The document discusses building an online community to promote physical activity guidelines, highlighting that one in three Americans have a social networking profile, with younger demographics being the most engaged. It emphasizes the characteristics of online communities, such as continuity, shared goals, and the emergence of community leaders, while outlining a vision for a virtual space to facilitate networking, information sharing, and collaboration. The document also notes the importance of usability, user expectations, and maintaining engagement with stakeholders through online platforms.

1. What does it take to build and Online Community? Using Social Networking to Promote the Physical Activity Guidelines Ana Tellez, APTR eHealth & Policy Fellow Office of Disease Prevention & Health Promotion (ODPHP) U.S. Department of Health & Human Services August 13, 2009

2. Trends and Statistics Social Networking Sites & Online Communities

3. SNS Trends and Statistics One in three Americans have a profile on a Social Networking Site . 75% of online adults between ages 18 and 24 have a social network profile, as do 57% of wired adults between 25 and 34. Top 3 social media sites in 2008: Blogger (222 million unique worldwide visitors) , Facebook (200 million unique worldwide visitors) , and Myspace (126 million unique worldwide visitors).

4. First and Last Graph Different social networks have a greater appeal for different age groups… – MySpace – – Facebook – – Flickr – – LinkedIn –

5. Characteristics of an Online Community They are continuous, not temporal - there is a core membership that interacts together over a long period of time. Communities gather around a concept or common goal. Communities take on various conversations and activities, led by different members over time. People within communities get to know each other and interact regularly without centralized facilitation. Community leaders emerge over time

6. Examples of Professional Online Communities Jewelers & Consumers IT professionals Education & Training Professionals

7. Nancy White, in Online Communities “ Because of the socially constructed nature of learning, communities of practice go far beyond mere information exchange. Members take risks to share both their knowledge and challenges. Reputation places a person in either the core or periphery of a group. Social capital is the currency. Trust, identity and the influence of leadership all affect a learning community.” (White, 2003)

8. Reflections Be Active Your Way Online Community

9. Our Vision Providing a virtual space for our Supporter Network to: Network (across geographic regions and interests) Share information (best practices, lessons learned) Collaborate (leverage resources) Innovate ( develop new promotion strategies) Obtain news and information from across the federal government on physical activity

10. Our (iterative) Process Develop functionality requirements Conduct user-testing (2 rounds) Conduct a pilot with a cohort of established contacts Develop some more!

11. Functionality = Features Planned Individual (and searchable) profiles Library of resources (for and by users) Blogs (for and by users) Message boards Wiki Calendar of events Identified after pilot Inmail – private messages between members More multimedia

12. Taking a Peek at our Pilot

13. Taking a Peek at the Profiles

14. Lessons Learned Need to invest a LOT of time early on Usability / features just right Purpose / content drivers Users have certain expectations of Social Networking Site features Features Privacy options Multiple points of access Content and context management is key

15. Great Potential Opportunity to engage stakeholders in an ongoing basis and on a more personalized basis Opportunity to institutionalize Guidelines in messaging across a wide range of organizations Opportunity to centrally disseminate federal resources about physical activity

16. Other Social Media Tools E-cards and a widget too

17. Healthfinder e-cards

18. Healthfinder e-cards

19. Healthfinder e-cards

20. Healthfinder e-cards

24. Thank you [email_address] Be Active Your Way!