Social media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. No one actually knows how. When finally done, there is surprise it’s not better. –Avinash Kaushik, Google’s analytics evangelist
Not sure I agree with this statement, but it made me laugh when I read it and it’s a good starting point for this blog post. I suppose it’s true that social media is like teen sex in the sense that the more practice a person has at something, generally speaking, the less effort and more fun that person has. I could extend the metaphor by saying social media can make neophytes into bumbling idiots, lose confidence in our ability to perform, but I think you get the point.
Let me put it this way, you wouldn’t expect to play tennis a few times and suddenly become as good as Serena Williams. When you first start playing most of your time is taken running after the ball that you didn’t hit, trying to get it over the net and cursing each time you don’t. The same goes for social media. When you put the time in and put the time in and put in the time… eventually you begin to see some results.
This is a lesson that many not-for-profits are learning as they integrate social media into what they do. Although it is often an uphill battle for organizations that are strapped for resources, I constantly marvel at how so many have risen to the challenge presented by these new technologies to come out stronger, more savvy and creatively charged.
As technologies keep changing, not-for-profits must learn new stuff just to keep up. Organizations often have a hard time adapting to constant change and as a result sometimes give up trying.
Remember that social media is an imperfect beast so try not to strive for perfection. Better yet, think of the infamous Nike slogan “Just do it” and you’re more than halfway there.
Since Oprah officially signed on to Twitter a couple weeks ago, there’s been even more buzz about the mighty micro-blog. The fact that on her first day of tweets she bought 20,000 mosquito nets from Demi Moore to stop the spread of malaria in Africa made our hearts sing a little here at Go Small because it showed the world (well, at least those millions of fans who watch Oprah) how a social networking application with a 140-character limit could actually be used by not-for-profits to reach out to their audiences and–as Demi and Oprah demonstrated–to fundraise.
What else can not-for-profits do with the so-called killer app?
Send tweets during conference talks, links to blog posts and events happening within your organization, drive traffic to your web page, use it as a collaboration tool….
Here is how some not-for-profits and ethically focused businesses are using Twitter for good:
We’re not leaving the continent of Africa quite yet. An inspiring project came to my attention from Uganda, Rwanda’s neighbour to the north.
The project is called ZoomUganda and it uses the little-known though increasing prevalent technique called “photovoice” to bring attention to Matale, a community in southern Uganda where more than half the children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.
Created by Caroline C. Wang and Mary Ann Burris in 1992 to enable rural women of Yunnan Province, China to have a say in policymaking affecting them, “photovoice” enables individuals who are typically subjects, to be creators, as they document their world.
Sponsored by the Harambee Centre in Portland, Oregon, ZoomUganda involves 12 girls who were given 12 cameras and 24 hours to tell their stories. Another part of the project was for the girls to keep journals wherein they captured their hopes and dreams. Proceeds from the project will benefit St. Andrew’s Secondary School in Matale, Uganda.
Photovoice is a powerful tool for organizations, whether working in the Global South or in the Deep South, to help citizens take control over how the world perceives them.
If the technique seems a good fit for your organization, then build on your photovoice project by integrating social media such as video and other interactive web capabilities to seriously engage online visitors and connect them to your organization’s vision for social change.
Remember that–where social media is concerned–there are many ways to tell a story.
We’re just launching our Go Small blog during the unusually snowy month of December in Vancouver, BC. The idea for this blog came during the writing of our first e-book called Go Small or Go Home: Not-for-profits harness their smarts using social media. We wrote the book for not-for-profits who want to learn more about social media and who want to integrate and use some of these new tools to continue to do what they do best–only better. That might be helping women start new businesses, providing food and shelter for those who are on the streets or providing services for new immigrants.
Working with not-for-profits in the area of social marketing, branding identity and strategic communications, we saw a need for a blog that looks at remarkably dynamic and resourceful ways that not-for-profits are using the new technologies so that other organizations can read their stories and experiments and learn.
Why “go small”? Well because not-for-profits are used to working in small, unsuspecting and ingenious ways in order to follow their vision and serve their stakeholders. There is no shame in being a small organization, in fact, it is something to be proud of, and especially when your reach is so great and you accomplish so much.
I think that’s about all you need to know about this blog. Stay tuned for posts on how others go small with amazing results.
