Social Media: Opportunities for the Non-Profit James Young

3 Questions What is social media and what is it really about? Why should I care about social media? How can I use social media to succeed?

What is social media and what is it really about?

Why should I care about social media?

How can I use social media to succeed?

The Definition of Social Media “ Social media is the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings. ” - BenParr.com Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums , weblogs , wikis , podcasts , pictures and video. Technologies include: blogs , picture-sharing, vlogs , wall-postings, email , instant messaging , music-sharing, crowdsourcing , and voice over IP , to name a few. Examples of social media applications are Google Groups (reference, social networking), Wikipedia (reference), MySpace (social networking), Facebook (social networking), Youmeo (social network aggregation), Last.fm (personal music), YouTube (social networking and video sharing), Avatars United (social networking), Second Life (virtual reality), Flickr (photo sharing), Twitter (social networking and microblogging) and other microblogs such as Jaiku and Pownce . Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms like Mybloglog and Plaxo .

“ Social media is the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings. ” - BenParr.com

Social media can take many different forms, including Internet forums , weblogs , wikis , podcasts , pictures and video. Technologies include: blogs , picture-sharing, vlogs , wall-postings, email , instant messaging , music-sharing, crowdsourcing , and voice over IP , to name a few.

Examples of social media applications are Google Groups (reference, social networking), Wikipedia (reference), MySpace (social networking), Facebook (social networking), Youmeo (social network aggregation), Last.fm (personal music), YouTube (social networking and video sharing), Avatars United (social networking), Second Life (virtual reality), Flickr (photo sharing), Twitter (social networking and microblogging) and other microblogs such as Jaiku and Pownce .

Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms like Mybloglog and Plaxo .

In a Picture…

But what is social media all about?

What’s more, sharing in context Thomas Van Der Wal

And yes, there are a lot of tools to use. Brian Watkins, PR Manager of Social Media at Omniture

Why should I care?

OK, people use it. So what?

What does Social Media do for me? Develop Supporters Nurture constituents into supporters Provide tools to spread the word Infiltrate other social networks Facilitate Connections For Support For News For Sharing Attract New Constituents Personal Stories Personal Causes Personal Requests Facilitate Education Organization to Constituent Constituent to Constituent Constituent to Organization

Develop Supporters

Nurture constituents into supporters

Provide tools to spread the word

Infiltrate other social networks

Facilitate Connections

For Support

For News

For Sharing

Attract New Constituents

Personal Stories

Personal Causes

Personal Requests

Facilitate Education

Organization to Constituent

Constituent to Constituent

Constituent to Organization

How are others using social media today?

General Social Networks They have presences in the major “general” social networks Profiles Pages Groups Networks Applications

They have presences in the major “general” social networks

Profiles

Pages

Groups

Networks

Applications

Applications within Social Networks Creating support opportunities within these applications Spreading the opportunity across the networks of friends Providing support to individuals who initiate their own support

Creating support opportunities within these applications

Spreading the opportunity across the networks of friends

Providing support to individuals who initiate their own support

Specialty Social Networks They have presences in the “specialty” social networks Profiles Actions Networks Campaigns

They have presences in the “specialty” social networks

Profiles

Actions

Networks

Campaigns

Build Your Own Social Networks They are building their own social networks Destination networks User profiles Forums Groups Media Sharing

They are building their own social networks

Destination networks

User profiles

Forums

Groups

Media Sharing

Content Sharing Sites They are sharing their content and letting others contribute as well Videos Photos News Comments Ratings

They are sharing their content and letting others contribute as well

Videos

Photos

News

Comments

Ratings

Portable Content Widgets They are building widgets to spread their content Individuals pick them up and place them in their internet spaces Visitors can view and interact with the content Visitors can get their own widgets

They are building widgets to spread their content

Individuals pick them up and place them in their internet spaces

Visitors can view and interact with the content

Visitors can get their own widgets

Blogs, Micro-Blogging & Forums They are engaging in conversation Blogs Forums Comments Content Ratings

They are engaging in conversation

Blogs

Forums

Comments

Content Ratings

Syndicated Content They are making their content portable via RSS RSS Feeds Feed Management Services

They are making their content portable via RSS

RSS Feeds

Feed Management Services

Maps They are tying their content to maps Events Campaigns

They are tying their content to maps

Events

Campaigns

How should we get started? Understand your target audience and what social media activities they like or want Understand your objectives, how you will measure success Understand how each social media tool available to you fits with your understanding of numbers 1 and 2. Understand how willing your organization is to accept the philosophical change* required to interact with your constituents in a social media way * We mean the loss of control of the message

Understand your target audience and what social media activities they like or want

Understand your objectives, how you will measure success

Understand how each social media tool available to you fits with your understanding of numbers 1 and 2.

Understand how willing your organization is to accept the philosophical change* required to interact with your constituents in a social media way

* We mean the loss of control of the message