Are You Just Getting Ready To Dive Into Social Media?

Have you been afraid to dive head first into the social media waters? Don't worry, there are some really easy ways to start. Here's a couple:

• Open a free account at Twitter, and begin to follow a few people. You don't even have to tweet yourself; you can just listen. You may want to type #nonprofits or your city into the search box (the # sign is called a 'hashtag' and acts like a category marker, pulling up all tweets in that category). If you search for, and follow, a few new people every couple of days, you'll soon be hooked on getting great information. You might want to start by following Beth Kanter (@kanter) who is a pioneer in the area of nonprofits and social media, or by checking in on her blog.
• Once you've gotten that far, you may be ready to build an online community at a site like Facebook or MySpace, and there are lots of great resources to help you through that, too. The Case Foundation has an awesome list of tutorials to get you fully emerged when you're ready!

Have you been using social media for awhile? If so, what can you add to this list to help others? Just comment below!