We are Cycling UK Social Media - What is your view
Posted: 23 Mar 2016, 6:20pm
Cycling UK – The cyclists’ champion
Social Media Toolkit
A training toolkit for Cycling UK members and group Promotions Officers/Secretaries
Produced in partnership with
Contents
Introduction 2
Why do we need Social Media? 3
The keys to success when using social media 4
All members - Let’s get started! 4
Setting up your personal Facebook account 4
Your personal Facebook homepage 6
How to create an event 7
Interacting with your local group 8
How do I edit basic info on my profile and choose who can see it? 9
Next…Setting up your personal Twitter account 10
Changing your details on Twitter 10
Finding your interests on Twitter 11
Promo Officers/Secretaries – Let’s get started! 12
How to create a Facebook group 12
Facebook groups vs Facebook pages 12
How to set up your local group on Facebook 12
Group functionality 17
Setting up your local group’s Twitter 20
So, what’s Twitter about? 20
How to set up a Twitter account 21
Team Tweet (optional) 23
So, what should I post/tweet about? 25
Anatomy of a great Tweet 25
Anatomy of a great Facebook post 25
Being social – a guide to moderating 26
What shouldn’t I Tweet/post? 26
Guidelines for moderating 26
Cycling UK House Rules for social media 27
Introduction
The aim of this toolkit is to give Cycling UK members everything they need to get started online, advice on how to create a personal profile, join a Cycling UK group and how to get the most out of being online.
With an active online community, Cycling UK will have access to a wide reaching audience, enabling them to communicate and interact with its members quickly, providing them with news, updates and information whenever necessary.
Cycling UK wants to encourage new people to join by promoting a positive ‘come ride with us’ message, reflect on past rides and events, highlighting their success and showing everyone what Cycling UK is all about. An active community online will help increase awareness of Cycling UK, promote the brand more widely and allow members to interact widely with each other from all parts of the country.
For Cycling UK members who join the community, you will have up to date access of all rides and routes, the ability to share your experiences with Cycling UK members as well as share theirs. For experienced Cycling UK members, the chance to help inspire and engage the next generation, providing advice and support to other local Cycling UK groups, ensuring that Cycling UK continues to grow and evolve.
Why do we need Social Media?
In business, social media can help increase brand recognition, brand loyalty, inbound customer traffic and decrease marketing costs. When used personally, social media can help build relationships, share experiences and expertise, increase visibility and can connect people anywhere, at any time.
According to studies, 80% of 18-24 year olds and 73% of 25-34 year olds are using Facebook and Twitter, the average Facebook user age is 38, for Twitter it is 39. While these numbers show there is a large difference in take up for the younger demographic, figures also show that 64% or Twitter’s users and 61% of Facebook’s users are over the age of 35.
Social media has increasingly become an effective strategy for charities to connect with its supporters. The Visceral Business’ Charity Social 100 index shows that, in using social media, some UK charities have doubled their supporters on key social media channels in the past year.
Charities are reliant on the support of the public and constantly need to find new ways to contact and communicate with their existing supporters, whilst also looking for potential new ones. Social media offers the chance to ‘Share’ with like-minded people, giving charities a more organic, widespread, peer driven form of advertising, more importantly, at minimal cost.
By using social media to promote the Cycling UK, we hope to increase awareness of the charity to a large volume of people in a quick, easy and cost effective manner. Facebook and Twitter are both easily available platforms and available across almost every device. Both Facebook and Twitter show ‘Trends’ which are news stories that are relevant, popular and being discussed via social media at that present time, by ‘Trending’ on Facebook or Twitter, the Cycling UK will be able to quickly find themselves in the public’s eye.
By creating an online community, Cycling UK will enable their members to interact with each other, regardless of location and availability. Not all Cycling UK members currently meet up on a regular basis, nor are they aware of what is currently happening in the Cycling UK. Both Twitter and Facebook have messaging and posting facilities enabling members to speak directly to each other, as individuals or as part of a group, posting also allows members to communicate a message in general and for those who find it interesting to ‘like’ or ‘favourite’ a post to show it is of interest to them. ‘Retweeting’ or ‘Sharing’ of post’s also allows members to share information with others who may not currently be a part of Cycling UK enabling further interaction outside of the group.
The keys to success when using social media
Use multiple platforms- Most social networking sites easily link in with one another, avoiding the need to rewrite posts.
Keep it simple- Social media users are ‘on the go’, keep your post short, sweet and informative, if you have a longer message, attach a ‘link’ for those who want detail to read more.
Keep it current and relevant- To promote and market effectively, your posts need to be current, social media is about fast access, breaking news and updates. Whether it’s daily or weekly, it has to be relevant.
Keep it active- Whether it’s hourly, daily or weekly, keep people up to date. Social media can be a fickle environment, frequency will depend on the nature of the post, however the most popular accounts are generally the most active ones.
Be Genuine- Content must be ‘real’, genuine thoughts, opinions and beliefs often create the most debate and have the biggest impact.
All members - Let’s get started!
