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When deploying various Social Media applications there are some general guidelines you can follow:

1. Learn from others. Be active and see for yourself what's working and what's not. Check NREN Social Media presence Wiki page for ideas.
2. You won't be able to monitor entire Social Media space. Plan deploying various tools like netwibes to save you time once your applications will be in production.
3. Technology and applications are changing all the time. Instead of training employees for specific applications think it more general terms and give them "How to communicate on Social Media" like courses that will keep value even when you are migrating from e. g. Facebook to Pinterest.

Facebook

Facebook has the highest number of users so it's probably the best "usual suspect" to start with.

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1. Once you create your corporate profile do take time to customize it. It will make all the difference if someone lands on your profile.
2. Make sure you state who stands behind company Twitter profile - name the person(s), so users know who they are talking to.
3. Twitter users produce a lot of post so make sure you install the desktop or mobile tools. They will help you navigate through the information noise and manage multiple accounts and hash-tags. There are many solutions though for Windows and iOS desktops we would suggest Tweetdeck, and for Android "Tweetdeck" or "Twitter" application.
4. Don't forget to set automatic notifications for various events - for instance when somebody mentions you or reposts one of your tweets.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn could also be also called the Facebook for professionals. Especially professionals .

1. Create corporate page for the sake of brand awareness.
2. Promote at least a few high end services

from technical fields are present and try to "connect" on LinkedIn. In my experience a vast number of NREN employees is already present on LinkedIn though the activity rarely exceeds the linking with others. Company LinkedIn profile is also good for raising brand awareness.

1. When creating a company profile try to search for and "link" existing company (your company could be already listed among companies and linked to your employees).
2. Add the company "professional" data. Think of the profile as a billboard for job seekers.
3. In this case think about incorporating company news RSS. LinkedIn is not (jet) as live as other Social Networks so it could save you some time and the damage is not sa big as using RSS on Facebook or twitter.
4. Add a few most important services you offer and are important to you.
5. If you are looking for new employees all the time, fill in the Job section.

Youtube

People rarely browse through custom Youtube channels though creating one brings credibility and raises brand awareness. In contrary to majority of NREN custom solutions it offers additional customization and subscriptions.

1. When creating your channel think about the name carefully since it will tend to (or not) pop up at the searches.
2. Add the info about the channel. Careful use of words applies in this case too.
3. Creating a customized, NREN branded background and slight channel customization is trivial
4. Select featured channels and upload so many videos that the channel at least looks fool if you blindly land on it.

Wikipedia

The Wikipedia page about your NREN is probably already online and it was created by Wikipedia enthusiast. In any case you will have to be careful when editing or adding the information since local Wikipedia users look after ther Wikipedia spaces passionately.

1. Check whether your NREN is already on Wikipedia and whether the information about your NREN is up to date.
2. If you have to update the information, be aware of strict editorial policy and comply to it.
3. If possible, try contacting "local Wikipedia caretaker" and discuss what you should add or update.

Google+, Pinterest, Flikr, Instagram, various Blogs, Wikispaces and future Social Media applications

With so many Social Media applications it's really hard to know where to put your focus. If the application is not in your immediate interest you certainly shouldn't be spending too much time on it. We suggest you do the following:

1. Register your company account as soon as possible so you can "reserve" your Brand username.
2. Keep the username and password somewhere safe if you decide to work further in the future.
3. If possible also add short company description and company logo.
4. Wait what happens with the application.
5. And be aware. With some of them you will need an android or apple based mobile device.

In my opinion Instagram will be the next Social Media application worth spending efforts on. 

1. Start deploying your social media and engage
   1. General advices
      1. Breef your employs with Social Media guidelines
      2. Answer all question as soon as possible
      3. Make people feel their opinion matters
      4. If you have nothing to say, don’t say it
   2. Facebook
      1. Add as many photos as possible
      2. Like and be liked
      3. Create company events, invite people to events
      4. Photograph events and post photos from events on your profile
      5. Notify your friends about your page and hopefully they will like it (and others will follow them).
      6. Activate your work colleagues so they like and post on your profile and activate more users
      7. Don’t forget to use it for contests, events and new service launches
      8. Monitor insights and see what your public likes and activates on
      9. Advertise to friends of your followers
   3. Twitter
      1. can sonsume a lot of time,
      2. a lot of information nise
      3. Make sure everyone twitting for your company learn “twitter language”
      4. twitwall
      5. Build twitter in your every day workflow
      6. Start following journalists and people of the same interest
      7. Reply to twits of people you would like to follow
      8. Whenever possible try to twit breaking news
      9. Use twitter for the channel to VIPs

      10. Use Twittwall on conferences to engage users in conversations with presenters

   4. LinkedIn
      1. Invest more time and effort if you are a regular seeker of employees
   5. Youtube
      1. Customize your channel
      2. Create playlists
      3. Use insights to understand your users
   6. Instagram
   7. flikr
   8. Google+, Pinterest ...
      
      1. Periodicaly check what's going on with it
      2. Not jet so popular but at least register your brand for future use.
   9. Wiki
      1. Make sure information about your NREN is up to date.Be aware of strict editorial policy and comply to it.
   10. Blogs
   11. Flikr
   12. Pinterest
2. Engage coworkers
   1. Notify of guidelines
   2. motivate
3. Measure success and report back to management
   1. Number of likes and followers.
   2. News dissemination through social media (if possible monitor your CMS for different entry points to your news articles).
   3. Use tools for accessing influence (e. g. klout, peerindex)
   4. With a help of reasonable effort  the Social media will grow all by itself, so It’s a great PR resource for you.