A true story: we launched our seed library without traditional marketing. We had to. Our marketing staff had just left. There was no press release, no spiffy poster, no phone calls to selected media. But we had Justine. Justine Hernandez.

And Justine didn't just want to start the seed library so people could feed themselves better. She wanted to create community in southern Arizona that focused on food justice, food security, and local empowerment. She wasn't even a gardener.

Justine visited community gardens, took a seed-harvesting class on her own time, and visited farmer's markets. Everywhere she went she found support.

About 2 months before the grand opening Justine asked me to start a Facebook page for the Seed Library. On the FB page she posted about the delight she was experiencing as she spoke to people and visited gardens.

Come January and the grand opening we had 20 vendors, all local gardening groups WHO HAD NEVER DONE AN EVENT TOGETHER, and 2000 people came to our downtown library to check it all out.

3 years later, the Facebook page continues to be popular because her team's vision and passion are strong, their writing is a delight, the photographs are awesome, and the page is about community and gardening. You'll never see content cut and pasted from the online calendar, or all the polished marketing messages. But it is still strategic and it is still powerful, and it is a beloved new role the library is playing in the community.

Implications: your ideal social media person is a good writer, a good storyteller, is a good photographer, is down where stuff is happening, knows the community, and most importantly knows the WHY. Honestly, if they have the why they'll learn all the other stuff.

A true story: we launched our seed library without traditional marketing. We had to. Our marketing staff had just left. There was no press release, no spiffy poster, no phone calls to selected media. But we had Justine. Justine Hernandez.

And Justine didn't just want to start the seed library so people could feed themselves better. She wanted to create community in southern Arizona that focused on food justice, food security, and local empowerment. She wasn't even a gardener.

Justine visited community gardens, took a seed-harvesting class on her own time, and visited farmer's markets. Everywhere she went she found support.

About 2 months before the grand opening Justine asked me to start a Facebook page for the Seed Library. On the FB page she posted about the delight she was experiencing as she spoke to people and visited gardens.

Come January and the grand opening we had 20 vendors, all local gardening groups WHO HAD NEVER DONE AN EVENT TOGETHER, and 2000 people came to our downtown library to check it all out.

3 years later, the Facebook page continues to be popular because her team's vision and passion are strong, their writing is a delight, the photographs are awesome, and the page is about community and gardening. You'll never see content cut and pasted from the online calendar, or all the polished marketing messages. But it is still strategic and it is still powerful, and it is a beloved new role the library is playing in the community.

Implications: your ideal social media person is a good writer, a good storyteller, is a good photographer, is down where stuff is happening, knows the community, and most importantly knows the WHY. Honestly, if they have the why they'll learn all the other stuff.

Here's how to be effective: Know your "why."

What are your biggest challenges? What are your biggest fears?

And conversely, what is your library's secret power? What makes it unique?

Your "why" may come from strategic planning, a budget crisis, community strife.

But if you know your why and you won't lose your way on social media.

The library social media accounts that I've seen really take off have all had these things: 1) a writer with vision 2) who knows their community well 3) and mixes online community with in person community.

Perhaps there's a #4: they don't see social media as an extension of traditional marketing.

Here's how to be effective: Know your "why."

What are your biggest challenges? What are your biggest fears?

And conversely, what is your library's secret power? What makes it unique?

Your "why" may come from strategic planning, a budget crisis, community strife.

But if you know your why and you won't lose your way on social media.

The library social media accounts that I've seen really take off have all had these things: 1) a writer with vision 2) who knows their community well 3) and mixes online community with in person community.

Perhaps there's a #4: they don't see social media as an extension of traditional marketing.

Facebook is by far the largest platform, with the broadest adoption amongst Americans. However, there is a tradeoff: the learning curve is higher, it is by far the most time-consuming, and all business/organization posts are subject to heavy filtering by Facebook’s EDGE algorithm. On average, according to Adweek, a typical post is seen by only 7% of a page’s active “Likes.” This means that 2,000 people may have Liked your page, but the average reach on any given post will only be around 140 people. The people that actually engage with your post (click “like,” comment, or share it) will be even smaller. If you consistently beat 7%, you are doing well. These numbers will improve if you can afford to pay for ads and boost posts, in fact their ad targeting is very precise and can be powerful. They know A LOT about us.

Facebook wants to be everything: the way you stay in touch with friends and family, your event calendar, your preferred source of news, your blog platform, business customer service messaging, instant messaging, your group and organizational forum, and your source of video learning and entertainment. For free.

Facebook also rewards those who post directly using its interface, and not with third-party scheduling managers such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Thankfully we can now save drafts and schedule posts right from Facebook. One exception is Instagram, for which there is no penalty for cross-posting to Facebook, since they are both owned by Facebook.

