Join NACD on Facebook!
In addition to staying on top of the latest research and various modalities that affect our children, NACD also likes to take advantage of cutting edge and current technology in order to provide greater service to our families. NACD is pleased to announce that we have begun utilizing Facebook as a tool to unite the families on our caseload, to provide a greater depth of education, to announce upcoming events, and to expose the organization to families worldwide who are in search for answers for their children.
Many of our families are already familiar with Facebook and have joined us on our home page. Just over the last weekend the number has doubled and we are looking forward to seeing all of you participating. For those of you who have been involved in an NACD yahoo group, Facebook will become the forum for these discussions. To join us there, please follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Getting Started with Facebook for NACD Use
- Go to www.facebook.com
- Look for “Sign Up” on the home page, begin by entering that information.
- Follow all instructions. You have now completed creating a Facebook account.
- Search for the NACD Page by entering “NACD” in the Search Bar at the top right of the Facebook site. The page with the NACD Logo, titled “The National Association for Child Development (NACD)” is the official NACD Facebook page. Click to view this page.
- Once on the NACD page, click “Become a Fan” on the left-hand side, underneath our logo. We recommend that you bookmark this page as you would any other link on the Internet, to find us again quickly. Otherwise, you can find our page again while in Facebook by clicking first on “Profile”, then on “Info”, then look under the “Pages” heading at the bottom (if you have many Pages, you may need to first click on “See All”). The NACD Facebook page link will be located here.
- You can now participate in the NACD page and discussions. If you wish to explore Facebook further, please do so at your own discretion. NACD is not responsible for content viewed while participating in Facebook. If you are receiving unwanted messages or other content from other Facebook members, you can eliminate this but not becoming a “Friend” of the person or by removing that person from your “Friend” list at a later time.
Right now you can see that the 2009 Rendezvous is listed under Events. To get more information all you need to do is click that link. Down the middle column on the NACD Wall, our staff members will update status messages from time to time. To the far right are advertisements run by Facebook and not designed or chosen by NACD.
The NACD page is set up much like your own personal profile. You can click the tabs above the status updates to take you to different parts such as photos or videos. We would like for families to share pictures of their families here. Being spread out all over the world, it helps our families to put a face with a name as they start to interact and share information. In the future we will be adding videos on various topics to share with all of you. If you click the tab for Notes, you will see that we have begun posting various articles by Bob and staff members. As we add articles we will have the ability to notify our fans of additions and updates.
One of the functions of our page that we would like our families to be active in will be the discussion group. This can be found by clicking on the tabs with the double arrows located right next to Notes. Here anyone can add to existing discussions or open up new topics that they have an interest in. Our staff members will be active in answering general questions here, as well as offering encouragement much like we have done with past list serves, yahoo groups, or the previous message board. If topics require information that is too specific for the general public, staff members will be able to email you directly to offer assistance.
We are often asked by families about how to share the philosophies of NACD with other people or how to explain what it is that we do. This is not an easy task for the families that we work with in that their reference is often just with their own personal experience. We also hear stories of friends, family members, work companions, and distant acquaintances of our families who have children with various struggles. Facebook offers a comprehensive way of sharing the organization with others. As we post information, please feel free to share it with people within your networking circles. We would like to know that any family seeking out hope for their children has an opportunity to look at us as an organization and have the choice to join us as we work toward reaching full potential within the lives of these precious children.
NACD Newsletter, Volume 1 Issue 16, 2009 ©NACD
