Live Social Media Discussion

The Blogger & Vlogger Network is a group and website built specifically for networking and education purposes. BVN strives to provide bloggers and vloggers with the most pertinent, up-to-date, and interactive information available. The BVN inworld group is free to join and open to all bloggers and vloggers. Every week they also hold live discussion panels where they have different bloggers, vloggers, creators and other members of the community covering a range of topics from vlogging, photography, events and more. Everyone is invited to join in on these discussions and presentations when they happen at the BVN headquarters inworld.

On Tuesday, April 11th at 7am SLT I will be talking about creating a social media presence. I’ll share some of my tips that I’ve learned over the years. Everyone is invited to attend, it will take place at the BVN headquarters, but if you can’t make it inworld at that time, I will also be live streaming it at this link. After the discussion, the live stream video will be automatically uploaded to my youtube channel so you can view it at your leisure.

UPDATE: The live streamed video is up now and because it was live streamed, the first 15 minutes or so I was still setting up and waiting for it to start. The actual discussion starts around the 16:55 point in the video.
View it on youtube now: https://youtu.be/Bl5J_gN-iYk?t=16m55s

Now I’ll share some information on what I’ll be covering during the discussion so you’ll know what to expect and if you have any questions, you can have them ready for the question and answer session after the discussion.

I feel that the following key elements are important in establishing a presence on social media.

1. Time
2. Consistency
3. Hashtags/tags
4. Reciprocation
5. Do not Spam!

Time

It was also almost a decade ago when I joined my first social network as my Second Life avatar to promote my SL work. The network was flickr and back in 2007 there was a very small SL community on flickr, I believe just around a few hundred people and almost all of us knew of each other.

Since then I’ve been slowly joining other networks as my SL avatar starting with plurk in 2008, twitter in 2009, then Facebook, Google+ Pinterest and more. Since I’ve been consistently posting on these networks for so many years now more and more people have gotten to know me, and my work.

That is definitely something to keep in mind, you will not get a large following overnight. It will take time and the other key elements I mentioned above to grow each network. So don’t lose hope, be patient and have fun with it!

Consistency

If you want to continue to grow your following, being consistent with posting is very important. You can’t just post something once a month and expect people to flock to your streams. I would say at least a couple of times a week would show people that are you are active on that network and might get them to start recognizing your work and engage with your content.

Hashtags/Tags

Pretty much every network has a way to add hashtags or tags to your content and then be able to bring your content up when someone searches for that hashtag on their network. This is a very important part of joining the “Second Life” community on every network. You always want to make sure you are adding that #SecondLife hashtag or tag wherever and whenever possible. It’s a label that you are putting on your work so other residents can find it.

Reciprocation

It’s great to be appreciated for the work that you do and whenever someone shares my work on their social media, I always feel thankful and it makes me want to see their work and also reciprocate if I can. I often share tutorials, posts and content by other residents that I think are outstanding and informative on my blog and/or social media. We are a community and it’s important that we support one another and when we do, we make our community even stronger. So don’t forget to repost, retweet, share, and promote other residents when you can as well.

Do Not Spam!

By spamming your content on all the networks continuously, you may get a few more hits but you’ll also annoy other members of the community that share their content in a fair and courteous way. On Twitter, I often see people tweeting the same posts over and over every single hour on the #SecondLife hashtag just flooding it with their content. Or on flickr, when people change their image dates and bump their images or when they add their images to all flickr groups without respecting the rules of the group therein irritating and creating more work for the group moderators. You may get more views and hits on your content, but you will also lose many followers. People often remove or block those that spam because it takes away from the community experience. You are not being fair to the other members of your community. So just remember, if people like your work, they will support you. You don’t need to spam hashtags or groups to get their attention.

Which Social Networks should you join?

Now that you know the key elements to creating a presence on social media, which social networks should you join and get started on? This is probably the most common question I receive and mainly because when it comes to social media, people don’t even know where to start. To me the answer is simple, as many as you can! The more networks you promote on, the more demographics you will hit. This can also be a very time consuming task though as it does take time to promote on each network, however there are certain websites that can help you with that such as Buffer.com.

Buffer.com is kind of like a social media assistant. It’s a software application that is designed to manage accounts in social networks, by providing the means for a user to schedule posts to Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and more. Not only does it let you schedule posts ahead of time and help you get organized, but then it also gives you Analytics on the posts, showing you how many times those posts were viewed, clicked, etc… it can give you a good insight on which posts of yours are getting more attention and also shows you what time of day is best to post. 

There are other sites like Buffer but I’ll be honest, I don’t use any of them. I manually post my content on each network. It takes me about 10 minutes to do that after each blog post but I feel like it makes things more personal and I can add my own words, tags or change it up for each network if I please.

Now here is a list of Social Networks that I have noticed an active Second Life community on:

Please note that I am not active on all these networks, but I figured I would share in case you guys wanted to join them. You can see a full list of the social networks that I am on on my Social Media page.