Facebook is by far the largest platform, with the broadest adoption amongst Americans. However, there is a tradeoff: the learning curve is higher, it is by far the most time-consuming, and all business/organization posts are subject to heavy filtering by Facebook’s EDGE algorithm. On average, according to Adweek, a typical post is seen by only 7% of a page’s active “Likes.” This means that 2,000 people may have Liked your page, but the average reach on any given post will only be around 140 people. The people that actually engage with your post (click “like,” comment, or share it) will be even smaller. If you consistently beat 7%, you are doing well. These numbers will improve if you can afford to pay for ads and boost posts, in fact their ad targeting is very precise and can be powerful. They know A LOT about us.

Facebook wants to be everything: the way you stay in touch with friends and family, your event calendar, your preferred source of news, your blog platform, business customer service messaging, instant messaging, your group and organizational forum, and your source of video learning and entertainment. For free.

Facebook also rewards those who post directly using its interface, and not with third-party scheduling managers such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Thankfully we can now save drafts and schedule posts right from Facebook. One exception is Instagram, for which there is no penalty for cross-posting to Facebook, since they are both owned by Facebook.

Facebook is by far the largest platform, with the broadest adoption amongst Americans. However, there is a tradeoff: the learning curve is higher, it is by far the most time-consuming, and all business/organization posts are subject to heavy filtering by Facebook’s EDGE algorithm. On average, according to Adweek, a typical post is seen by only 7% of a page’s active “Likes.” This means that 2,000 people may have Liked your page, but the average reach on any given post will only be around 140 people. The people that actually engage with your post (click “like,” comment, or share it) will be even smaller. If you consistently beat 7%, you are doing well. These numbers will improve if you can afford to pay for ads and boost posts, in fact their ad targeting is very precise and can be powerful. They know A LOT about us.

Facebook wants to be everything: the way you stay in touch with friends and family, your event calendar, your preferred source of news, your blog platform, business customer service messaging, instant messaging, your group and organizational forum, and your source of video learning and entertainment. For free.

Facebook also rewards those who post directly using its interface, and not with third-party scheduling managers such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Thankfully we can now save drafts and schedule posts right from Facebook. One exception is Instagram, for which there is no penalty for cross-posting to Facebook, since they are both owned by Facebook.

Facebook is by far the largest platform, with the broadest adoption amongst Americans. However, there is a tradeoff: the learning curve is higher, it is by far the most time-consuming, and all business/organization posts are subject to heavy filtering by Facebook’s EDGE algorithm. On average, according to Adweek, a typical post is seen by only 7% of a page’s active “Likes.” This means that 2,000 people may have Liked your page, but the average reach on any given post will only be around 140 people. The people that actually engage with your post (click “like,” comment, or share it) will be even smaller. If you consistently beat 7%, you are doing well. These numbers will improve if you can afford to pay for ads and boost posts, in fact their ad targeting is very precise and can be powerful. They know A LOT about us.

Facebook wants to be everything: the way you stay in touch with friends and family, your event calendar, your preferred source of news, your blog platform, business customer service messaging, instant messaging, your group and organizational forum, and your source of video learning and entertainment. For free.

Facebook also rewards those who post directly using its interface, and not with third-party scheduling managers such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Thankfully we can now save drafts and schedule posts right from Facebook. One exception is Instagram, for which there is no penalty for cross-posting to Facebook, since they are both owned by Facebook.

Facebook is by far the largest platform, with the broadest adoption amongst Americans. However, there is a tradeoff: the learning curve is higher, it is by far the most time-consuming, and all business/organization posts are subject to heavy filtering by Facebook’s EDGE algorithm. On average, according to Adweek, a typical post is seen by only 7% of a page’s active “Likes.” This means that 2,000 people may have Liked your page, but the average reach on any given post will only be around 140 people. The people that actually engage with your post (click “like,” comment, or share it) will be even smaller. If you consistently beat 7%, you are doing well. These numbers will improve if you can afford to pay for ads and boost posts, in fact their ad targeting is very precise and can be powerful. They know A LOT about us.

Facebook wants to be everything: the way you stay in touch with friends and family, your event calendar, your preferred source of news, your blog platform, business customer service messaging, instant messaging, your group and organizational forum, and your source of video learning and entertainment. For free.

Facebook also rewards those who post directly using its interface, and not with third-party scheduling managers such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Thankfully we can now save drafts and schedule posts right from Facebook. One exception is Instagram, for which there is no penalty for cross-posting to Facebook, since they are both owned by Facebook.

