Social Media
The popularity of Twitter has really exploded in the early part of 2009. The free service simply asks: “What are you doing?” Users send "tweets" in 140 characters or less. Twitter is best explained as “micro-blogging - a merger of blogging and instant messaging.
People use Twitter for all kinds of reasons, everything from staying in touch with friends to receiving announcements and support from companies with a presence on Twitter. The BCSP Twitter feed has everything from what conferences we will be attending, to links to important developments in credentialing, to our BCSP Customer Service Manager running a half-marathon (Go Christy!).
LinkedIn is a networking tool that helps individuals and companies discover inside connections to recommended job candidates, industry experts and business partners. LinkedIn strengthens, creates and extends existing networks of trusted contacts. Most people use LinkedIn to “get to someone” in order to make a sale, form a partnership, or get a job. It works well for this because it is an online network of more than 40 million experienced professionals from around the world representing a wide variety of industries.
LinkedIn provides a more efficient tool for using a network, while maintaining the quality and reputation of the interactions. The BCSP LinkedIn Group allows safety professionals from all over the country to interact on a one-on-one basis. It is a great tool for looking for a job, finding new companies, consultants and contractors, and locating industry experts.
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. It is the dominant provider of online video in the United States, with a market share of around 43 percent and more than six billion videos viewed in January 2009, and is considered the third most visited website after Yahoo and Google. One of the key features of YouTube is the ability of users to view its videos on web pages outside the site.
BCSP has created our unique YouTube channel and we plan on continuing to add content and allow others to share our videos.
It would be difficult not to notice the staggering growth of Facebook over the last few months of 2009. Facebook now has 31 million members across the globe and its growth has been phenomenal. Its interface and framework allow a person to spread news virally as quick as any social bookmarking service.
The BCSP Facebook Group promotes our credentialing process, shares news/events with our community and hopefully stimulates relevant discussion all in one spot. Our plan is to share brochures, links and videos, hold contests, and poll our members on a regular basis.