My.SecondLife.Com

This is the web-based version of your profile created by Linden Lab for Second Life residents. It’s connected with your inworld profile as well as your friends list inworld. The first page is your feed and on this feed you are able to share snapshots or a status to your content and according to how you have your privacy settings saved, it can be viewed publicly to anyone that looks up your profile using the Second Life viewer or on the web. If you plan to use this, the first thing you want to do is go into your settings and under privacy you want to set it to “Everyone.” If you don’t plan to use this, I suggest turning it off completely and set it to nobody because some people are not even aware that their feed is there and miss messages that people leave for them there. In the privacy tab you can also set who can post on your feed too.

If you have your profile set for public viewing, when you post a snapshot using the “upload to profile” setting in the snapshot menu, it can be displayed under the trending tab from the homepage and from there people can find you, like your content and follow your profile. There is no need to use hashtags or tags on this network since everyone using it is already on Second Life but consistently posting snapshots will get you seen in the trending section and will increase your followers here.

I try to post here often, for every blog post I do. You can follow me here by pressing the follow button on my page at this link.

Flickr

If you create anything at all in Second Life, any kind of content or even if you just love taking pictures, I highly recommend joining flickr. This is where you will find the majority of the Second Life community and I believe all of the key elements apply to this network.

• Time & Consistency: The longer you are on flickr and the more consistent you are in posting content, the more followers you will pick up.
• Tags: I am very bad about doing this myself but I highly encourage everyone to add at least the “Second Life” tag to all of their images. When you do a search for SecondLife on flickr, you’ll be able to find a lot of others to follow.
• Reciprocation: Don’t forget to follow, favorite and leave comments when you can. I am pretty bad about that these days when it comes to flickr as I am short on time but when I first joined this network, this is how I got to know most of the people in the community.
• Do not spam: Flickr is probably the worst network for spam, so much so that it has kind of turned me off from exploring the network as much as I used to. With the amount of people spamming the groups with their non-related images and then people consistently changing the dates on their images to always stay at the top of the feed, the enjoyment I used to have of just exploring everyone’s images on there has kind of died. So please remember to be courteous and fair to the rest of the flickr community.
• Some Flickr Groups all Second Life residents should join:
  • Official Second Life Flickr Group (owned and run by Linden Lab)
  • Second Life Flickr Group (the biggest SL group on flickr, run by SL residents)
  • Explore Second Life Flickr Group (shameless self promotion)
• Follow me on Flickr: http://flickr.com/strawberrysingh

Twitter

I think out of all the networks, I find Twitter the most educational. I follow certain RL bloggers, social media hashtags and then of course the Second Life hashtag. I learn a lot from the things people share on there.

Here are a few ways to find other SLers on Twitter and get your tweets noticed by them:

1. Follow & use the #SecondLife hashtag: Believe it or not, but the #SecondLife hashtag is actually followed by a lot of people, even non-SLers. If you follow it, you can easily see who the active Second Life resident tweeters are. I usually catch a lot of informative articles and links that people share about Second Life that way. To get exposure for your tweets and links, use the hashtag in your tweets when you share Second Life content.  I also like to attach an image with my tweets as well because I feel like it catches more people’s attention that way.
2. Follow the various Linden Lab accounts on twitter:
   > Second Life Official (run by Linden Lab – Second Life news & updates)
   > Linden Lab (Linden Lab’s official Twitter account)
   > Ebbe Altberg (CEO of Linden Lab)
3. Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/strawberrysingh

Google+

Google+ is a network that not a lot of people pay attention to, maybe because it joined late in the social network game, but I really enjoy it. I feel like it is one of the most aesthetically pleasing networks. I love the way the images and posts are so big and easy to see and read and it seems to be full of people who are more interested in technology and education, which is great! I have not even encountered any trolls of any sort on there, which is always a plus as well.

Here are ways to find other SLers on Google+

1. 1. Join the Second Life Community – With over 5000 members, the Second Life community on Google+ is pretty welcoming and quite busy. People are free to post any Second Life related links and statuses in the community, so make sure to join and participate when you can.
   2. Follow & Use the #SecondLife hashtag – I can’t stress how important hashtags will become for Google+ users. If you do a Google search of any hashtag, let’s say the #SecondLife hashtag, you may see Google+ posts that are using that hashtag popping up.
   3. Linden Lab has an official Google+ account: https://plus.google.com/+secondlife
   4. I have a Google+ profile for myself and also a Google+ Page for my blog:
      • My Google+ Profile: https://profiles.google.com/strawberrysingh
      • My Google+ Page: https://www.google.com/+StrawberrySingh

Facebook

Since it is against Facebook TOS to create a profile for someone that is not a real person, I do not recommend doing that. Instead I suggest that you create a Facebook Page for your Second Life avatar or brand and share your content on there.

