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5 Simple Reasons You Need to Use Social Media ... NOW!

FINALLY!

Finally, people are beginning to realize that social media is no longer optional.

Social media has become:

• as necessary as email, 
• as informative as a website, and 
• as connective as a cell phone.

There are many reasons people get involved in social media, but for those still hesitant to join the bandwagon, here are 5 simple reasons to integrate social media into your daily activities.

Reason 1: Everyone is doing it. Well, not EVERYone. But a recent Pew Research Center study says that 65% of online adults use social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. That's about half of all U.S. adults! And it's not your college student's facebook anymore - according to a Pew Internet study in August 2010, half (47%) of internet users ages 50-64 and one-in-four (26%) users ages 65 and older now use social networking sites. Finally, if you aren't present in social media, you are absent - meaning that your expertise and your voice aren't contributing to the ongoing conversation about the issues and people you care about.

Reason 2: Immediate news and information. In his Dot Earth post "The No(w)sphere" New York Times columnist Andrew Revkin introduced me to the term "noosphere" - the "sphere of human thought." I have followed and participated in many a workshop, seminar and conference via social media - enriching my notes and comments. And ayone who experienced the recent 5.8 earthquake in DC knows that the earthquake quickly dominated social media immediately after the ground shook. 

NOOSPHERE from Tatiana Plakhova on Vimeo.

Reason 3: Tools for social change. In the 2008 elections in the United States, Barack Obama's team leveraged social media to build community then provided online resources so community members could take action. In 2011, social media is identified as a major organizing tool supporting the Arab spring. 

Angry Twitter Birds Topple Arab Dictator in French TV Ad

Reason 4: Tools to build knowledge for innovation. You can learn a lot about people by what they post. You can learn a lot more about the issues you care about by listening to what others are saying and sharing on that topic. Together, this is what makes up your community - and the more focused you are on listening and engaging with your community, the more knowledgeable everyone becomes. Common knowledge shared helps lead people to play with ideas and explore ways to innovate.

TED's Chris Anderson: How web video powers global innovation (July 2010)

Reason 5: Many flavors and sizes. Not everyone has to jump wholeheartedly into social media with the enthusiasm of a dachshund in a dog food factory. Want to track the latest news? Use Twitter to follow key news sources (both people and organizations). Want to connect with colleagues? Use LinkedIn to highlight your professional experience and topic expertise and to connect with coworkers and partners. Want to develop existing friendships (personal and professional)? Use Facebook to share day-to-day news about what you are interested in and what is going on in your life. And, of course, take time to listen.

How to Use Content Marketing for Social Media | Heidi Cohen

What are your 5 simple reasons?

#140Conf NYC- Day One

Live tweets from this conference - watch live on ustream.

 

Union of Concerned Scientists Launches "Clean Air Act Ticker"

Recently, Congress has convened hearings around whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is able to use the Clean Air Act to limit emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants associated with climate change.

Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required to regulate emissions that are considered to be pollution and that "endanger public health and welfare."

The Union of Concerned Scientists has just released a Clean Air Act Ticker which calculates the benefits, in U.S. dollars, of the implementation of Clean Air Act regulations since 1970.

Networked Nonprofits: "I've Found My Free Agent - Now What?" (#11NTCfa)

According to Beth Kanter, there are two different types of nonprofits:

• Fortressed Nonprofits. These type of organizations try to maintain total control of medium, message, spokespeople. They limit their audiences to a small of constituents identified by the organization. And they don't necessarily get social media.

Fortressed organizations. Source: Rob Cottingham.

• Networked Nonprofits. Consider everyone inside and outside of the organization resources for helping them to achieve their goals.

Beth believes nonprofits can unleash the power of social good by transitioning from stand-alone fortressed institutions to networks energized by abundant resources in their ecosystem. In order to do this, they need to work with free agents.

