This work was supported by Cooperative Agreement #NU58DP007539-01 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
These social media, communication, evaluation and design resources can help you enhance your online presence and overall communications strategy and demonstrate the impact of your social media efforts. If you have questions about a social media or communication term, the glossary can help.
Tools and Resources
Evaluation
Facebook Insights: Allows users to track page likes, post reach, number of visits, and specific posts, as well as who is following your page. According to Facebook, “posts that get more likes, comments and shares show up more in News Feed and are seen by more people. Posts that are hidden, reported as spam or cause people to unlike your page reach fewer people.”
Instagram Insights: Available in the app for users who have an Instagram Business Profile. This tool allows you to see overall account metrics, follower demographics and metrics for your Instagram stories, such as impression, reach and replies.
Twitter Analytics: Allows users to see and download detailed tracking information about tweet activity, engagement, audience and trends over time. Log in with your Twitter username and password to learn more.
Pinterest Analytics: Allows users to track statistics about your reach, activity and engagement. It provides you with audience and account insights so you can strategize what you need to do to boost your Pinterest presence.
Design and Stock Images
Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark): Free alternative to Adobe Illustrator that supports integration with other Adobe products and comes with a host of free templates
Canva: Allows users to create visually appealing graphics and photos for social media and print materials; includes a collection of low-cost or free stock photos and backgrounds
CDC Infographics: Provides a gallery of CDC-designed infographics to visually communicate data or information
CDC on Flickr: Designed for public health image sharing, CDC images include public health photos and graphics developed for public health events that users can comment on and share
CDC Public Health Image Library: Free image library from CDC
Design Wizard: Free online design tool with a large database of images along with a host of free templates (over 10,000)
National LGBT Cancer Network Resource Library: Co-brandable media, infographics, and more resources targeted for LGBTQ+ individuals
Pixlr: Free online photo editor and graphic design software that functions like Adobe Photoshop
Unsplash Cancer Photos: Free-to-use cancer images and other searchable photos
Vice Gender Spectrum Collection Stock Photos: The Gender Spectrum Collection is a stock photo library featuring images of trans and non-binary models
Social Media
Bit.ly: Free link shortener to track clicks and simplify links for social media
Hootsuite: Social media management platform that allows users to schedule social media posts, keep up with trends and followers, and collect basic analytics for evaluation.
Sprout Social: Paid social media management platform that allows users to schedule social media posts, keep up with trends and followers, and collect basic analytics for evaluation
TinyURL: Link shortening service that allows for customization of URLs to make them more memorable
Tweetdeck: Platform from Twitter that allows for pre-scheduling tweets and graphics
General Communication Resources
Guide to Making Communication Campaigns Evidence-Based: Companion guide to the Communication Training for Comprehensive Cancer Control Professionals (Comm 102) that explores the process for planning, implementing and evaluating a communication campaign
GW Cancer Center's Online Academy: Provides numerous training and education opportunities, from cancer survivorship care for primary care providers to communication trainings for cancer professionals looking to launch a public education campaign
Media Planning and Media Relations Guide: Companion guide to Media Planning and Media Relations (Comm 101) training that covers working with the media and establishing a communications and media strategy
Glossary
Ask Me Anything (A.M.A.): A feature of Reddit where users can interview someone through posting questions to the Reddit message board
Crowdsource: Harnessing the knowledge base and skills of an external community for the purpose of collaboratively solving problems, sharing knowledge, or gathering opinions
Direct Message: Private messages between Twitter users or Instagram users
Facebook: A popular free social networking site that allows people to create personal profiles and stay connected with others (www.facebook.com)
Facebook Live: A live video streaming service provided through Facebook
Feed: News feeds which you receive straight into your account
Followers: People who have agreed to see your tweets or posts on Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest
Hashtags (#): A form of metadata tag that makes it possible to group messages on many social media platforms
Instagram: A photo sharing application that allows users to share pictures and videos to their followers either publicly or privately to pre-approved followers (www.instagram.com/)
Instagram Live: “A totally unedited stream for your followers to tune into and engage with” that allows live questions and comments from the audience (Warren, 2020)
Instagram Story: “A camera-first fullscreen visual format that disappears after 24 hours, modeled after Snapchat” (Cooper, 2020); multiple stories can be posted without being overwhelming since they do not appear in the news feed
LinkedIn: A social networking site for the business community that allows registered members to establish and document networks (www.linkedin.com)
Live Tweet: To post comments about an event on Twitter while the event is taking place
Pinterest: A website where users can discover information mainly through images, GIFs (animated images), and videos (www.pinterest.com/)
Reddit: A social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website (www.reddit.com)
Retweet (RT): Re-posting of someone else’s tweet
Snapchat: An image messaging application where messages auto-delete after a set amount of seconds
Timeline: A real-time list of posts on Facebook
Tweets: 280-character text messages on Twitter
Twitter: An online social networking and microblogging service that enables users to send and read short, 280-character text messages, called "Tweets" (www.twitter.com)
Twitter chat: A live moderated Twitter conversation focused around a specific topic using a single hashtag
Twitter handle: Your Twitter name that begins with the “@” sign. For example: @GWCancer
Twittersphere or Twitterverse: The total universe of Twitter users and their habits