Facebook is by far the largest platform, with the broadest adoption amongst Americans. However, there is a tradeoff: the learning curve is higher, it is by far the most time-consuming, and all business/organization posts are subject to heavy filtering by Facebook’s EDGE algorithm. On average, according to Adweek, a typical post is seen by only 7% of a page’s active “Likes.” This means that 2,000 people may have Liked your page, but the average reach on any given post will only be around 140 people. The people that actually engage with your post (click “like,” comment, or share it) will be even smaller. If you consistently beat 7%, you are doing well. These numbers will improve if you can afford to pay for ads and boost posts, in fact their ad targeting is very precise and can be powerful. They know A LOT about us.

Facebook wants to be everything: the way you stay in touch with friends and family, your event calendar, your preferred source of news, your blog platform, business customer service messaging, instant messaging, your group and organizational forum, and your source of video learning and entertainment. For free.

Facebook also rewards those who post directly using its interface, and not with third-party scheduling managers such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Thankfully we can now save drafts and schedule posts right from Facebook. One exception is Instagram, for which there is no penalty for cross-posting to Facebook, since they are both owned by Facebook.

Facebook is by far the largest platform, with the broadest adoption amongst Americans. However, there is a tradeoff: the learning curve is higher, it is by far the most time-consuming, and all business/organization posts are subject to heavy filtering by Facebook’s EDGE algorithm. On average, according to Adweek, a typical post is seen by only 7% of a page’s active “Likes.” This means that 2,000 people may have Liked your page, but the average reach on any given post will only be around 140 people. The people that actually engage with your post (click “like,” comment, or share it) will be even smaller. If you consistently beat 7%, you are doing well. These numbers will improve if you can afford to pay for ads and boost posts, in fact their ad targeting is very precise and can be powerful. They know A LOT about us.

Facebook wants to be everything: the way you stay in touch with friends and family, your event calendar, your preferred source of news, your blog platform, business customer service messaging, instant messaging, your group and organizational forum, and your source of video learning and entertainment. For free.

Facebook also rewards those who post directly using its interface, and not with third-party scheduling managers such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Thankfully we can now save drafts and schedule posts right from Facebook. One exception is Instagram, for which there is no penalty for cross-posting to Facebook, since they are both owned by Facebook.

Facebook is by far the largest platform, with the broadest adoption amongst Americans. However, there is a tradeoff: the learning curve is higher, it is by far the most time-consuming, and all business/organization posts are subject to heavy filtering by Facebook’s EDGE algorithm. On average, according to Adweek, a typical post is seen by only 7% of a page’s active “Likes.” This means that 2,000 people may have Liked your page, but the average reach on any given post will only be around 140 people. The people that actually engage with your post (click “like,” comment, or share it) will be even smaller. If you consistently beat 7%, you are doing well. These numbers will improve if you can afford to pay for ads and boost posts, in fact their ad targeting is very precise and can be powerful. They know A LOT about us.

Facebook wants to be everything: the way you stay in touch with friends and family, your event calendar, your preferred source of news, your blog platform, business customer service messaging, instant messaging, your group and organizational forum, and your source of video learning and entertainment. For free.

Facebook also rewards those who post directly using its interface, and not with third-party scheduling managers such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Thankfully we can now save drafts and schedule posts right from Facebook. One exception is Instagram, for which there is no penalty for cross-posting to Facebook, since they are both owned by Facebook.

Facebook is by far the largest platform, with the broadest adoption amongst Americans. However, there is a tradeoff: the learning curve is higher, it is by far the most time-consuming, and all business/organization posts are subject to heavy filtering by Facebook’s EDGE algorithm. On average, according to Adweek, a typical post is seen by only 7% of a page’s active “Likes.” This means that 2,000 people may have Liked your page, but the average reach on any given post will only be around 140 people. The people that actually engage with your post (click “like,” comment, or share it) will be even smaller. If you consistently beat 7%, you are doing well. These numbers will improve if you can afford to pay for ads and boost posts, in fact their ad targeting is very precise and can be powerful. They know A LOT about us.

Facebook wants to be everything: the way you stay in touch with friends and family, your event calendar, your preferred source of news, your blog platform, business customer service messaging, instant messaging, your group and organizational forum, and your source of video learning and entertainment. For free.

Facebook also rewards those who post directly using its interface, and not with third-party scheduling managers such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Thankfully we can now save drafts and schedule posts right from Facebook. One exception is Instagram, for which there is no penalty for cross-posting to Facebook, since they are both owned by Facebook.

