Paper as presented in "2015 Social Media, Activism and Organizations Symposium" (#SMAO15), 6 November 2015, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK

1. social media use by
self-organized social solidarity initiatives
in Greece
Eleni-Revekka Staiou, Evika Karamagioli, Dimitris Gouscos
Laboratory of New Technologies in Communication, Education and the Mass Media
Department of Communication and Media Studies, University of Athens
http://www.media.uoa.gr/ntlab

2. Organosi 2.0 [http://organosi20.gr]
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

3. identity of the research project
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

4. general context
• debt and fiscal crisis
• crisis in employment and welfare
• Greek state not failed or fragile, but weak
• crisis in social values
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

5. name and aims of Organosi 2.0
Organosi (οργάνωση=organization) + Web 2.0
(social media)
=
Organosi 2.0
develop an online database for
grassroots social solidarity initiatives
organized by citizens in Greece
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

6. use of the platform
• to disseminate information about self-organized
social solidarity (SoSS) initiatives
• to support collective discussion and interaction
for creating new ideas
• to assess the use of social media as a platform
for developing SoSS initiatives
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

7. criteria for inclusion of initiatives
• cover a sector where the care of the state is
missing
• realize concrete activities, going beyond
protest to positive action
• do not make discriminations of any kind
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

8. sections of the website
• description of the project
• seeds of new ideas
• calendar
• maps of initiatives
• list of initiatives
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015
• other databases
• related articles
• social media
• publicity
• news and interesting stuff

9. research methods
— desktop research (563 initiatives)
— questionnaires (90 initiatives)
— interviews (28 initiatives)
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

10. topics of SoSS initiatives
[N=563 initiatives]
1. human rights
2. infirmaries
3. medication
4. cooked food
5. canned food
6. shelters
7. groceries
8. clothing
9. recruitment agencies
10. bypassing middlemen in trade
11. alternative currencies/exchanges
12. exchanging items
13. exchanging services
14. lessons
15. time banks
16. carpooling
17. bicyclism
18. art and culture
19. city care
20. nature care
21. miscellaneous
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

11. geographical region of activity
[N=563 initiatives]
• Athens
• Thessaloniki
• Thrace
• Macedonia
• Epirus
• Thessaly
• Sterea Ellada
• Peloponnese
• Aegean Islands
• Ionian Islands
• Crete
• Greece
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

12. types of media used for contact
[N=563 initiatives]
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

13. media mix (%) to approach audience
[N=90 initiatives]
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

14. media mix (%) to approach audience
[N=90 initiatives]
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

15. media mix (%) to maintain audience
[N=90 initiatives]
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

16. media mix (%) to maintain audience
[N=90 initiatives]
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

17. problems in communication with audience
[N=28 initiatives]
— not enough time to organize communication
— not enough (competent) people to undertake
communication on a more permanent basis
— do not know what content to share when they do
not have their own news and events
— believe that traditional media is enough for their
case
— can not decide which media best fit their actions
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

18. reasons for social media use
[N=28 initiatives]
— believe that social media is a good way to convey
their message to more people
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

19. reasons for social media no-use
[N=28 initiatives]
— use social media to make conversations with their
audience in a web 1.0-like way
— believe that interpersonal contact inspires greater
trust
— mostly operating in small communities, believe that
personal interaction functions better as they already
know each other and prefer “word of mouth”
advertising
— know that many people concerned can not access the
internet
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

20. differences that matter (I)
— differences between online activism and self-
organized social solidarity initiatives
— differences between social solidarity and political
action-oriented initiatives (change results vs.
change the rules)
— differences between self-organized initiatives and
more formal initiatives (CSOs, NGOs)
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

21. differences that matter (II)
— differences between urban centers and smaller/
rural communities
— differences between Greece and other countries
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

22. Organosi 2.0: an ongoing project
— need for continuous development of the website
— need to keep contents up to date
— need to adapt objectives to changing circumstances
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

23. Organosi 2.0: ongoing considerations (I)
— which are the CSFs for a successful communication
plan for SoSS initiatives?
— which media mix would be optimal for SoSS
initiatives?
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

24. Organosi 2.0: ongoing considerations (II)
— consider including formal Civil Society
Organizations in the Organosi 2.0 platform
— consider deploying the Organosi 2.0 platform and
research in other countries
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015

25. σας ευχαριστούµε!
thank you!
Eleni-Evika-Dimitris
[erstaiou@media.uoa.gr, karamagioli@gmail.com,
gouscos@media.uoa.gr]
#SMAO15, 06/11/2015