Building safety community online

Kyle Thill of Toyota-Lift Minnesota

Kyle Thill of Toyota-Lift Minnesota

Recently on Twitter (where I am @SpeakinOfSafety) I read a tweet that said “How About An Easy Free Safety Tip?” posted by Kyle Thill of Toyota-Lift Minnesota. It leads to his blog post reminding forklift drivers that a simple honk is one way to keep pedestrians safer.

As I read the post, I thought about how much Kyle does to build online community. On Twitter (where he is @ToyotaEquipment) Kyle tweets every post I publish here on Speaking of Safety. Every day, he spreads the safety message and connects people by re-tweeting other people’s comments and links on Twitter.

Every Tuesday, Kyle takes part in a Twitter tradition known as “Facebook Liking Tuesday” – shortened to #FBLT on Twitter. In case you don’t know, the # symbol is known as a “hashtag” which is used to mark a theme or topic. He told several people about the Speaking of Safety Facebook page – many of whom showed their support for this blog by clicking the Like button.

Another popular hashtag is #FF, which stands for Follow Friday. Kyle does a lot of #FF posts on Twitter – which, in other words, means he suggests different people to follow on Twitter. Many times he’s suggested me.

Why does he do it?

I asked Kyle, via Twitter direct message (between him and I), what motivates him to introduce so many safety people to one another on social media. I asked why he does it.

“Primary is representing our people, our company and our original equipment manufacturers in a positive light,” Kyle said. “We were at a loss to explain why our OEs weren’t using social media. They would praise social media, but their actions didn’t support that praise.”

Many companies and organizations are setting up new social media accounts – and Kyle’s efforts will help them to engage with one another. I invite you to enter your social media coordinates in the Comments. I’ll follow your safety tweets on Twitter and Like your Facebook page – and if you have any questions about getting started, feel free to ask me in the Comments or by email.

A sample of seven safety folks to follow on Twitter

@threadsoflifeca
@NIOSHconstruct
@OccHealthSafety
@OHSCanada
@CCOHS
@Preventable
@SafetyDrivenBC

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3 thoughts on “Building safety community online

  1. Kyle Thill

    Thank you for your post Susan. B2B activity doesn’t have to all be about the return or the sale that was generated. I still like the analogy some activity can be like participation in the Jaycees or Rotatory club.

    There are many opportunities available through on line activity, everyone should work to capitalize on them all, maybe with a special focus on those that simply spread information, good relations or simply promote associations.

    Reply

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