1. Create a Facebook Page: I’ve done a tutorial on how to create a facebook page for your Second Life avatar or brand.
2. Create a Like Button for your Blog: Once you have created your page, create a social plugin showing your facebook page so people know to like and share it.
3. Like the Second Life Facebook Page: With over 300,000 likes, Second Life has a very active facebook page. It’s probably the most active network for Second Life. Like the page and interact with it often by leaving comments on their posts and sharing your own posts and pictures on the page itself for more exposure.
4. Join Second Life Groups: There are thousands of Second Life related groups on Facebook where people can share their links. A quick search for open Second Life groups will help you find a lot you can join and participate in. You need a Facebook Profile to join and participate in groups. You are not able to do this with just a facebook page.
5. Follow & use the #SecondLife hashtag: Again, like the other networks, it will be the fastest way to find other SL residents that are active users on Facebook. Also remember to add that hashtag to your public posts when sharing your SL-related statuses.
6. Like and Follow my Page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StrawberrySinghinSL

Plurk

Unlike all of the other networks I’ve mentioned, it’s not as easy to get into plurk and interact with the Second Life community there. The majority of the people do not follow hashtags on there, nor do a lot of people visit the frontpage to see which plurks have been promoted.

Promotion wise, I actually do not recommend plurk. I don’t feel it’s the best way to promote your brand because I’ve been seeing more and more of a trend amongst the current plurkers of not appreciating being spammed by people that are just posting blog links or links to their stores. What plurk is good for is actually socializing, especially with the second life fashion blogger community. The people on there are incredibly supportive and friendly once you get to know them. So if you do decide to join plurk, make sure to interact with others as well and not just post your links.

I myself am not currently on plurk. I’ve had a lot of real life changes going on so I felt that I didn’t really have the time for it and wanted to take a break for a while. I may come back, but not sure when since I’ve noticed I am getting a lot more work accomplished now that I’m not on it, lol. But we’ll see, perhaps I’ll be back some day!

You can follow some Linden Lab accounts on plurk: Second Life, Torley Linden and Xiola Linden.

Other Networks

Here are a few other networks that I share my content on:

1. Reddit: I try and post my links on the Second Life Reddit from time to time, but I must admit, some redditors are not very friendly about blog content being posted there. So just be careful when you post and don’t take it to heart if someone trolls you or downvotes your content, that’s just the way some people are. There are some very supportive and friendly people on that reddit as well!
2. Asners: This network is owned by SL resident Arkad Baxton. He first started Avatar Social Network, but that has closed down now and has been replaced with Asners.com. Asners is basically like a content sharing site where you just post your links and you can also connect your other social media accounts to it. Asners is relatively new so it is still building up its members and content.

I think that about covers everything I wanted to share. One thing to keep in mind as you join these networks and share your content – be yourself on them! Share what you like and enjoy talking about. A lot of people say that some topics should not be brought up like religion or politics. I don’t agree with that. If that’s what interests you, then definitely talk about it and share your opinions. If some people don’t like you talking about certain topics, then they can unfollow you, and trust me, you probably didn’t want those people following you anyways. It’s important to be true to yourself and have your voice heard. You will meet more like-minded people this way and create friendships that will last a lifetime. <3

A big thank you to the BVN team for inviting me to do this today, I appreciate it. Don’t forget to join the BVN Group inworld to catch more live discussions and interact with your fellow bloggers and vloggers!

What I’m wearing in this post and discussion:
Shape: StrawberrySingh.com Catya 2 Shape by Strawberry Singh
*Mesh Body: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V4.0 by Onyx LeShelle
*Mesh Head: CATWA HEAD Catya v2.14 by Catwa Clip
*Skin Applier: amara beauty – Kelly by Shantia Soulstar (Powder Pack Feb 2017)
*Eyelashes: DeeTaleZ Juanita Maria by Steffi Villota (Powder Pack March 2017)
*Eyeliner: Deetalez “Beautiful eyes Collection” by Steffi Villota (Powder Pack Feb 2017)
*Lipstick: [Pink Fuel] CATWA “BENTO” LIPSTICK Applier – Juicy Drop (Tintable) by Mochi Milena (Powder Pack Feb 2017)
*Hair: TRUTH HAIR Zoya by Truth Hawks (Group Gift)
*Sunglasses: Maitreya Mesh Jackie O Sunglasses by Onyx LeShelle (no longer avail)
*Bento Rings: **RealEvil** Elektra Nails & Rings – Maitreya Bento by crashnoww
*Shoes: ISON – charlotte by Harry Hyx (Shoetopia)
*Top: Rowne.Alla Crepe Top – Deluxe.Maitreya by Fashionboi Landar
*Pants: Rowne.Emm Cigarette Pant – Deluxe.Maitreya by Fashionboi Landar
*Coat: Rowne.Olesya Lace Coat – Deluxe.Small Posed by Fashionboi Landar
*Earrings: Rowne.PW BonBon Earrings. by Fashionboi Landar
*Tattoo: Letis Tattoo :: Arama color by Leti Hax
Location: Blogger & Vlogger Network HQ