Setting up your personal Facebook account
First up, your own individual Facebook account (via laptop or tablet) :
Go to http://www.facebook.com.
If you see the signup form, fill out your name, email address or phone number, password, birthday and gender. If you don't see the form, click Sign Up, then fill out the form.
Next click on Sign Up/Create account.
From here will be the basic steps to set up an account:
Once you sign up, you'll need to confirm your email address or phone number. Facebook will send you either an email or a text message to help you confirm your account.
Next are the basics on your homepage, but play around and get in touch with those you know and start sharing.
Your personal Facebook homepage
Continued…
How to create an event
Interacting with your local group
Once you are set up you can search for groups (your cycling group) through the search function.
To post to a group, go to the group and then click the box that says Write something.
From here you can:
• Post an update
• Add a photo or video
• Ask a question
Group members get notified about all new posts in a group unless they choose to adjust their group notification settings.
If you like, you can include your location and tag other members of the group in your post.
How do I edit basic info on my profile and choose who can see it?
To edit your basic personal info (ex: gender, contact info, relationships, work, education):
• Go to your profile
• Click Update Info at the bottom of your cover photo
• Click the section you'd like to change
• Hover over the information you'd like to edit
• Click Edit, or Options then Edit, to the right of that section.
While editing each section, you might see an audience selector next to some info. Select an audience to choose who you share this information with.
Next…Setting up your personal Twitter account
Go to http://twitter.com and find the sign up box
Once you've clicked Sign up for Twitter, you can select a username (usernames are unique identifiers on Twitter).
Twitter will helpfully tell you if the username you want is available.
Your username is the name your followers (People who choose to be able to send messages to you) use when sending @replies, mentions, and direct messages.
Twitter will have sent you an email for you to confirm your email address, ensure you click the link to properly activate your account.
Your username will also form the URL (the location of the file on the web) of your Twitter profile page. Twitter will provide a few available suggestions when you sign up, but feel free to choose your own.
Changing your details on Twitter
You can change your username in your account settings at any time, as long as the new username is not already in use.
Usernames must be fewer than 15 characters in length and cannot contain "admin" or "Twitter", in order to avoid brand confusion.
You will then be given the option to add your phone number; you can choose to skip this step. (Your phone number can be used to verify your identity, connect with your phone contacts on Twitter and your friends can use your phone number to find you on Twitter). Your phone number is never shared and will not appear on your profile.
Finding your interests on Twitter
Twitter will then guide you through some additional stages to get you started, this starts with your interests.
Then based on your interests and location it will suggest people to “Follow”, you can deselect these by clicking on the “x”.
At this stage you can upload a picture; this is recommended as it will help differentiate you from other users.
Twitter can help you find people you know using your email account, if you give them permission they will search your email address book (using the email address supplied earlier).
Happy tweeting!
Promotions Officers/Secretaries – Let’s get started!
How to create a Facebook group
Facebook groups vs Facebook pages
It’s possible to create either a page or a group in Facebook. One of main differences between a group and a page is that a group can be made private. This means that there is much more control over who can join and what can be posted on the group’s wall. The downside of this is that a group must be linked to an individual’s profile. In order to future-proof this it would be wise to set up a personal profile for your local group using a group email address, then use this profile to create the group page. This means that other members of the group can take over the page at a later date.
Because of groups offer more flexibility around privacy and posting, instructions on how to create a Facebook group for your local Cycling UK group are provided in this toolkit.
How to set up your local group on Facebook
Log into your (or your local groups) Facebook account using your email and password.
Scroll down your homepage until you see the “groups” section and “create group” in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen.
A pop-up box will appear, prompting you to enter a number of required fields:
Group name - we recommend that you choose the name you currently use for your group, and ideally include a reference to Cycling UK to make your group easy to find.
Members – Facebook requires that you add at least one member when setting up the group. You must already be “friends” with this person on Facebook.
Privacy – you can choose to make your group public, closed or secret. The features of these are outlined in the below table:
The most appropriate option is to choose closed, which means that your group can be found easily by non-members, but that you retain control over who can see and make posts to the group’s wall.
After entering all this information, click “Create”.
You now have the option to choose an icon to represent your group. This stage is optional, but whatever icon you choose will appear next to your group’s name on the group list.
At this stage you’ve created the basic outline for your group. In order to get the most benefit from having a group and to attract new members you should also fill out the following sections.
Add a Description – use this section to write a little about your local group and what you do. You should also post the Cycling UK house rules in this section.
Photo – you should add a photo to you group, which should be the Cycling UK logo. Clicking on “Add a Cover Photo” will launch a pop up where you can navigate to any saved photo.
Editing group settings
Here you can change the following:
• Group icon
• Group name
• Privacy settings
• Membership approval – do you want anyone to add members, or do you want an admin to approve them?
• Add a group address – do you want to add a Facebook email address and URL (website address)?
• Change your description – this is what people will see if they are not members of your groups
• Change posting permissions – do you want to allow any group member to post, or only admin? Allowing any member to post creates a more “community” feel, but can be open to abuse.
