Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/675322
36 | Overdrive | May 2016 Facebook Once you've opened a Facebook account, entered your profile and connected with other users, you can keep up with one another as posts of text, photos and videos are made. Facebook makes it easy to form those connections, including a trending fea- ture that lets users see what news or topics are gaining attention. Facebook's Groups feature allows trucking professionals to connect with one another on topics such as truck stops, truck shows and other industry niches. NOTABLE ACCOUNTS • Overdrive, Truckers News and Commercial Carrier Journal, like most trucking publications, use Facebook to share news and other content. • Trucking Fur Babies is a group that connects drivers who enjoy their special passengers. Plenty of pet photos! • The Truckin' Runners group is a place for drivers to share running tips, race information, nutrition tips and more. Twitter Twitter equips users to share snippets of information so that it appears to others in a real-time stream. It's handy for finding live news and, in the trucking world, traffic and weather updates. The site's "Trending Topics" feature lets users see what topics are get- ting the most attention in a certain area. NOTABLE ACCOUNTS • Overdrive is on Twitter as @OverdriveUpdate, and sister publica- tion Truckers News is @truckersnews. The accounts contain industry news, enter- tainment, live trucking event coverage, weather updates and retweeted com- mentary from the publications' editors. • Truck makers: @PeterbiltMotors, @KenworthTruckCo, @Freightliner, @IntnlTrucks, @VolvoTrucks and @ MackTrucks. • Many state DOTs, trucking com- panies and weather services use Twitter to disseminate information. Search accounts on Twitter to see if the orga- nizations you do business with have accounts. LinkedIn LinkedIn is the business world's version of social media. Like Facebook, users post profiles and get connected to a network of friends and colleagues, though in this case, the emphasis is on professional interests, including job con- nections and resume-type profiles. Also like Facebook, there are topical groups for business and other niches, including discussion forums. Most companies have LinkedIn accounts, which you can find by searching by the company name. NOTABLE ACCOUNTS • Overdrive's Trucking Pro focuses on issues faced by owner-operators with their own operating authority. • The American Trucking Associations has almost 20,000 mem- bers on its group. • "A Truckload, Trucking, Logistics, Supply Chain, 3PL, Distribution group, Transportation, Transport" covers a wide variety of news and topics. Instagram This began as a pho- to-sharing platform, though its video capa- VIDEO: SOCIAL AND ENTERTAINING Watching video accounts for more and more of the internet's content consumption. If you care to take the next step, it's easy to post your own video. Open an account, and you can post straight from your smartphone or tablet via the platforms listed here and others. A TRUCKERS' GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA YouTube YouTube, the granddaddy of online video, has walk-arounds of show trucks and new trucks, dashcam videos of accidents and four-wheeler shenanigans, and other trucking-related video. The diverse and rapidly growing amount of content makes YouTube a favorite for truckers burning through downtime. If you find a favorite YouTube channel, you can subscribe and receive email notifications every time a new entry is posted. NOTABLE ACCOUNTS • BigRig Videos posts frequently, often featuring truck walk-arounds, driver interviews, truck show coverage and CB interviews as drivers are rolling. • Overdrive has one of the best collec- tions of show truck videos. Its two dozen playlists also include drive tests, trucking celebrities and Knights of the Road illustrated stories of trucking heros. It's on YouTube as overdrivemag. • Tex Crowley's documentary-style "Life of a Trucker" series has more than 15 installments, each focusing on a different driver. Vine Vine allows users to post six-second videos, often humorous, which then play on a loop. You can search by account names or hashtags, such as "trucker" or "trucking." If you're on Twitter, you'll probably see some vines playing in your stream since Vine is owned by Twitter. Periscope Another Twitter service, Periscope, delivers live video to any user who connects, usually those who are contacts of the account. Say you're at a truck show, using Periscope on your phone. Anyone watching your feed could follow along as you peruse the show floor. Or you could receive a push notification from the app that one of your contacts is broadcasting, giving you a chance to watch. Overdrive is on Periscope as @OverdriveUpdate.