A Post for other Yale College Classes Trying to Establish a Web Presence

5 Tips for Launching Your Class Presence on Twitter & Facebook

By Margie Smith Whiteleather TC ‘87

Don’t wait until your next Yale class reunion.  Help your classmates connect to each other right now and at the same time build these new communication channels for announcing your events.  On Twitter especially, the discovery of other Yale groups and people is easy and fluid.

1.Use a general name for your class year, not something date specific.

Use just your class name, such as Yale1989 or YaleCollege84. If you want to recognize a special event, you can change your profile photo to reflect that. Facebook will NOT let you change your page name after you have more than 200 followers.  (On Facebook set up as a “page” versus a “group.”  Read the details in their help section.)

2.Start listing your Twitter and Facebook accounts in all your communications.

Spell out the precise Twitter handle, and Facebook name. Put them in everything:  class notes in the Yale Alumni Magazine; bulk emails; paper communications; on signs at check-in tables at special events.

3.Announce a hashtag for use in Twitter.

In your bio blurb list your hashtag, such as #Yale87, and use it frequently in your tweets. Watch for other Yale event hashtags so that you can connect to those conversations, such as #YaleReunion.  By clicking on a hashtag you will find other people referencing that same topic, which is how you discover people you wouldn’t have known, or known to look for, on Twitter.

4.Follow (on Twitter) and like (on Facebook) other Yale alumni organizations.

This alerts them that you exist; they may follow you back. Log in to your account regularly to read your newsfeed, because these organizations are a great source of news to “retweet” or “share” to your classmates and followers.

5.Plan an editorial calendar for your posts.

Think about the events in the next twelve months and jot down ideas for items to post. Start with recognition of basic Yale alumni seasons: Yale Day of Service (@YDOS), reunions, class events, Feb Club Emeritus (@febclub), plus shout-outs for classmates’ projects. You’ll find you have more to say than you realized.

Start today and you’ll build a strong following before your next reunion. Discuss this with your class leadership group, and then have a volunteer who’s familiar with the social media platforms run with it.  Share the Twitter password with a few people, and set up more than one person as Facebook page administrators so that you will have back-ups in place who have access to your accounts.