• Post approval – do you want all posts to be approved by admin? This may be time-consuming for admins but is beneficial if you have problems with group members making inappropriate posts.
Hit “Save” once you’re done making your changes.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully created your group
Group functionality
Now that you have created your group, there are some features of Facebook that you may wish to customise.
Notifications – as the administrator, you should turn on notification to receive updates when anyone posts which will allow you to respond promptly in the event of spam. If you have set all posts to be approved by admin you may not need this feature.
Create Events – you might like to create events for the members of you group, which they will be able to RSVP to. This would be a great idea for either regular, one-off or audax rides. Click on the “Events” tab and click “Create Event”.
Files – you may wish to upload files to Facebook, such as your upcoming ride lists. This can either be done as an attachment to the page:
Or you can write a “post” at the same time and attach the file. This post will then appear on the members’ “news feed”. You can find posts under the “Discussion” tab.
Add Admin – As you created the group you are automatically an admin. To add more admins, click on the “Members” tab. Under each member you will see a cog – selecting this cog allows you to change their settings to admin:
Invite friends – you can invite friends to join your group – either your existing Facebook friends, or by their email address. To add existing friends use the “Add people to group” field, which can be found on the right of the screen. You can also add by email by selecting “Invite by Email”.
Further assistance and functionality on Facebook groups can be found here.
Setting up your local group’s Twitter
So, what’s Twitter about?
What is Twitter?
Twitter is an information network made up of 140-character messages called Tweets. It's an easy way to discover the latest news related to subjects you care about.
How is it useful?
Twitter contains information you will find valuable. Messages from users you choose to follow will show up on your home page for you to read. It’s like being delivered a newspaper whose headlines you’ll always find interesting – you can discover news as its happening, learn more about topics that are important to you, and get the inside scoop in real time.
Common terms
Tweet = A tweet may contain photos, videos, internet links and up to 140 characters of text.
Hashtag = A hashtag is a phrase (without spaces) or word immediately preceded by the # symbol. When clicking a hashtag you will see other tweets containing the same phrase or key word.
Retweet = A tweet from another user can be retweeted; this will forward the tweet onto your follows and appear in your feed.
Feed/Timeline = This is a stream/list of the tweets made by those who you are following or when looking at someone’s timeline will just contain their tweets.
Follow = To follow someone on Twitter means their tweets will appear on your home page.
Favourite = In addition to retweeting you can also favourite another users tweet by selecting the star icon below, this will indicate to the author that you like it.
Trending = A trend is a topic or hashtag that is considered to be in popular use on Twitter at the moment.
Notifications = When someone follows you, retweets, favourites or responds to a tweet you will receive a notification at the top of your screen.
How to set up a Twitter account
Go to http://twitter.com and find the sign up box.
Enter your full name (CYCLING UK group name), phone number, and a password.
Click Sign up for Twitter.
Once you've clicked Sign up for Twitter, you can select a username (usernames are unique identifiers on Twitter) — type your own or choose one we've suggested. Twitter will tell you if the username you want is available. For your Cycling UK group page I would recommend it contains “CYCLING UK” and an abbreviation of your group name.
• Your username is the name your followers use when sending @replies, mentions, and direct messages
• It will also form the URL of your Twitter profile page. Twitter will provide a few available suggestions when you sign up, but feel free to choose your own
• You can change your username in your account settings at any time, as long as the new username is not already in use
• Usernames must be fewer than 15 characters in length and cannot contain "admin" or "Twitter", in order to avoid brand confusion
You will then be given the option to add you phone number, you can choose to skip this step. (Your phone number can be used to verify your identity, connect with your phone contacts on Twitter and your friends can use your phone number to find you on Twitter). Your phone number is never shared and will not appear on your profile.
Twitter will then guide you through some additional stages to get you started, this starts with your interests.
Then based on your interests and location it will suggest people to “Follow”, you can deselect these by clicking on the “x”.
At this stage you can upload a picture, this is recommended as it will help differentiate you from other users, for your Cycling UK group page it is recommend you use the most up-to-date logo.
Twitter can help you find people you know using your email account, if you give them permission they will search your email address book (using the email address supplied earlier).
Twitter will have sent you an email for you to confirm your email address, ensure you click the link to properly activate your account.
Team Tweet (optional)
It is possible to set up a Twitter account and enable multiple users to provide updates, each user will need their own Twitter account, but it removes the responsibility from a single user.
To add this functionality to your Cycling UK group page, follow the steps above then continue here. Adding this function needs to be done via an “app” called TweetDeck at https://tweetdeck.twitter.com.
TweetDeck setup
• Go to https://tweetdeck.twitter.com
• Log in using your Cycling UK Twitter account and password
• At this stage it will ask if anyone else uses the selected Twitter account, to continue select No
• On the next screen it will welcome you to TweetDeck, click Get Started
At this point it may look quite busy and confusing; it automatically displays your home page (feed), notifications, direct messages and activity (this may take a few moments to finish updating).
However, you will see recognisable icons on the left panel - the top icon allows you to compose a new Tweet, followed by search, home, notifications, messages and activity.
