Social Media Won't Save the World... But It Might Make the Job Easier

Lina Srivastava Consulting In collaboration with Riptide Communications http://linasrivastava.com http://riptideonline.com/

What Social Media is…
Rapid, potentially viral information and content created and sent via web- or mobile-based platforms.
A set of powerful tools that contribute to and enhance your strategic communications plan.
A means to strengthen community-building efforts and audience engagement.
http://linasrivastava.com http://riptideonline.com Social Media Basic Training 2

… and What is Isn’t
Social media is not “free.” Accessing the tools is largely without cash outlay, but contributing to social media takes person-hours, maintenance, crafted messaging and consistency.

Social media is not a separate strategy unto itself, but one part of your communications strategy.

Social media is not the work and it is not the impact .
It is neither a magic bullet, nor is it imperative to do (even in today’s networked world) in order to create change in the world. But here’s how it might help…

Why Engage in Social Media?
Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
Social Media tools can be used to distribute information widely to:
Alert audiences you seek to influence about the impact of your work
Create awareness about your organization’s development and perspective on different issues
Give you ability to respond quickly to news cycles
http://linasrivastava.com http://riptideonline.com Social Media Basic Training

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
Expertise—what you do, what you think, how you succeed or overcome challenges.
Example: World Bank Climate Change blog http://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/
Organizational Culture—how you are formed, what you believe, who you are.
Example: Pepsi Refresh http://www.refresheverything.com/
Reacting to news cycles
Example: Tweeting about a news development. Posting a link to a news story with a comment on Facebook.

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
Contribute ideas, thought, case studies to others’ social media sites
Increase level of interactivity among your community by encouraging your members or supporters to:
Participate in creation of content
Respond to content and
Spread content

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
User-generated content
Example: Equality and Human Rights Commission (UK) Film Workshop http://www.youtube.com/user/EqualityHumanRights#p/u/3/SQ6wI4n_b9A
Extend broadcast reach (“go viral”)
Example: The Promise http://thepromiseny.com/promises/
Asking supporters and members to re-tweet important news. Supporters can also re-post important news and call on their friends and supporters to re-post that news.

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
Stakeholder and Community engagement: Engage individuals most affected by, or with potential to affect, the issues your organization works on
Beneficiaries/Grantees
Internal and External Stakeholders
Identify which social media tools are most effective in reaching them

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
Use Social Media to:
Create relationships
Break organizational silos
Vet an idea

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
Creating relationships
Social media is about people and relationships.
The tools change every day. It is important to remember that just like any relationship there is a level of effort required to maintain social media relationships.
Consistency is important. Supporters and members will continue to participate in activities on the social Web if you maintain a level or interactivity with them.

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
Breaking Organizational Silos
Silos create lack of internal sharing and external message consistency.
When different parts of the organization don’t talk to each other, but carry out stand-alone micro projects and messaging, end result is fragmented programs with no integration.
Facilitating cross-functional meetings and social media governance across organization will help alleviate this problem, and will ensure that all employees are trained properly before engaging on the social Web. This also ensures that there is some level of consistency or direction.

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
Vetting an idea
Social media is a powerful tool to thoroughly and rapidly vet a development idea or campaign. Social media tools allows for rapid feedback but limited dialogue.
Example: #1millionshirts http://twitter.com/#search?q=%231millionshirts
(See http://mobileactive.org/1-million-tweetshirts-how-fail-fast-and-scrutiny )

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
Creating and reinforcing identity of the organization
Example: Charity:Water
http://www.charitywater.org/blog/
Group affiliation. Connect to a network of organizations with shared goals or philosophies.
See http://www.bethkanter.org/category/networks/

Broadcasting
Participation
Engagement
Branding
Fundraising
Draw attention to fundraising effort.
Social media tools can be used to advertise a fundraising event or activity.
Example: Twestival. http://twestival.com/
Social Media tools can also be used to solicit donations.
Example: http://Kickstarter.com