Free agents are individuals working outside of organizations to organize, mobilize, raise funds, and communicate with constituents. They are hyper-connected people passionate about social change without being an employee of the organization(s) they support.  Free agents use social media channels like Facebook and Twitter, and can create social movements in the palms of their hands.

Leading a session at the annual NonProfits and Technology Conference, Beth brought together organization representatives who had learned first-hand the opportunities and challenges of working with free agents.

The relationship between the organization and free agents is sort of like marriage. The partnership has to be mutually beneficial and not coercive. Important characteristics of this partnership includes:

• Trust. Free agents must be worth trusting and able to support in mutually beneficial ways.
• Transparency. Trust and honesty are important for organizations to have to make the relationship work. It is important to build a relationship that doesn’t change based on what free agents do.
• Empathy. Organizations and free agents need to understand each others’ motives.
• Enthusiasm. This helps to sell a concept.

In thinking about "economy" between organizations and free agents, both have to get value from relationship. What's valuable for your free agents?

Free agents like Shawn Ahmed (@uncultured) are promiscuous for good!
Free Agent. Source; Rob Cottingham.

To take this metaphor a bit further, Beth set up her panelists as “couples” in a newlywed game format

First couple - Kat Johnson (100KHomes) and Mark Horvath (Free agent and founder of @invisiblepeople.tv)

Kat and Mark were aware of each other’s existence via Twitter; they met in person when Mark interviewed the Executive Director of 100k homes. Mark describes free agents as "the marketing plan that the organization can’t afford. They want to help you tell your story, and they are connected with stakeholders you would otherwise not reach." When asked, "How do you resolve conflict?", they responded "You commit and work through it." Mark explained, “The worst thing you can do to me is censor me. Free agents share goals and won't intentionally hurt the organization." Based on their experience working together, Kat and Mark believe that organizations need to empower free agents. "Take a leap of faith. Encourage your staff...create Evangelists." said Mark. It helps if the organization is ready to reach out and embrace the free agent. Kat said, "I am lucky to work for a director of a campaign...that is willing to take risks."  Mark added that organizations are good at "navigating his passions" to focus his agenting.

The Newlywed Game! Beth Kanter with Kat Johnson (100KHomes) and Mark Horvath discuss the relationship between organizations and free agents. Source: Michael Dougherty

Second couple (triple?) – Ettore Rossetti (Save the Children) and Matt Morgan (Red Cross) and Shawn Ahmed (Free agent @uncultured)

Shawn describes himself as a "Former Notre Dame grad student who dropped everything to start an unplanned, unexpected, & 'uncultured' journey to help the poor." He heard good things about Save the Children, so he investigated and liked their work so much he sought out ways to promote the organization. "A free agent is a bridge maker for nonprofits," explained Shawn. "American people want to KNOW who they are giving money to." He added, "The last aspect of bridge making is bridging cultures." To demonstrate, he showed the following video about "The Boy Who Lived."

Free agents at work. VIDEO of community efforts – The Boy Who Lived.

Ettore added, "The moral of the story is the connection to Shawn  (a free agent) has opened the door to other supporters."  Save the Children considers some free agents "citizen journalists", thus precedent for paying for travel - so other organizations may want to consider free agents as citizen journalist, citizen or philanthropist to be able to afford to bring them to events/efforts. Shawn explained, "To move a volunteer to a Free Agent means to move them from single activity to multiple activities."  Ettore's suggested, “If you work for an nonprofit organization, discover the free agent experience by being one for your own organization.”

One of the concerns that many organizations worry about when opening themselves up to social media is negative publicity. Panelists recommended that if there is someone out there speaking against you, bring them on the team. Embrace them. Turn them from an enemy into an ally by listening and responding.

Finally, one untapped resource of free agents for many NGOs is the whole blogging community. What should you do with a potential blogger? Engage them to see if there is a fit because they are going to talk about you anyway.

Posterboard of discussion by Jonny Goldstein, envisualize. Source: Michael Dougherty.