From this page you can authorise other Twitter users to Tweet on behalf of the group, using the steps below:
1. Expand the left panel using the double arrows icon in the bottom left corner >>
2. Select Accounts
3. Select Team @Twitter username
4. The box below will appear allowing you to add other Twitter users to your team, you can search for these in the box using either their screen name or Twitter username
5. Once you’ve selected your new team member, click authorise (authorisation level can be set to admin or contributor, contributor is the default)
6. That team member will need to log into TweetDeck as themselves to confirm this request before proceeding
7. This can be done for up to 200 members.
To use this feature you will need to be logged into TweetDeck as opposed to Twitter, this function cannot be used on the Twitter website or mobile app.
To compose a Tweet as the group:
• Select the compose icon at the top of the screen
• In the From section, select the Twitter user the message is from (your Cycling UK group or your personal username)
• Compose your message and select Tweet.
Team members can add the group feed to their home page on TweetDeck using the ‘+Add Column’ button.
1. Click the ‘+’ icon on the left panel
2. This will present a menu of the different options available such as Home, Notifications, Mentions; these are likely to be the most useful
3. Once selected it will ask you to select an account, this is when you can select your Cycling UK group account
4. Click ‘Add Column’ and it will appear on your home page.
So, what should I post/tweet about?
There are a few ideas on what you should use your new Facebook and Twitter accounts below. Keep your tone positive and friendly, and promote your group’s activities as much as possible, without bombarding your members!
• Cycling UK group events/rides, time/date/location. If you’re posting about these it’s a good idea to do it a couple of days in advance, and then remind people on the day too.
• Pictures of Cycling UK group events/rides
• Important cycling causes/events, e.g. Bike Week, Tour de France
• Retweet/Share other groups events
• Retweet/Share Cycling UK members photos
• Try to tweet or post at least once a day, even if it’s a retweet/share
Remember – Facebook and Twitter are fun and social, so posting and tweeting should be something you enjoy doing, not something you consider a chore!
Anatomy of a great tweet
Keep tweets between 100 and 120 characters, so others can modify or add short notes before retweeting.
Write proper sentences, if space allows.
Encourage conversation by posing questions, quoting others and thanking those that retweet you.
Use hashtags often, but don’t overdo it.
Shorten links, which will allow you to write your tweet too. Use https://bitly.com/
Use bright photos or images to accompany your tweets
Maintain your own personality – don’t sound like a robot!
Anatomy of a great Facebook post
Use images, videos and documents to support your posts, which should only be 2-3 sentences long.
Encourage conversation by posing questions, quoting others and thanking those that share your posts.
Interact with people by responding to their comments on your posts, or by commenting on their posts.
Add comments to your old posts if you want to re-start the conversations.
Post often, but not too much – you don’t want to dominate anyone’s news feed.
Being social – a guide to moderating
To keep the content of your social media pages relevant and engaging for your group members, you should regularly review and moderate the content. Any group can be a target of spam and inappropriate behaviour from both members and non-members, which can push away other members. Having privacy settings on your pages can reduce your exposure, but you need to balance that against the amount of time you are prepared to spend reviewing and authorising comments and posts.
What shouldn’t I tweet/post?
• Ensure you follow the Cycling UK code of conduct and do not tweet anything that could cause offence
• Don’t get drawn into arguments, nobody wins and it can be taken out of context. If you continue to have problems from an individual you can block them with the following steps:
• Twitter:
Go to their home page
Click the gear icon next to the follow button
Select “block” from the menu and confirm
Facebook:
Go to the “members” tab of your group
Click the gear icon next to the member’s picture
Select “Remove from group”
If necessary report any serious abuse to Twitter on their help page
Offensive pictures
Strong opinions on divisive topics are likely to cause arguments, such as cyclists vs cars
Guidelines for moderating
1. Be transparent – don’t cover up any genuine negative comments about your local group or Cycling UK as a whole. Encourage an open, healthy debate and take their feedback on board.
2. Abusive comments should not be tolerated – these should be deleted immediately. You can either delete the individual comment or block the user from the group. If you know the user you should discuss the need for appropriate behaviour off line.
3. Spam should always be deleted as it will disrupt your members’ feeds.
4. Members should not exploit Cycling UK group pages for the purposes of advertising goods and services, unless pre-agreed. These posts should be removed and discussed with the member.
5. All posts should follow the house rules. These apply to everyone, and it is the administrator’s role to enforce them.
Cycling UK House Rules for social media
These are the Cycling UK house rules for social media, and should be placed in a visible area on all group Twitter, Facebook or other social media pages.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is your space - a place to share your passion for cycling and tell us your views. In order to keep it a friendly place, we have a few guidelines on appropriate behaviour. We reserve the right to remove posts and comments that violate these guidelines.
• Be polite and courteous. Offensive, abusive, obscene or discriminatory comments, personal attack and incitements to violence will be deleted. Repeat offenders and spammers will be banned.
• Please stay on topic. Don't add comments about something unrelated to what the original post is about
• Provide appropriate explanatory context for posted links, photos, and videos.
