Contact/Outreach

= Building OKFN Communities Online =

The OKFN utilises a variety of virtual tools for community-based outreach on the Web. To engage with new members and the public online, when we aren't using our [|Internal OKFN Mailing Lists], or talking on our #OKFN chatroom on IRC, we share ideas on Twitter and Identica, events on Meetup, photos on Flickr and Facebook, and professional connections on LinkedIn.

Twitter
We use our OKFN Twitter account to publicise links, events and #opendata updates with our wider virtual networks and aim to re-tweet interesting discussions when they are shared with us.

Accounts
Start by searching for @OKFN on twitter. This should bring up not only the main @OKFN account, but also people with @OKFN in their descriptions. These will usually be your teammates; follow them and retweet their interesting tweets to make sure the message is spread.


 * Main OKFN: https://twitter.com/#!/OKFN
 * OpenSpending: https://twitter.com/#!/openspending
 * Where Does My Money Go?: https://twitter.com/#!/wdmmg
 * CKAN: http://twitter.com/#!/ckanproject
 * OKFN Open Economics: https://twitter.com/#!/okfnecon
 * OKFN Open Science: https://twitter.com/#!/okfnscience
 * David Pidsley's Getthedata Account: http://twitter.com/#!/dataquestions

Lists and Hashtags

 * Jonathan Gray's Twitter Lists: http://twitter.com/#!/jwyg/lists
 * It is also helpful to stay updated about what conversations are going on by searching open knowledge-related hashtags such as #opendata, #opengov and #openweb.
 * For local activities related to the OKFN, our regional groups use a variety of hashtags. For example, OKFN Finland organisers use #avoindataand opendataFI, while OKFN Czech organisers use #opendataCZ.

What Should I Tweet About?
Twitter is at its best when it promotes a good discussion. The tweets that end up being shared the most (we call this 'retweeting' and you can see often-shared tweets because they start with 'RT') often share things of interest to one's followers.

What do followers find interesting? This depends on one's community, but we've found that links to intriguing articles, events you are organising and attending (bonus: use the event's hashtag in these tweets!), and answers to questions and ideas from other open knowledge community members are always useful to share.

Have Questions?
If you need some help getting started on Twitter, or have other questions about any of the jargon above, feel free to contact a member of the Network team

Facebook
Our public Facebook page was created in the fall of 2011 and is now used to share (and tag) photos with our network as well as to promote discussion amongst page members about upcoming events and projects. It has become an increasingly useful forum of social communication for those who prefer not to engage Twitter or Flickr.

Have Questions?
If you are confused about anything related to our Facebook page, contact Kat Braybrooke.

Flickr
We encourage our network to share photos from OKFN events and happenings on Flickr using a non-restrictive CC license so that other community members can see them.

Pool, Hashtags and Internal Account

 * To share your photos, upload them to our Public Flickr Pool, using the tag 'okfn' when uploading.
 * We also use other specific tags such as 'ogdcamp' and  'okcon' depending on the event type.
 * For staff uploads of event and media/logo related images, we use an internal OKFN Flickr account.

Have Questions?
If you have questions about our Flickr account, tags or public pool, contact Sam Leon or Kat Braybrooke.

Meetup
For events, meetups and local gatherings, we offer OKFN members the use of our public page on Meetup, which was initiated in the fall of 2011 by Elf Pavlik.

Meetup provides an easy-to-use interface for event planning which includes an event link and email service, and it also features an interactive map which allows us to keep track of where OKFN community events are happening around the world.

Have Questions?
If you have questions about how to use our Meetup page, contact Kat Braybrooke.

Identica and LinkedIn
For those who prefer not to use our more active Twitter, Flickr and Facebook mediums, we also provide the opportunity to build alternative social community networks through our OKFN Identica and OKFN LinkedIn groups.