Connections

=Building Connections=

Cultivating a strong online presence using participatory (social) media tools, is a great way to develop professional connections based on real-time, relevant information. Using search tools, you can locate people who are posting about topics that interest you. These can include personal and professional connections, and many contacts will become both, as your relationships progress.

There is no single key to participatory media. Each participant builds a personal environment and develops relationships based upon personal and socially negotiated boundaries. Most online social tools offer user profiles, contact management and status updates. Some offer file sharing. Completing a user profile with a realistic photograph, short biographical statement, or statement of purpose, and link to any external site is helpful. This tutorial focuses on Twitter as a tool for building connections. Click the Screencast Examples to view video examples of the exercises.

Spectators
Before creating accounts and joining services, you can act as a spectator by using search tools to learn more about how the members communicate. As a spectator, you can observe how others share information and join in discussions. You can learn how to filter content in a way that suits your needs. Without creating an account, you can still locate valuable resources in a short period of time, and learn what topics are currently being discussed in online spaces. You can discover links to other social networks and sources of information on your selected topics. You may also discover news before it hits mainstream media.

Exercise 1: Search Basics (Screencast Example)
1. Open the advanced Twitter search at @http://search.twitter.com/advanced 2. Spend a few minutes searching for topics that interest you. 3. Try modifying your search using the Twitter search operators. 4. Search for topics related to the course, such as: healthcare, healthcare IT, EHR 5. Modify the search to only include posts with links, then follow a few of the links.

While you were searching, you may have noticed posts with short key words or acronyms containing the "#" symbol, such as #EHR or #HealthIT. These key words are known as hashtags and are a way for participants to identify and link posts containing related topics. They are also used in many scheduled online conversations around particular discussion topics. For this course, we will use the tag #MEDIT115 when creating posts related to the course, or that may interest the instructor and other participants.

Exercise 2: Targeted Search (Screencast Example)
1. Open the advanced Twitter search at @http://search.twitter.com/advanced 2. Search for posts using the following hashtags. #EHR, #EMR, #HCIT, #HCSM, #HealthIT, #FDASM 3. Try modifying your search using the Twitter search operators. 4. Make note of other hashtags that appear within those posts, and follow some of those tags. 5. Modify the search to only include posts with links, then follow a few of the links. 6. On the Search Results page, examine the Trending Topics column on the right, and select a few of the topics. These topics are generated based on the post frequency of the text, and can change rapidly. Sometimes they include newsworthy information, and at other times, they are dominated with gossip or social games. During large conferences, the conference hashtags may appear in the trending topics as participants post about the sessions and events.

Participants
Once you are comfortable with the culture and environment of a social space online, you can sign up as a participant and begin making connections. There are a variety of ways to participate, and it is helpful to try several until you figure out what feels comfortable and worthwhile to you. Some participants choose to keep their profiles protected, so only approved members can see their posts. If you do select this setting, keep in mind everyone can still see all replies to you, and any information you post could still be copied and shared elsewhere. Protected, is not really private. As a new member, it is more difficult to gain followers with a protected account.

The main advantage to a protected account, is to avoid spammers. Because of the powerful potential for data mining in Twitter, marketers are constantly discovering new ways to deliver information to interested parties. Companies, including some with adult content, search key words in posts and then use their accounts to follow individuals who post those key words. These accounts are known as "bots," or "spambots," and usually, but not always, are not controlled by an individual. Twitter has a few features that can help you in negotiating the space while avoiding these accounts.

Exercise 3: Getting Started (Screencast Example)
1. Create an account at @http://twitter.com 2. Complete your profile, including a realistic image, short bio, and link to an external site. (This can be your personal blog, photo hosting site, myspace or facebook account, linked in profile, or company site. Any link to more information about you will help build credibility!) 3. Create a few posts, so your profile isn't empty. Positive attitude and transparency is generally better received than sarcasm and complaining. Consider posting about your interests, what you are seeking, what you have to offer. Sharing links is appreciated, when you have a decent description of the link, and your posts aren't all links. If you only post links, and no personal, conversational messages, you may be seen as a spammer. 4. Open the advanced Twitter search at @http://search.twitter.com/advanced and perform the searches you tried in earlier exercises. This time, select users with posts that interest you, and follow the link to their profiles. Select the "follow" button if you feel you would like their posts to display on your page, or "feed."

Exercise 4: Joining Conversations (Screencast Example)
1. Search for topics of interest within the Twitter Web interface while logged into your account. 2. Click profile links on interesting posts. 3. Follow people who seem interesting. 4. Reply to conversations that interest you. 5. Join in scheduled discussions, such as #HCSM