#11NTC Raw - Mixing Business and Pleasure: Managing Your Personal and Professional Brand in Social Media (11NTCbrand)

DESCRIPTION:

Who are you and how do you represent yourself online? As our personal and professional lives blend together, how can you shape your own brand online and reconcile it with your organization's brand? As the communications landscape changes, every staff member serves as the organization's spokesperson, not just the executive director or board chair. How you and your colleagues use social media can greatly impact your organization's reputation with key stakeholders. In this workshop, a panel of nonprofit leaders will share how they manage their own brands online--including helpful tips and tools you can put in to practice immediately.

Session Takeaways:

1. Understanding how the online "you" may or may not differ from the offline/real "you" and your organization
2. Development of a personal positioning statement (or big idea)
3. Guidelines you might set for your organization to help set policies for everyone who works for (and therefore represents) you online

Personal+ Professional Brand in Social Media - Trompeter

View more presentations from Farra Trompeter, Big Duck

Tweets re House Energy & Commerce Hearing to Examine Climate Science, EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations

Press release from http://energycommerce.house.gov - The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), will hold a hearing on Tuesday, March 8, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing is entitled, “Climate Science and EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations.” Full Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rep. Whitfield have joined Democratic leaders in the U.S. House in authoring the Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910), a bill to block EPA’s controversial backdoor climate change agenda that would further drive up the price of energy for American consumers and job creators at a time when gas prices are already spiking and job creation remains weak.

Following EPA Clean Air Act Hearing on Hill

(Updated: 5:34pm; Feb 9, 2011) I wanted to test what was involved in capturing a large conversation from a number of different twitter accounts on a broad issue. So, today I used Cover It Live to find out. View the results:

Watch Webcast of Hill Hearing LIVE

FUN GADGET: Interactive Fish Tank

"Add a touch of nature to your page with these hungry little fish. Watch them as they follow your mouse hoping you will feed them by clicking the surface of the water."

I discovered this tool via http://underwatertreasures.blogspot.com. You can adjust the size of the tank and the number (up to 10) and color of fish - because every good fish tank owner knows that the more fish you have the bigger your tank has to be!

Find out more about the aBowman Fish Gadget and get your own!

Mistletoe and Social Media

Ancient Greeks felt mistletoe bestowed fertility. Scandinavians believed it brought peace. The English believed kissing under the mistletoe indicated deep romance, friendship or goodwill. Social media provides all these benefits.

Norman Rockwell's Cousin Reginald Under the Mistletoe (1917) Copyright © 1917 The Country Gentleman and Curtis Publishing Company

When the holidays come, the threat of getting caught under the mistletoe is a reminder that not everyone is comfortable with all forms of social intercourse.

This may be a key reason it is often difficult to convince colleagues that they should get on social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

No matter how valuable you may find these networks you may have difficulty convincing skeptics of the value of sharing online and connecting with their colleagues, friends and acquaintances in public forums.

Often, it is not until people see the success of social media that they begin understanding the benefits of active participation in social media.

• Social media is a fertile place to create connections. By virtue of just being on social media you will grow a following of people and connect with those who are interested in the same things you are interested in. And you don’t require an email or street address to share resources with these connections. Metrics: Growth of followers, fans, friends.

• Social media deepens existing relationships. By sharing your professional and personal life via social media others learn more about your personality and what is important in your life. Ultimately, this shared information builds connections with others that cannot be created through formal settings. Metrics: Conversations, comments and feedback via social media.

• Social media helps you identify your audiences. While we often feel we know our target audiences, social media enables audiences to self identify. And we can identify people’s background and interests. Furthermore, you can identify the multiple connections others have with you to determine who is most strongly connected with you (and why!). Metrics: Short biosketches about key audience members that are connected to you.

So next time you have a conversation about social media with a skeptic, consider providing these tips and metrics about your social media experience. This might encourage them to “pucker-up”.

Blog Action Day: Water

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