• Do not solicit or market products.
Social Media Toolkit
A training toolkit for Cycling UK members and group Promotions Officers/Secretaries
Produced in partnership with
Contents
Introduction 2
Why do we need Social Media? 3
The keys to success when using social media 4
All members - Let’s get started! 4
Setting up your personal Facebook account 4
Your personal Facebook homepage 6
How to create an event 7
Interacting with your local group 8
How do I edit basic info on my profile and choose who can see it? 9
Next…Setting up your personal Twitter account 10
Changing your details on Twitter 10
Finding your interests on Twitter 11
Promo Officers/Secretaries – Let’s get started! 12
How to create a Facebook group 12
Facebook groups vs Facebook pages 12
How to set up your local group on Facebook 12
Group functionality 17
Setting up your local group’s Twitter 20
So, what’s Twitter about? 20
How to set up a Twitter account 21
Team Tweet (optional) 23
So, what should I post/tweet about? 25
Anatomy of a great Tweet 25
Anatomy of a great Facebook post 25
Being social – a guide to moderating 26
What shouldn’t I Tweet/post? 26
Guidelines for moderating 26
Cycling UK House Rules for social media 27
Introduction
The aim of this toolkit is to give Cycling UK members everything they need to get started online, advice on how to create a personal profile, join a Cycling UK group and how to get the most out of being online.
With an active online community, Cycling UK will have access to a wide reaching audience, enabling them to communicate and interact with its members quickly, providing them with news, updates and information whenever necessary.
Cycling UK wants to encourage new people to join by promoting a positive ‘come ride with us’ message, reflect on past rides and events, highlighting their success and showing everyone what Cycling UK is all about. An active community online will help increase awareness of Cycling UK, promote the brand more widely and allow members to interact widely with each other from all parts of the country.
For Cycling UK members who join the community, you will have up to date access of all rides and routes, the ability to share your experiences with Cycling UK members as well as share theirs. For experienced Cycling UK members, the chance to help inspire and engage the next generation, providing advice and support to other local Cycling UK groups, ensuring that Cycling UK continues to grow and evolve.
Why do we need Social Media?
In business, social media can help increase brand recognition, brand loyalty, inbound customer traffic and decrease marketing costs. When used personally, social media can help build relationships, share experiences and expertise, increase visibility and can connect people anywhere, at any time.
According to studies, 80% of 18-24 year olds and 73% of 25-34 year olds are using Facebook and Twitter, the average Facebook user age is 38, for Twitter it is 39. While these numbers show there is a large difference in take up for the younger demographic, figures also show that 64% or Twitter’s users and 61% of Facebook’s users are over the age of 35.
Social media has increasingly become an effective strategy for charities to connect with its supporters. The Visceral Business’ Charity Social 100 index shows that, in using social media, some UK charities have doubled their supporters on key social media channels in the past year.
Charities are reliant on the support of the public and constantly need to find new ways to contact and communicate with their existing supporters, whilst also looking for potential new ones. Social media offers the chance to ‘Share’ with like-minded people, giving charities a more organic, widespread, peer driven form of advertising, more importantly, at minimal cost.
By using social media to promote the Cycling UK, we hope to increase awareness of the charity to a large volume of people in a quick, easy and cost effective manner. Facebook and Twitter are both easily available platforms and available across almost every device. Both Facebook and Twitter show ‘Trends’ which are news stories that are relevant, popular and being discussed via social media at that present time, by ‘Trending’ on Facebook or Twitter, the Cycling UK will be able to quickly find themselves in the public’s eye.
By creating an online community, Cycling UK will enable their members to interact with each other, regardless of location and availability. Not all Cycling UK members currently meet up on a regular basis, nor are they aware of what is currently happening in the Cycling UK. Both Twitter and Facebook have messaging and posting facilities enabling members to speak directly to each other, as individuals or as part of a group, posting also allows members to communicate a message in general and for those who find it interesting to ‘like’ or ‘favourite’ a post to show it is of interest to them. ‘Retweeting’ or ‘Sharing’ of post’s also allows members to share information with others who may not currently be a part of Cycling UK enabling further interaction outside of the group.
The keys to success when using social media
Use multiple platforms- Most social networking sites easily link in with one another, avoiding the need to rewrite posts.
Keep it simple- Social media users are ‘on the go’, keep your post short, sweet and informative, if you have a longer message, attach a ‘link’ for those who want detail to read more.
Keep it current and relevant- To promote and market effectively, your posts need to be current, social media is about fast access, breaking news and updates. Whether it’s daily or weekly, it has to be relevant.
Keep it active- Whether it’s hourly, daily or weekly, keep people up to date. Social media can be a fickle environment, frequency will depend on the nature of the post, however the most popular accounts are generally the most active ones.
Be Genuine- Content must be ‘real’, genuine thoughts, opinions and beliefs often create the most debate and have the biggest impact.
All members - Let’s get started!
Setting up your personal Facebook account
First up, your own individual Facebook account (via laptop or tablet) :
Go to http://www.facebook.com.
