The Best Links in Life are Free…

For a mere $25 per month you can learn how to use social media from “industry experts.” Or you can take a look at some of the free resources that the web has to offer. The choice is yours.

Recently I came across Exploring Social Media, a “how-to” social media guide from the folks at Social Media Explorer.  The guide offers webinars and expert advice on how to use social media. Now, I’m not knocking this program as I myself am paying to learn about social media via my Master’s program at Kent State, but I would like any social media “newbies” out there to know that there are many free resources that you can find online.

donanza.com

I’ve outlined a few below.  You will find links to some of the tutorials below each source, but please note that  many of the sources listed offer advice and tutorials for multiple social networking sites. The list is by no means comprehensive– but it will get you started.

Go Directly to the Source

Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Delicious all offer support pages and/or “how to” guides. If you’re just beginning, the pages can give you information on how to get started. If you’re a veteran, then don’t overlook these support pages just yet- there’s often troubleshooting information.

Howcast.com

With video tutorials on everything from blogging to how to use twitter for business, Howcast.com is a great resource for learning about various social media platforms.  There’s even a video that walks you through setting up a Twitter account.

Blogs

There are numerous blogs out there that offer advice on how to use social media. The ones I’ve listed here have multiple resources on various social media. If you don’t find what you’re looking for at one of these blogs, then try a blog search engine like Technorati or BlogPulse.

• Squidoo
• Mahalo
• Search Engine Land
• Mashable

eHow.com

With a combination of text and video tutorials, eHow.com offers information on how to set up a Facebook account, how to use Foursquare, how to get blog traffic and more!

The advantage that a program like Exploring Social Media offers is that it does give you the opportunity to ask questions. You can post questions on blogs or in forums, but there is no guarantee that you’ll get the answers you need. If you only have a limited amount of time to learn about social networking, or if you absolutely must have the one-on-one support that paid tutorials offer, then don’t let me stop you. If you can’t fork over the extra cash, however, then check out some of these sites.

vcsu.edu

In the spirit of transparency I would like to make a disclaimer: I am NOT an expert in social media. Like you, I’m still learning about a lot of this new media.  That being said, if you know of any other great sites please feel free to share them!