Social media often gets a bad reputation for being a place filled with unnecessary or unhealthy communication. However, social media can also provide opportunities for connections across great distances and allow for the exchange of ideas from people of all walks of life and cultures. Today I want to share just a few ideas for what you can do to make new connections or find more content to build your professional social media skills up!
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- #Hashtags – Searching for a certain phrase using a hashtag, such as #communicationskills or #servantleadership, is a great way to find content and people who are interested in those topics! In some cases, you can even follow certain hashtags to have content brought directly to your social media page, which makes the content more personalized but allows you to see a more diverse group of people’s posts.
- Association of… – By searching for “Association of…” followed by the topic you are interested in you could be introduced to a number of groups and organizations that are doing amazing things in your area of interest, but may not be in your region or even county! This could be a great way to get new ideas or new perspectives, and it works for all sorts of phrases such as “Organization of…”, “Club for…”, etc.
- Don’t be afraid to comment – Once you find a page, group, or organization that you are interested in, don’t be afraid to comment on their posts! This shows others in the community that you are interested, which can lead to additional connections. It also can boost the number of posts that you see on your page about the topics you enjoy.
Social media provides an exceptional way to connect with new people, new ideas, and new places in professional development. Take some time to look at how you are interacting with your social media pages and learn how you can expand your learning environment!
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UW-Green Bay’s Continuing Education and Community Engagement Division is continuously looking for ways to stay on the cutting edge of professional development for its clients. Be sure to check out the CECE website below, and reach out if you have ideas for new content you want to see! https://www.uwgb.edu/continuing-education/
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Writing/Research Credit: Christopher Ledvina, UW-Green Bay Business Development Specialist
Thank you for sharing insightful perspectives on utilizing social media for professional development. Your content highlights the positive aspects of online platforms and provides valuable tips for expanding knowledge and connections. Your ideas are both practical and motivating, offering readers a new way to approach social media for growth.