If you see the signup form, fill out your name, email address or phone number, password, birthday and gender. If you don't see the form, click Sign Up, then fill out the form.
Next click on Sign Up/Create account.
From here will be the basic steps to set up an account:
Once you sign up, you'll need to confirm your email address or phone number. Facebook will send you either an email or a text message to help you confirm your account.
Next are the basics on your homepage, but play around and get in touch with those you know and start sharing.
Your personal Facebook homepage
Continued…
How to create an event
Interacting with your local group
Once you are set up you can search for groups (your cycling group) through the search function.
To post to a group, go to the group and then click the box that says Write something.
From here you can:
• Post an update
• Add a photo or video
• Ask a question
Group members get notified about all new posts in a group unless they choose to adjust their group notification settings.
If you like, you can include your location and tag other members of the group in your post.
How do I edit basic info on my profile and choose who can see it?
To edit your basic personal info (ex: gender, contact info, relationships, work, education):
• Go to your profile
• Click Update Info at the bottom of your cover photo
• Click the section you'd like to change
• Hover over the information you'd like to edit
• Click Edit, or Options then Edit, to the right of that section.
While editing each section, you might see an audience selector next to some info. Select an audience to choose who you share this information with.
Next…Setting up your personal Twitter account
Go to http://twitter.com and find the sign up box
Once you've clicked Sign up for Twitter, you can select a username (usernames are unique identifiers on Twitter).
Twitter will helpfully tell you if the username you want is available.
Your username is the name your followers (People who choose to be able to send messages to you) use when sending @replies, mentions, and direct messages.
Twitter will have sent you an email for you to confirm your email address, ensure you click the link to properly activate your account.
Your username will also form the URL (the location of the file on the web) of your Twitter profile page. Twitter will provide a few available suggestions when you sign up, but feel free to choose your own.
Changing your details on Twitter
You can change your username in your account settings at any time, as long as the new username is not already in use.
Usernames must be fewer than 15 characters in length and cannot contain "admin" or "Twitter", in order to avoid brand confusion.
You will then be given the option to add your phone number; you can choose to skip this step. (Your phone number can be used to verify your identity, connect with your phone contacts on Twitter and your friends can use your phone number to find you on Twitter). Your phone number is never shared and will not appear on your profile.
Finding your interests on Twitter
Twitter will then guide you through some additional stages to get you started, this starts with your interests.
Then based on your interests and location it will suggest people to “Follow”, you can deselect these by clicking on the “x”.
At this stage you can upload a picture; this is recommended as it will help differentiate you from other users.
Twitter can help you find people you know using your email account, if you give them permission they will search your email address book (using the email address supplied earlier).
Happy tweeting!
Promotions Officers/Secretaries – Let’s get started!
How to create a Facebook group
Facebook groups vs Facebook pages
It’s possible to create either a page or a group in Facebook. One of main differences between a group and a page is that a group can be made private. This means that there is much more control over who can join and what can be posted on the group’s wall. The downside of this is that a group must be linked to an individual’s profile. In order to future-proof this it would be wise to set up a personal profile for your local group using a group email address, then use this profile to create the group page. This means that other members of the group can take over the page at a later date.
Because of groups offer more flexibility around privacy and posting, instructions on how to create a Facebook group for your local Cycling UK group are provided in this toolkit.
How to set up your local group on Facebook
Log into your (or your local groups) Facebook account using your email and password.
Scroll down your homepage until you see the “groups” section and “create group” in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen.
A pop-up box will appear, prompting you to enter a number of required fields:
Group name - we recommend that you choose the name you currently use for your group, and ideally include a reference to Cycling UK to make your group easy to find.
Members – Facebook requires that you add at least one member when setting up the group. You must already be “friends” with this person on Facebook.
Privacy – you can choose to make your group public, closed or secret. The features of these are outlined in the below table:
The most appropriate option is to choose closed, which means that your group can be found easily by non-members, but that you retain control over who can see and make posts to the group’s wall.
After entering all this information, click “Create”.
You now have the option to choose an icon to represent your group. This stage is optional, but whatever icon you choose will appear next to your group’s name on the group list.
At this stage you’ve created the basic outline for your group. In order to get the most benefit from having a group and to attract new members you should also fill out the following sections.
Add a Description – use this section to write a little about your local group and what you do. You should also post the Cycling UK house rules in this section.
Photo – you should add a photo to you group, which should be the Cycling UK logo. Clicking on “Add a Cover Photo” will launch a pop up where you can navigate to any saved photo.
Editing group settings
Here you can change the following:
• Group icon
• Group name
• Privacy settings
• Membership approval – do you want anyone to add members, or do you want an admin to approve them?
• Add a group address – do you want to add a Facebook email address and URL (website address)?
• Change your description – this is what people will see if they are not members of your groups
• Change posting permissions – do you want to allow any group member to post, or only admin? Allowing any member to post creates a more “community” feel, but can be open to abuse.
• Post approval – do you want all posts to be approved by admin? This may be time-consuming for admins but is beneficial if you have problems with group members making inappropriate posts.
