All Atwitter Over the New Changes
Posted by admin on Feb 12, 2012 in Social Media, Twitter | 0 comments
By Daniel Casciato
With all of the attention Google+ and Facebook has been getting recently, many people have asked me if this means the end of Twitter. Certainly not. Twitter is still a valuable social networking tool and should be part of your entire social media strategy. In fact, the San Francisco-based organization has made some minor tweaks over the past several months to improve user experience.
Primer on Twitter
But first, let’s do a quick primer on Twitter. As we discussed previously, Twitter is a real-time information network connecting you to the latest information about what you find interesting. This could be sports, entertainment, world news, healthcare issues, etc. All you do is find the public streams you find most compelling and follow those conversations. @wpahospitalnews, for example, will report on the latest news and trends around the healthcare and hospital industries across the Western PA region as well as the world. Sometimes, we’ll post about local (non-health related) news that our followers may find interesting.
No Time for Social Media? Hire a Ghost
Posted by admin on Feb 6, 2012 in Ghostwriting | 0 comments
By Daniel Casciato
Earlier this year, I was invited to attend the Healthcare New Media Marketing Conference presented by Q1 Productions in Chicago. One of the presentations on the first day focused on how to overcome internal resistance and prove the value of social media to a healthcare organization’s leadership team.
Although healthcare blogger Ed Bennett, of the University of Maryland Medical System,reported in May that 730 hospitals have an active social media presence with more than 1,400 sites, research has shown that leadership buy-in is the number one reason health systems are not yet implementing social media initiatives as part of their marketing and communications mix.
One of the major reasons cited was the lack of employee resources. During the networking portion of the conference, I also heard many of the marketing professionals in attendance lament over this as well: many PR and marketing staffs are already stretched thin and no one can devote the time that social media deserves. In fact, in the TweetChat during the presentation, someone posted: “The reason hospitals don’t have blogs is b/c the marketing guy knows no one will write the post ongoing.”
So I immediately tweeted back, “Blogs do take a lot of time. That’s why you hire freelance writers!”
Growing Your Business With Social Media: Are You Onboard Yet?
Posted by admin on Jan 30, 2012 in Social Media | 0 comments
By Harvey Kart
Years ago, I sat on a media panel in Pittsburgh and the topic of websites came up. This was about the time when websites were just beginning, and I just scoffed at it and viewed it as an egotistical concept for organizations. Look how that turned out!
It seems like every decade, there’s been some type of wonderful technology that comes around. I’m old enough to remember the fax machine, and was amazed that we could insert paper with words on it into this machine and transmit it to someone else. Going back years further, I can still remember turning the handle of a mimeograph machine, and then all of a sudden they created a button that would make it go by itself.
I can remember how advanced the telephone became with features like call waiting which was a phenomenon in its day. Then touch tone phones became the next big thing. I also remember all of the different phases of pagers, beepers, and the many reiterations of cell phones. I remember when I first got a computer with a modem. I can still recall the days of being on the phone with AOL until 2am just trying to figure how to get this new online technology to work.
For most of these technological advances, I have always been behind the curve. I felt that I never needed it because it was a luxury or a novelty. So I didn’t pay much attention to it, until everyone was using it. Then I had to jump onboard, but I was already behind the times.
A Facelift for Facebook Pages: What it Means for Your Organization
Posted by admin on Jan 23, 2012 in Facebook | 0 comments
By Daniel Casciato
If you’ve been managing a Facebook page for your health care facility or medical office, you may have recently noticed the option to switch to a new layout. The new layout, now similar to your personal page, includes several features to help you improve communication with your followers as well as interacting with potential new followers.
While you do not have to accept the upgrade at this point, all Pages will have the new look on March 10. Don’t worry, Facebook gives all page administrators a step-by-step tour before you switch to the new layout. But here’s a sneak peek at what to expect.
What’s New in Facebook?
Posted by admin on Jan 16, 2012 in Facebook | 0 comments
By Daniel Casciato
Last month in this space, we discussed what was new with Twitter. This month, let’s take a look at Facebook. They have also made some minor tweaks over the past several weeks to improve the user experience. Some of these changes have taken place already; some will be coming soon.
Subscribe to updates
As with Twitter, Facebook now allows your friends to subscribe to your updates and follow your messages in their News Feed. With the subscribe button, you can choose what you see from your friends in the News Feeds. You can choose from “all updates,” “most updates,” and “important updates.” You can also choose to ignore any messages about the Facebook games your friends are playing. Or you can choose to ignore all messages from someone. Another big change is that you can begin to follow other people who are not your friends (like you do in Twitter) and vice versa. However, if you set your message settings to private, these new followers will be unable to see you feed. So your privacy still remains intact.
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