Savvy Social Media
for
Open Source Communities
By Rikki EndsleyCommunity Manager, Opensource.com
Twitter: @rikkiends @[email protected]
Make up a glorious (yet brief) bio here.
I don't believe in social media.
@rikkiends
Overheard in the hallway track at Texas Linux Fest 2014: I don't
believe in social media.
@projectatomic: launched Tues. April 15, 2014
by Mon. April 21, 2014 (1 week later): 435 followersFeb. 18,
2015: ~1,300 followers (10 months later)
@RDOCommunity: launched April 15, 2013
by Mon. April 21, 2014 (1 year later): 372 After changing social
media approach: Feb. 18, 2015: 1,055 (+184% in 10 months)
Social Media Best PracticesExample Results (Twitter):
@rikkiends
Results of Best Practices approach
@projectatomic launched: Tues. April 15, 2014by Mon. April 21:
435Feb. 18, 2015: ~1,300 followers (~10 months since launch)
@RDOCommunity: launched April 15, 2013 by Mon. April 21, 2014:
372 (~1 year since launch)Feb. 18, 2015: 1,055 (184% increase in 10
months)
Tips
and
Tricks
@rikkiends
Share relevant,
interesting,
accurate information
@rikkiends
Project news: releases, changes, fixes, new contributors, IRC
meetings, activity on other project platforms (github, IRC, mailing
lists)
Events activity: booth details, specials, project talks, BoFs,
meetups
Links to internal and external blog posts and articles
Industry news: coverage of your project or related
projectsRemember: Quality of content is more important than
quantity.
Re-tweet/share
relevant,
interesting,
accurate information
@rikkiends
Stay on-message with retweets so followers know what to
expect.
Retweet/share sister accounts sparingly. Focus on tweets related
to your project/projects. You want to amplify the message for
sister accounts, but you don't want to spam followers, either.
Double-check reshare links to confirm they are accurate and
current before sharing.
Craft
the
text
@rikkiends
Squeeze as much info into as few characters as possible.
Use URL shorteners when possible. These also help track traffic
via reports (Hootsuite, for example).
Leave enough characters so followers can retweet easily without
needing to revise the post.
Use hashtags and @
* But don't abuse them...
@rikkiends
@rikkiends
If you only have room for one hashtag, pick the one that will
get the most eyeballs.
Don't overdo the hashtags because they become obnoxious.
#MyOpenStory
More than 140 unique #MyOpenStory tweets in a 3-day span
Great way to encourage community participation
Also encouraged article submissions
@rikkiends
Campaign launched for October 2015 Most Open Month theme on
Opensource.com
@rikkiends
Example responses
Avoid PR verbiage, marketing speak, exclamation point abuse, and
stupid Upworthy-type messages:
You won't believe what our project will do for your yadda
yadda!
@rikkiends
Avoid PR verbiage, marketing speak, exclamation point abuse, and
Upworthy-type headlines
Numbers do well
* and, oddly, so does COBOL?
@rikkiends
Numbers do well
Q&A, How, What, and Why tweets do well
@rikkiends
Q&A, how, what, and why headlines do well
https://blog.bufferapp.com/the-power-of-twitters-new-expanded-images-and-how-to-make-the-most-of-it
Tweets with images received:
18% more clicks89% more favorites150% more retweets
@rikkiends
Tweets with images received:
18% more clicks89% more favorites150% more retweets
Retweet,
reshare,
respond,
& reply
@rikkiends
Make sharing your message easy: If possible, leave enough
characters so that followers can simply hit "retweet" without
having to edit any of the tweet text or cutting it off.
Give credit (for example, use via @....)
Reply to responses to your messages, or forward the responses to
the appropriate person.
However ... Replying to flames and spam isn't necessary.
Revisit past posts: Remember to repost news and links that
aren't outdated (to hit different time zones, for example).
Grow your reach
@rikkiends
Ask your network to share particularly important content. For
example, drop a note in IRC and ask contributors to share the
message.
Make it easier to share by providing retweet text, link, etc.
(This also works well for promoting links on Reddit, Slashdot, and
other sharing sites.)
Remind people about your social media accounts: on business
cards, marketing pieces, website, event talks, newsletters,
signature on emails, mailing lists.