Hit “Save” once you’re done making your changes.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully created your group
Group functionality
Now that you have created your group, there are some features of Facebook that you may wish to customise.
Notifications – as the administrator, you should turn on notification to receive updates when anyone posts which will allow you to respond promptly in the event of spam. If you have set all posts to be approved by admin you may not need this feature.
Create Events – you might like to create events for the members of you group, which they will be able to RSVP to. This would be a great idea for either regular, one-off or audax rides. Click on the “Events” tab and click “Create Event”.
Files – you may wish to upload files to Facebook, such as your upcoming ride lists. This can either be done as an attachment to the page:
Or you can write a “post” at the same time and attach the file. This post will then appear on the members’ “news feed”. You can find posts under the “Discussion” tab.
Add Admin – As you created the group you are automatically an admin. To add more admins, click on the “Members” tab. Under each member you will see a cog – selecting this cog allows you to change their settings to admin:
Invite friends – you can invite friends to join your group – either your existing Facebook friends, or by their email address. To add existing friends use the “Add people to group” field, which can be found on the right of the screen. You can also add by email by selecting “Invite by Email”.
Further assistance and functionality on Facebook groups can be found here.
Setting up your local group’s Twitter
So, what’s Twitter about?
What is Twitter?
Twitter is an information network made up of 140-character messages called Tweets. It's an easy way to discover the latest news related to subjects you care about.
How is it useful?
Twitter contains information you will find valuable. Messages from users you choose to follow will show up on your home page for you to read. It’s like being delivered a newspaper whose headlines you’ll always find interesting – you can discover news as its happening, learn more about topics that are important to you, and get the inside scoop in real time.
Common terms
Tweet = A tweet may contain photos, videos, internet links and up to 140 characters of text.
Hashtag = A hashtag is a phrase (without spaces) or word immediately preceded by the # symbol. When clicking a hashtag you will see other tweets containing the same phrase or key word.
Retweet = A tweet from another user can be retweeted; this will forward the tweet onto your follows and appear in your feed.
Feed/Timeline = This is a stream/list of the tweets made by those who you are following or when looking at someone’s timeline will just contain their tweets.
Follow = To follow someone on Twitter means their tweets will appear on your home page.
Favourite = In addition to retweeting you can also favourite another users tweet by selecting the star icon below, this will indicate to the author that you like it.
Trending = A trend is a topic or hashtag that is considered to be in popular use on Twitter at the moment.
Notifications = When someone follows you, retweets, favourites or responds to a tweet you will receive a notification at the top of your screen.
How to set up a Twitter account
Go to http://twitter.com and find the sign up box.
Enter your full name (CYCLING UK group name), phone number, and a password.
Click Sign up for Twitter.
Once you've clicked Sign up for Twitter, you can select a username (usernames are unique identifiers on Twitter) — type your own or choose one we've suggested. Twitter will tell you if the username you want is available. For your Cycling UK group page I would recommend it contains “CYCLING UK” and an abbreviation of your group name.
• Your username is the name your followers use when sending @replies, mentions, and direct messages
• It will also form the URL of your Twitter profile page. Twitter will provide a few available suggestions when you sign up, but feel free to choose your own
• You can change your username in your account settings at any time, as long as the new username is not already in use
• Usernames must be fewer than 15 characters in length and cannot contain "admin" or "Twitter", in order to avoid brand confusion
You will then be given the option to add you phone number, you can choose to skip this step. (Your phone number can be used to verify your identity, connect with your phone contacts on Twitter and your friends can use your phone number to find you on Twitter). Your phone number is never shared and will not appear on your profile.
Twitter will then guide you through some additional stages to get you started, this starts with your interests.
Then based on your interests and location it will suggest people to “Follow”, you can deselect these by clicking on the “x”.
At this stage you can upload a picture, this is recommended as it will help differentiate you from other users, for your Cycling UK group page it is recommend you use the most up-to-date logo.
Twitter can help you find people you know using your email account, if you give them permission they will search your email address book (using the email address supplied earlier).
Twitter will have sent you an email for you to confirm your email address, ensure you click the link to properly activate your account.
Team Tweet (optional)
It is possible to set up a Twitter account and enable multiple users to provide updates, each user will need their own Twitter account, but it removes the responsibility from a single user.
To add this functionality to your Cycling UK group page, follow the steps above then continue here. Adding this function needs to be done via an “app” called TweetDeck at https://tweetdeck.twitter.com.
TweetDeck setup
• Go to https://tweetdeck.twitter.com
• Log in using your Cycling UK Twitter account and password
• At this stage it will ask if anyone else uses the selected Twitter account, to continue select No
• On the next screen it will welcome you to TweetDeck, click Get Started
At this point it may look quite busy and confusing; it automatically displays your home page (feed), notifications, direct messages and activity (this may take a few moments to finish updating).
However, you will see recognisable icons on the left panel - the top icon allows you to compose a new Tweet, followed by search, home, notifications, messages and activity.
