As you know, PediaStaff recently sponsored both a Learning Lab session and the Social Medial Learning Center booth (Featuring the #SLPeeps!)   At both venues, we talked about why it is imperative that SLPs understand and embrace the world of social media that is taking our profession by storm.   Whether you want to interact daily or prefer to sit

back and listen, social media has become an invaluable resource for communicating with colleagues and staying on top of recent research and trends.
Our booth and panel were both quite popular and our visitors expressed an interest in learning more that they could take home with them to digest at their leisure.  We anticipated that this would be the case, so together with our most involved #SLPeeps,  PediaStaff, co-authored and produced a simple e-book that we would like to share with you as a blog hop.    My part below is part five!  Please see the links below for the rest of the book.   We will post the entire PDF next week, but in the meantime, please hop away and support all the fantastic contributors to this fantastic resource!

Essential Social Media Tools for SLPs  – Part Five: Other Social Media Platforms (FaceBook and LinkedIn)

by Heidi Kay
 
Facebook for SLPs
Facebook is the “quintessential” personal, social media platform, and is probably the site most “responsible” for the common misperception that social media, as a whole, is (for young people) for announcing one’s social calendar and (for the more mature crowd) just for bragging about one’s children’s/grandchildren’s exploits. Indeed, while Facebook is largely for “that sort of thing,” it is definitely still useful for professionals in a limited fashion.
#SLPeeps on Facebook: Many SLP bloggers post links to their newest blog posts in this Facebook group. There are also fine clinical discussions that take place there as well. There is no doubt that the #SLPeeps group on Facebook is a good place for SLPs to connect, however, the changing nature of Facebook as a whole, is beginning to limit the platform’s once excellent potential for professional resource sharing. (http://ht.ly/ffrye)
Following Facebook “Fan Pages”: PediaStaff (http://ht.ly/fftEp), vendors of other SLP materials and apps, and a good many speech-language pathologist bloggers have “Fan Pages” on Facebook. While once an ideal place to stay up to date with your favorite SLP sites, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure that all posts end up in your news feed due to the increasingly commercial nature of the site. If you do choose to follow your favorite organizations on Facebook, make sure you add those sites to your “interest lists.” PediaStaff has written a blog post on how to do this (http://ht.ly/fftKK).
LinkedIn for SLPs
LinkedIn is the leading online directory of individuals and companies. Most useful for networking and job searching, LinkedIn users build “direct connections” of people they know, which then in turn helps them build “second degree” (and beyond) connections with “like minded professionals.” For speech-language pathologists and audiologists, the directory aspect of the site can be especially useful for clinicians wishing to meet others in their city or state. It is quite easy to get started on LinkedIn. The site’s “Profile Wizard” helps users build a virtual resume and has tools that can check your contact lists to quickly find other LinkedIn users that you are already networking with over email and Facebook.
It is the ‘Groups’ aspect of the platform, however, that is the “gem” within LinkedIn for SLPs and audiologists. There are a variety of groups on LinkedIn that offer ample opportunities for discussion and resource sharing. (ASHA has a group but the discussion feature has been closed and replaced by the ASHA Community.) Here are some ideas:

• The Pediatric and School Based Therapy Discussion Group – sponsored by PediaStaff: With over 5500 members, this group allows SLPs, OTs, PTs and School Psychologists to meet and discuss topics within the therapy niche lovingly known as “peds.” (http://ht.ly/ffqJS)
• Geek SLPs: Apps, Technology, iPad & Gadgets Discussions for SLPs: This is a great group for the “techie’s” amongst us. Excellent discussion surrounding the best apps and AAC solutions. (http://ht.ly/ffqNT)
• Speech Language Pathologists: Another large group of almost 5000 members. Moderated by one of the #SLPeeps – Timberly Leite, this group has a lot to offer. (http://ht.ly/ffqXc)
• Beyond these three groups you will find many groups for specialty areas tangentially related to speech and audiology. Type in a keyword into the “Groups” search bar and you will find a wide variety of groups for autism, early intervention, apraxia, aphasia, and any other major (and some not so major) diagnoses.

For more information on LinkedIn, check out the following blog posts by Mary Huston:

• Getting Connected with LinkedIn (http://ht.ly/ffr4y)
• I Have a LinkedIn Account, Now What? (http://ht.ly/ffr9S)
• I’ve Created a LinkedIn Profile, Now What?( http:/ht.ly/ffrhc)

Read the Rest of this E-Book!

• A Letter from a Founding Member of the #SLPeeps  – by Mary Huston
• Discovering Social Media:  Growth Starts Here – by Katie Millican
• Part 1:  Using Pinterest – by Tara Roehl
• Embracing Blogs – by Kim Lewis
• Part 3:  #SLPeeps on Twitter – by Megan Panatier
• Part 4:  Online discussion Group – by Tanya Coyle
• Part 5: (Right on this page!) – by Heidi Kay