Network Communications: Using Social Media to Enhance Network Effectiveness
Beth Kanter, Beth’s Blog Packard Foundation Visiting Scholar
Flickr Photo by OceanFlynn
What is Social Media?
Using the Internet to instantly collaborate, share information, and have a conversation about ideas and causes we care about.*
Definition from Katya Andresen, Network for Good
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Publisher MediaPublisher Media Social MediaSocial Media
The Web has become more social….
• Social Media took the lion’s share of the 2.1 trillion page views made at the top 1k media sites last year, nearly doubling 2007 PV volume
Page View ShareShare of all page views at the Top 1,000 Media sites, December 2007 – 2008
15%
85%
Publisher MediaPublisher Media
Social MediaSocial Media 2008
Social Graphs: Individuals as networks
How do we convert our online activists to on the ground activists?
Not everyone is a social media user (or has Internet access or a fast connection)
Social Media Is Not A Life Raft
How can we use social media to enhance network effectiveness?
Begin with context …
swim with the school …
surf the network
Bounded Group: We
Unbounded: Many
What structure?
How much control of your boundaries do you need?
Inward
OutwardCommunicationsCoordinationCollaborationPublishingShared ResourcesLearning Networking
EngageFundraisingActionOutreach
Bounded Group: We
Unbounded: Many
What direction?
Purpose, Audience, and Existing Use of Technology before tool selection.
Inward-Facing *
Outward-Facing
1. Objective and Audience
2. Internet Integration
3. Culture/Capacity
4. Tactic/Tool
5. Experiment, Measure, Adapt
Online collaboration Tools
Enterprise 2.0
Social Media Tools
* Source: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for communities© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith
Toolsoverlap
Different Paths
1: Members skills, capacity, and comfort
2: Group orientation
3: Technology Plan
4: Stewardship
5: Evaluation
Inward-Facing *1: Members skills, capacity, and comfort
2: Group orientation
3: Technology Plan
4: Stewardship
5: EvaluationOnline collaboration
IT Tools Enterprise 2.0
Private Social Networks
* Source: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for communities© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith
Toolsoverlap
Characteristics
Life Cycle
Constitution
TechnographicsJust Forming
Self-DesigningGrowing & RestlessStable and Adapting
Diversity Openness
Boundaries Time zones, languages, participation
Interest and SkillsToleranceFactors
Orientation
Patience Bandwidth
12
Know YourNetwork
Technology Inventory
3
Existing platforms and tools and understand
their features and usage
4
How well does current technology inventory
support ?Based on Action Notebook from Digital Habitats: http://technologyforcommunities.com
Meetings Open-Ended Conversation
ProjectsContent PublishingAccess to Expertise
RelationshipsIndividual ParticipationCommunity Cultivation
• Meetings – in person or online gatherings with an agenda (i.e. monthly topic calls)
• Projects – interrelated tasks with specific outcomes or products (i.e. Identifying a new practice and refining it.)
• Access to expertise – learning from experienced practitioners (i.e. access to subject matter experts)
• Relationship – getting to know each other (i.e. the annual potluck dinner!)
• Community cultivation – Recruiting, orienting and supporting members, growing the community (i.e. who made sure the new person was invited in and met others?)
• Individual participation – enabling members to craft their own experience of the community (i.e. access material when and how you want it.)
• Content – a focus on capturing and publishing what the networks learns and knows (i.e. a newsletter, publishing an article, etc.)
• Open ended conversation – conversations that continue to rise and fall over time without a specific goal (i.e. listserv or web forum, Twitter, etc.)
Source: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for communities© 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith
What is the orientation?
Inward-Facing *
Outward-Facing1. Objective and Audience
2. Internet Integration
3. Culture/Capacity
4. Tactic/Tool
5. Experiment, Measure, Adapt
Social Media Tools
How do you think strategically about social media for outward facing work?
Brand in control
One way / Delivering a message
Repeating the message
Focused on the brand
Educating
Organization creates content
Audience in control
Two way / Being a part of a
conversation
Adapting the message/ beta
Focused on the audience / Adding
value
Influencing, involving
User created content / Co-creation
Traditional Media Social Media
Source: Slide 10 from "What's Next In Media?" by Neil Perkin
Social Media requires a different mindset…
Source: Inside Obama’s Social Media Tool Kit
Your Supporters Are The Message
Source: David Wilcox, The Social Reporter
Email Marketing
Social Media
Different Ways To Spread
Take it from us
Get it from our friends
It’s about engaging the right 6 people
Source: Inside Obama’s Social Media Tool Kit
Let’s go step-by-step
•Objectives •Target Audience •Integration •Culture Change •Capacity •Tools and Tactics •Measurement •Experiment
Objective
•What do you want to accomplish with social media? •Describe how your social media objective supports or links to a goal your network’s communications plan?
Audience
•Who must you reach with your social media efforts to meet your objective? Why this target group?
•Is this a target group identified in your organization’s communications plan?
•What do they know or believe about your organization or issue? What will resonate with them?
•What key points do you want to make with your audience?
• What do they do on the social web?
What research do you need?
What are they doing online?
One Wayemail
search engineads
SocialListening
ConversationConnecting
HomebaseWeb Site
AudienceObjective
Integration with Internet Strategy
1/3 Web Presence 1/3 One Way
1/3 Social
Culture Change
• Loss of control over your organization's branding and marketing messages
• Dealing with negative comments
• Personality versus organizational voice
• Fear of failure
• Perception of wasted of time and resources
• Suffering from information overload already, this will cause more
How do we get
Common Concerns About Social Media
Negative Comments?
Social Networking Policy
“We let people sculpt our brand to support our mission.”
Capacity: Staff, Time, Expertise
Comfortable with socialnetworks
Expanded job for Web/IT staff
GenerateBuzzShare
Content
Listen
Participate
Community Building &
Social Networking
Tactics
Amount of Time Increases ….
Tactical Approaches
Listen Participate
Community Building &
Social Networking
GenerateBuzz
Less Time More time
10hr 15hr 20hr
ShareStory
Tactical Approaches and Tools
http://neilperkin.typepad.com/only_dead_fish/2008/04/blended-measure.html
Measurement
Broader use of hard web metrics – users, time spent, comments, bookmark, outbound links, engagement
…combined with digital ethnographic insights
Design Around Problems, Not Tools
Start small, reiterate over and over
Pick a social media project that won’t take much time
Write down successes
Write down challenges
Ask or listen to the people you connect with about what worked and what didn't
Watch other nonprofits and copy and remix for your next project.
Rinse, repeat.
The Steps
•Objectives •Target Audience •Integration •Culture Change •Capacity •Tools and Tactics •Measurement •Experiment
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