introduction to social media tools for ngos
DESCRIPTION
The African Commons Project in collaboration with Sangonet ran a 1-day training workshop for South African NGOs. The course provided an introduction to social media tools for NGOsTRANSCRIPT
Social Media for NGOsThe African Commons Project
andSangonet
Basic Course Overview
• Introduction to Blogging: Daniela and Matt• Introduction to Microblogging: Kerryn• TEA• Introduction to Social Networking Sites: Kerryn• LUNCH• Introduction to Wikis: Daniela• Introduction to Multimedia Sites: Daniela
Blogging
Blogging in Plain EnglishLee LeFever, Commoncraft.com
So what’s the big deal?
Read / Write
• Sir Tim Berners Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1990.
•The proposal was based on how to transfer information over the internet, using a point-and-click system.
Read / Write
Tim Berners Lee’s Web
READ ONLY
READ-WRITEhttp://www.africancommons.org/wp-admin
READ-WRITE
Blog versus ‘Website’How to integrate for non-profits?
Blog versus ‘Website’A site WITH A BLOG
Blog versus ‘Website’A site WITH A BLOG
Blog versus ‘Website’Blog AS A WEBSITE
Why Blog?
Blogging facilitates conversations and creates relationships:
• Gives a personal, ‘insiders’ view to the happenings within the organisation
• Allows you to garner support and recruit volunteers.
• Information exchange between constituents, other non-profits, information specialists etc.
• Helps with accountability to donors
Best Practices for NGOs
• Read blogs!
• “Before your organisation starts to blog, set up a newsreader”
• Have someone who likes blogging do the blogging
• Sustainability
• Quality above quantity
• Respond to comments
• Don’t just tell – show
• RSS feeds
Blogging Platforms
• Wordpress.com
• Blogger.com
• Live Journal
• Type pad
• Serendipity
It is SO easy!
• Wordpress site creation demo
Blogging Exercise30 minutes
Log on to the NGO Pulse website
Write 2 paragraphs on one of the following topics: • About your organisation: vision, mission and projects;OR• A recent event/project that your organisation has hosted/launched.
Remember to include links!
Microblogging
What is micro blogging?
Twitter in Plain English by Lee lefever
• Microblogging is a hybrid, or mix, of two technologies:– mobile phone short message service (sms), and– IRC; which was the very first instant messaging system sent via a
phone line before the world wide web was developed.
• Microblogging developed from a creative sub culture that grew in IRC chat where people could give a short status next to their name when ‘logged in’
• Microblogging is based on this principle of providing an immediate status update: what am I doing now?
• Twitter is the name of the microblogging platform. There are similar platforms, but Twitter is the most popular.
The birth of microblogging
Example of IRC chat and the first types of status updates: what am I doing now?
• Twitter was launched in 2007 and is one of the most powerful tools in the SNS (social media sites) arsenal
• “The new scaffolding that gave power to new short messages.”
• Twitter is now the third largest social media platform with 4.5 million users at November 2008
• The main uses are:– Daily chatter: daily routine, what am I doing? – Conversations: commenting or replying to posts using the
@ sign– Sharing information/URLs: 13% of all posts contain urls.
Using a url shortening service like Tinyurl– Reporting news: latest news or comment about current
events
The Twitter tale
Twitter Tree by Pandemia, Source: Flickr, cc-BY
• There are two main options when using Twitter: To follow and be followed• Following:
– You will get their updates in your personal timeline on your homepage. – Eg: If you follow Dani you'll get her updates on your homepage when you
log in. – In turn you can see who gets your updates on your followers page, and
make changes to who you follow on your following page.• Followers:
– receive other peoples' Twitter updates. – When you post an update to your Twitter account, your followers will get it
on their home page – Mutual followers can send each other private messages, and you can
even choose to get notified by email when someone new follows you or sends you a private message
– Your follower/following stats are listed on your profile page.
How does Twitter work?
(1) User name/ (2) Stats / (3) Direct messages/ (4) Any posts that respond to something I’ve written/ (5) My followers’ updates on my homepage/ (6) Click everyone to see everyone’s recent posts/ (7) My most recent update/ (8) Search (find people)/ (9) Advanced search
(1)
(2)
(3)(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(8) Search (find people) (8)
(9) Advanced search
(9)
What are they?