From this page you can authorise other Twitter users to Tweet on behalf of the group, using the steps below:
1. Expand the left panel using the double arrows icon in the bottom left corner >>
2. Select Accounts
3. Select Team @Twitter username
4. The box below will appear allowing you to add other Twitter users to your team, you can search for these in the box using either their screen name or Twitter username
5. Once you’ve selected your new team member, click authorise (authorisation level can be set to admin or contributor, contributor is the default)
6. That team member will need to log into TweetDeck as themselves to confirm this request before proceeding
7. This can be done for up to 200 members.
To use this feature you will need to be logged into TweetDeck as opposed to Twitter, this function cannot be used on the Twitter website or mobile app.
To compose a Tweet as the group:
• Select the compose icon at the top of the screen
• In the From section, select the Twitter user the message is from (your Cycling UK group or your personal username)
• Compose your message and select Tweet.
Team members can add the group feed to their home page on TweetDeck using the ‘+Add Column’ button.
1. Click the ‘+’ icon on the left panel
2. This will present a menu of the different options available such as Home, Notifications, Mentions; these are likely to be the most useful
3. Once selected it will ask you to select an account, this is when you can select your Cycling UK group account
4. Click ‘Add Column’ and it will appear on your home page.
So, what should I post/tweet about?
There are a few ideas on what you should use your new Facebook and Twitter accounts below. Keep your tone positive and friendly, and promote your group’s activities as much as possible, without bombarding your members!
• Cycling UK group events/rides, time/date/location. If you’re posting about these it’s a good idea to do it a couple of days in advance, and then remind people on the day too.
• Pictures of Cycling UK group events/rides
• Important cycling causes/events, e.g. Bike Week, Tour de France
• Retweet/Share other groups events
• Retweet/Share Cycling UK members photos
• Try to tweet or post at least once a day, even if it’s a retweet/share
Remember – Facebook and Twitter are fun and social, so posting and tweeting should be something you enjoy doing, not something you consider a chore!
Anatomy of a great tweet
Keep tweets between 100 and 120 characters, so others can modify or add short notes before retweeting.
Write proper sentences, if space allows.
Encourage conversation by posing questions, quoting others and thanking those that retweet you.
Use hashtags often, but don’t overdo it.
Shorten links, which will allow you to write your tweet too. Use https://bitly.com/
Use bright photos or images to accompany your tweets
Maintain your own personality – don’t sound like a robot!
Anatomy of a great Facebook post
Use images, videos and documents to support your posts, which should only be 2-3 sentences long.
Encourage conversation by posing questions, quoting others and thanking those that share your posts.
Interact with people by responding to their comments on your posts, or by commenting on their posts.
Add comments to your old posts if you want to re-start the conversations.
Post often, but not too much – you don’t want to dominate anyone’s news feed.
Being social – a guide to moderating
To keep the content of your social media pages relevant and engaging for your group members, you should regularly review and moderate the content. Any group can be a target of spam and inappropriate behaviour from both members and non-members, which can push away other members. Having privacy settings on your pages can reduce your exposure, but you need to balance that against the amount of time you are prepared to spend reviewing and authorising comments and posts.
What shouldn’t I tweet/post?
• Ensure you follow the Cycling UK code of conduct and do not tweet anything that could cause offence
• Don’t get drawn into arguments, nobody wins and it can be taken out of context. If you continue to have problems from an individual you can block them with the following steps:
• Twitter:
Go to their home page
Click the gear icon next to the follow button
Select “block” from the menu and confirm
Facebook:
Go to the “members” tab of your group
Click the gear icon next to the member’s picture
Select “Remove from group”
If necessary report any serious abuse to Twitter on their help page
Offensive pictures
Strong opinions on divisive topics are likely to cause arguments, such as cyclists vs cars
Guidelines for moderating
1. Be transparent – don’t cover up any genuine negative comments about your local group or Cycling UK as a whole. Encourage an open, healthy debate and take their feedback on board.
2. Abusive comments should not be tolerated – these should be deleted immediately. You can either delete the individual comment or block the user from the group. If you know the user you should discuss the need for appropriate behaviour off line.
3. Spam should always be deleted as it will disrupt your members’ feeds.
4. Members should not exploit Cycling UK group pages for the purposes of advertising goods and services, unless pre-agreed. These posts should be removed and discussed with the member.
5. All posts should follow the house rules. These apply to everyone, and it is the administrator’s role to enforce them.
Cycling UK House Rules for social media
These are the Cycling UK house rules for social media, and should be placed in a visible area on all group Twitter, Facebook or other social media pages.
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This is your space - a place to share your passion for cycling and tell us your views. In order to keep it a friendly place, we have a few guidelines on appropriate behaviour. We reserve the right to remove posts and comments that violate these guidelines.
• Be polite and courteous. Offensive, abusive, obscene or discriminatory comments, personal attack and incitements to violence will be deleted. Repeat offenders and spammers will be banned.
• Please stay on topic. Don't add comments about something unrelated to what the original post is about
• Provide appropriate explanatory context for posted links, photos, and videos.
• Do not solicit or market products.