Facebook is by far the largest platform, with the broadest adoption amongst Americans. However, there is a tradeoff: the learning curve is higher, it is by far the most time-consuming, and all business/organization posts are subject to heavy filtering by Facebook’s EDGE algorithm. On average, according to Adweek, a typical post is seen by only 7% of a page’s active “Likes.” This means that 2,000 people may have Liked your page, but the average reach on any given post will only be around 140 people. The people that actually engage with your post (click “like,” comment, or share it) will be even smaller. If you consistently beat 7%, you are doing well. These numbers will improve if you can afford to pay for ads and boost posts, in fact their ad targeting is very precise and can be powerful. They know A LOT about us.

Facebook wants to be everything: the way you stay in touch with friends and family, your event calendar, your preferred source of news, your blog platform, business customer service messaging, instant messaging, your group and organizational forum, and your source of video learning and entertainment. For free.

Facebook also rewards those who post directly using its interface, and not with third-party scheduling managers such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Thankfully we can now save drafts and schedule posts right from Facebook. One exception is Instagram, for which there is no penalty for cross-posting to Facebook, since they are both owned by Facebook.

Twitter had a bad rap for banality, but its readers value the platform for the closeness it affords to the famous and infamous, its immediacy for news, and snappy wordplay. Because of Twitter I could read what influential librarians were reading the same day they did, and perhaps have a conversation with them about it.

Flexibility: For organizations, another part of the appeal is that it takes far less time to write for than Facebook, and is more tolerant of traditional marketing, such as events announcements and links to blog post links. It is also easier to schedule and cross-post to services like LinkedIn and Google+ using tools like Hootsuite, Buffer or IFTTT.

Demographics: Twitter can be a way to reach working-age people with above-average incomes and education. It varies by community, but you may also find local teens on Twitter as well. Certain professions, such as writers, news professionals, and bloggers are likely to be active on Twitter.

Outlook: Today, much of the early uniqueness is gone and worries about privacy and bullying have cut into its readership. The 2016 presidential election brought Twitter back into the limelight as candidates sometimes used it to circumvent contact with traditional news media and speak directly to their followers.

Bottom line? If your local community is active on Twitter, its still-large readership, its role in breaking news, and its flexibility make it a good second choice after Facebook.

Unlike Flickr or Pinterest, Instagram does not allow for grouping similar images into boards or folders, but this is also its strength. People who are overwhelmed by Facebook love the simplicity of Instagram. There is far less noise, fewer ads, and more original content. Whereas on Facebook a friend might post all 60 photos of their trip to Scotland, the same friend will select far fewer for Instagram. Ads are still rare, and links in posts do not work so the rhythm is simple: photo/video,
Unlike Flickr or Pinterest, Instagram does not allow for collections of images organized by “boards” or albums, but this is also its strength. People who are overwhelmed by Facebook love the simplicity of Instagram. There is far less noise, fewer ads, and more original content. Whereas on Facebook a friend might post all 60 photos of their trip to Scotland, the same friend will save their favorites for Instagram. A smartphone or tablet is required for posting; you cannot use a Mac or PC.

Use Instagram to establish a reality-based visual identity for your business or nonprofit, and tell a deeper story of what you offer.

Demographics: Some of the audiences you may find here are women, teens and people under the age of 29, and African-American and Hispanic people. Instagram has recently seen an increase in growth of rural users. b.

Pinterest is a way anyone can create their own virtual inspiration boards, museums, shopping lists, and visual bookmarks. Everyone is a curator. If you have strong visual collections to showcase, collect craft activity ideas, or post book reviews, Pinterest can be rewarding.

On the other hand, your geographic location and the date of a post are not valued at all here, so it is much less useful for hyper-local or time-sensitive posts. Hashtags are not useful, and actual conversations are rare. People pin and re-pin images but rarely write to one another. Pinterest has excellent tools for pinning from websites but does not encourage cross-posting to other platforms.

Demographics: Pinterest’s heaviest use comes from well-educated women under the age of 50, and its use is holding steady, possibly because it has few direct competitors.

Photo of dry ice bubble at Valencia Library, courtesy of Thania Mayorga.

Photo of dry ice bubble at Valencia Library, courtesy of Thania Mayorga.

Your advocates can come from unexpected places

This is a true story. Our library system was threatened 2 years ago by legislation from the state that would have removed local control of the tax levy set aside for our libraries.

Understand that we employees cannot directly advocate for or criticize legislation that affects us.

I noticed something interesting. On Facebook gardening groups people who loved our seed library program organized themselves even more effectively that we could have. They started with lists of state senator contact information, then worked on talking points together, and then they shared what they ended up mailing to their legislators.

They had a visceral reason to fight for their library, and they knew what they wanted to say because the seed program built community online and off.