Do not like-bait, post too much, or buy followers. [4]
Consider the schedule
https://blog.bufferapp.com/best-time-to-tweet-research
Early morning: Tweets receive the most clicks
Evenings and late at night: Tweets receive the most favorites
and retweets
Most popular time to tweet & best times to tweet differ
across time zones
@rikkiends
Schedule posts to hit different time zones.
For a local meetup, focus on local time zone.
Create a posting schedule or system so you don't double-up on
posts.
Schedule tweets to fall during events (reminders of upcoming
talks, BoFs, etc.).
Avoid scandal
Use different computer or browser for personal tweets
Do NOT feed the trolls or angry-reply
Be careful updating from mobile devices (e.g., drunk
posting)
Double-check URLs, images, and original sources for accuracy
Mistakes happen. Keep corrections and apologies short, sincere,
and to the point
@rikkiends
Access professional social media on dedicated work computer.
Do NOT feed the trolls or reply while angry (or from a
bar...).
Are you sure you really want project social media accounts on
mobile devices?
Double-check URLs and images for accuracy before sending.
Double-check sources before resharing. (Is the source credible?
Is this the original source? Is the news recent and relevant?)
Apologize and correct errors when necessary.
Opensource.com
account comparison
October 13, 2015
Twitter: 26,917 followersFacebook: 143,729 total page likes
@rikkiends
Twitter
5.53% reached (impressions).10% engagement.04% link clicks
Twitter: 26,917 followers
Twitter
Impressions: 1,490Total engagements: 28Link clicks: 12Retweets:
6Favorites: 4Detail expands: 4Media engagements: 2
Facebook
Of the 1,500+ stories a person might see whenever they log onto
Facebook, News Feed displays approximately 300.
@rikkiends
Facebook News Feed
Of the 1,500+ stories a person might see whenever they log onto
Facebook, News Feed displays approximately 300.
~52K page Likes: This post: 3 shares, 30 likes, 1,966 people
reached
143,729 total page likes81% more than Twitter
1.29% reach (impressions).02% engagement.02% link clicks
@rikkiends
Facebook Tips
Tag products and companies in posts.
Facebook's algorithm favors posts on "trending topics".
Hashtags can increase reach for popular topics.
Facebook likes videos (but don't overdo it or the algorithm will
punish you).
@rikkiends
If you're posting about a product, company, or thing that has a
Facebook page, tag it in your post.
Try to post about things Facebook has identified as "trending
topics." Facebook's algorithm favors those.
Hashtags can increase your reach if it's a popular topic, but
don't overuse them.
Facebook likes videos, but don't overdo it. If you do, the
algorithm will punish you.
G+ Tips
Be sure to tag any companies, products, etc. you're posting
about.
Hashtags work well on G+. Include a few relevant ones, but don't
overdo it.
Google+'s algorithm likes images.
@rikkiends
Be sure to tag any companies, products, etc. you're posting
about.
Hashtags work well on G+. Include a few relevant ones, but don't
overdo it.
Google+'s algorithm likes images.
Twitter Chats: #OpenOrgChat
Invite a few guests that will participate.
Promote your Twitter chats well in advance.
Send out questions to your guest ahead of time.
Select a unique hashtag.
Measure success: Check out hashtracking.com.
@rikkiends
Invite a few guests that will participate.
Promote your Twitter chats well in advance.
Send out questions to your guest ahead of time.
Select a unique hashtag.
Measure success: Check out hashtracking.com.
@rikkiends
@rikkiends
@rikkiends
@rikkiends
@rikkiends
#OpenOrgChat Q&A
@rikkiends
@rikkiends
Use social media tools
Hootsuite
Sprout social
Google analytics
Twitter analytics
Others
Hootsuite sampleSprout Socialsample
Example: @opensourceway on Instagram
@rikkiends
Measure Results
@rikkiends
Measuring follower growth and traffic lets you know which
content is most interesting to followers (and which content makes
you lose followers).
Site analytics
URL shorteners
Twitter, G+, Facebook analytics
Hootsuite (other) reports on a regular basis (weekly or monthly,
for example)
https://github.com/OSAS/twitter-stats (written by Justin Clift,
Gluster)
Questions?
Freenode IRC: #opensource.comTwitter: @opensourcewayInstagram:
@opensourcewayFacebook: @opensourcewayG+: +opensourceway
Participate in our communityopensource.com/participateSend us
your story ideaopensource.com/story
@[email protected]