You should know…
Social media can lend itself to a lack of accountability or accuracy
There can be a failure to attribute or to modify when content is passed along
Sites like Facebook and Twitter don’t lend to cultivation of deep observation or patient movement building
(See http://linasrivastava.blogspot.com/2010/04/shirts-and-boobs.html )

You should know…
Social media is best for short bursts of awareness-raising, directed actions, soliciting donations arising from particular events, and for creating contacts and building networks.
Sustained movements require conscious awareness, engagement (which includes proactively managed social media tools), cultivation and active personalized stewardship, and investment in impact.

What You Need to Start:
To maximize effectiveness of social media tools:
Be committed to consistent and frequent updates to social networking sites
Consider the cost-benefit ration of the medium’s limitations/possibilities regarding impact
Set communications goals specifically regarding social media
Assess internal capacity. Make sure you have the personnel and a work plan associated with your goals
Monitor changes and developments in social media tools

Notes on Developing a Social Media Platform
Do the research--Organizations need to identify if their work is the topic of relevant conversations happening out on the social web
Listen to your stakeholders and act on collective knowledge
Engage in storytelling and embed into communities that are important to your stakeholders

Appendix:
Current List of Social Media Tools

Social Media Tools For: Communications
Podcasts
Webinars
Videos
Slideshows: Slideshare
Documents: Scribd
Blogs : Blogger, LiveJournal, Open Diary, TypePad, WordPress, Vox, ExpressionEngine, Xanga
Micro-blogging : FMyLife, Jaiku, Plurk, Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous, Yammer, Qaiku
Social networking : Facebook, Geni.com, Hi5, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Orkut, Skyrock, Qzone, Vkontakte, RenRen, Kaixin, ASmallWorld, studivz, Xing, RunAlong.se, Bebo, BigTent, Elgg, Hyves, Flirtomatic
Social network aggregation : NutshellMail, FriendFeed, dillidost.com
Events : Upcoming, Eventful, Meetup.com

Social Media Tools For: Multimedia
Photography and art sharing : deviantArt, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa, SmugMug, Zooomr
Video sharing : YouTube, Viddler, Vimeo, sevenload, Zideo
Livecasting : Ustream.tv, Justin.tv, Stickam, Skype, OpenCU
Music and audio sharing: MySpace Music, The Hype Machine, Last.fm, ccMixter, ShareTheMusic
Presentation sharing: slideshare, scribd

Social Media Tools For: Collaboration
Wikis : Wikimedia, PBworks, Wetpaint
Social bookmarking : Delicious, StumbleUpon, Google Reader, CiteULike
Social news : Digg, Mixx, Reddit, NowPublic
Workspace : Basecamp, Kluster, Google Wave, etherpad, dropbox, Googledocs
Conference facilities : Gotomeeting, readytalk.com, freeconferencecall.com, webex

For more information
Lina Srivastava Lina Srivastava Consulting LLC
Strategy: Organizational, Project + Campaign Design: Content and Culture for Social Impact http://linasrivastava.com [email_address]
David Lerner Riptide Communications, Inc.
Public Relations, Press Relations and Communication for Change http://riptideonline.com [email_address]

http://transmediaactivism.wordpress.com	1295
http://linasrivastava.blogspot.com	880
http://www.transmediant.com	51
http://www.fromstorytolegend.com	20
http://transdeuce.wordpress.com	16
http://reelchangefornonprofits.blogspot.com	5
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com	3
url_unknown	3
http://www.linasrivastava.blogspot.com	2
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	2
http://linasrivastava.blogspot.fr	1
http://linasrivastava.blogspot.com.br	1

Social Media Won't Save the World... But It Might Make the Job Easier

by lksriv on Sep 08, 2010

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

12 Embeds 2,279

Statistics

Social Media Won’t Save the World... But It Might Make the Job Easier — Presentation Transcript