog ARNBC has a great blog! We’re not being conceited. It’s great because nurses have made it great by writing the content and commenting on posts. Have a look by going to http://www.arnbc.ca/blog/.

11. More Blog! • If you see a post you want to comment on, do so! At the bottom of each post you’ll see you can “leave a reply”. We don’t edit comments (unless they’re really rude, but you wouldn’t do that, right?), allowing the conversation to flow smoothly, naturally, and in your words. • Controversy and disagreement is ok. We’re all adults here, we can take some heat and we can defend our positions. The point is to allow nurses to have a meaningful dialogue with their peers, using the blog as the venue. • If you have something you would like to write for the blog, you can do that too. Email us at admin@arnbc.ca and we’ll be in touch.

12. ARNBC’s Blog

13. Thanks for listening! • Remember that social media presents a whole new way of communicating and connecting. It’s not scary. It’s FUN, and you learn lots. • You won’t be an expert overnight, but you don’t have to be. • The point is to jump in and give it a try. The community is friendly and everyone has been where you are. • So don’t be afraid to try these platforms. Try one, try them all, just try. • Contact us if you need help or have questions admin@arnbc.ca