• Tagging helps organise and share our info online• By attaching one or more keywords to an object, like a Flickr photo, we group it
together with others that have the same tags• Hashtags on Twitter serve a similar purpose
Objectives • to bring order to Twitter users’ updates (tweets)• To make it easier to follow a topic of interest
How to• Create a hashtag by adding the hash symbol # to the front of an appropriate
keyword as you write your tweet• A well-known example is #nptech for tweets about the non-profit environment• Hashtag tweets are also available as individual RSS feeds• Find and subscribe to RSS feed hashtags at http://www.hashtags.org
Hashtags in Twitter
Hashtags: http://www.hashtags.org
Information sourceIs a hub that has large number of followers. Might post regularly or infrequently, but due to the
value, followers remain large
3 types of users
Twitter Tree by Pandemia, Source: Flickr, cc-BY
FriendsMost relationships fall into this broad category
Information seekerThis person might post rarely but follows other users
regularly
• Meaningful business tool for building a community of constituents, clients or supporters, through
– its ability to talk directly to a group of people (no intermediary)
– send people to a specific location (url) (call to action)
– provide people with information (info source)
– gain insight into what constituents are thinking and talking about (info seeker)
– gain insight into what other orgs are doing, discussing (seek market intelligence)
The rise of Twitter as a business app
How can non-profits use Twitter: case study• Reason for using Twitter:
– listening post and place for conversation
• Strategy: – employees tweet & develop like-minded followers. Different campaigns on
different channels – Twitter not in isolation: Put articles on other SNSs and point to them
through Twitter;– push people to their media hub page
• Benefits:– Can join in conversation with constituents– Can gain insight into how constituents feel toward the org– Can even mend relationships and have made new contacts– Helped spread important messages– Increased their online activism
National Wildlife Federation,
United States
20 mins practical• Create your profile on twitter at twitter.com
– Basic: You will need to access an email address for profile confirmation– Advanced: Customise your homepage background
• Search – Basic search: Find 3 people that you either know or would like to follow, and
follow them – Advanced search: Find organisations that are active in the non-profit, ICT
environment and follow them– Advanced search: Find the hashtag bb4za and find out who posted and what
this event was about
• Post:– Basic post: Post your first tweet to your profile– Advanced post: Send a direct message to kerrynmckay or someone you are
following– Advanced post: Post about this workshop using #smngo and then search for
this hashtag to see who has contributed
Social networking sites
Towards a definition:
Social networking sites allow users to articulate and make visible their social networks … (they are about) … communicating with people already part of your social network
- danah m. boyd, Social Networks Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship
“
”
Facebook in context
Timeline of development2004
Harvard-onlyTo find friends, hook ups on campusNeed harvard email address to access
2005 Other universities and some corporate networksNeed varsity or corporate email to access
2006EveryoneAny email address to access
Why does Facebook work? …175 million users can’t be wrong!• Barriers to entry are low
– It’s free– Easy to do– It’s a relatively safe space based on friendship and referral
• Based on community– Built around groups– Made up of networks– Successfully mirrors fabric and structure of real-life communities
• Immediate gratification– Updates are real time– Connect in real time with chat application
• Customisable– Add different applications to their profile– Customise your homepage
Non profits and Facebook
• Enables non profits to easily access huge numbers of constituents and potential constituents at very little or no cost.
• Platform for amplifying and broadcasting your message via personal relationships to a massive audience.
• Your facebook strategy – should not be so much about the organisation as about the cause. – Develop and discuss a deliberate strategy– Remember: strategy requires maintenance!– Eg: Facebook allows your org to be hub of info; or clearing house
for important/ relevant info
Keys to success• Create personal relationships with other facebook
members interested in similar causes or issues.
• Encourage constituents to post comments, submit photos and videos
• Participate Participate Participate!– Frequent updates– Encourage your org’s employees to have online
conversations around your org’s work
• Monitor and keep in touch
Remember: Relationship first - organisation promotion second!
Tools for your org - groups and pages
Groups are best for special interests, causes, a place to build up a tribe of people interested in your subject
Groups can be set up by anyone, about anything - not necessarily formal representation
Example: there are 133 Save Zimbabwe groups
People who join your group are called members
Groups can
• show news & info,
• create & invite people to events,
• set up discussion threads and
• add multimedia
Members can
• contribute to the wall with comments, multimedia (photos/ video)
• add, & contribute to discussion threads
• RSVP to events via their inbox
About groups
Group example
Create events; send
invitations to members
through event system;
RSVP functionality
Contact members directly;
message appears
in their facebook inboxbuild database of
constituents; email max
5,000 bulk mail
Members can add a comment
to the wall, can add photos
and video
Members can contribute or
initiate discussion & debate
Group pros and cons
The pros• Facebook users are familiar with groups• you can send messages to group members• are marginally easier to set up and manage than pages
The cons• are only visible to Facebook members• no extra applications added to them• You generally have to visit a group regularly and use the messaging feature to keep discussions flowing.
Pages are best when you want to specifically represent your business ; pages get indexed by Google to allow global access in search.
Pages cannot be created to represent a real public figure, artist, band or org, and may only be created by an official representative of that entity.
Pages have more functionality than Groups and can add media-rich content; focus on the stream of content posted by page administrators
You can promote your pages with your own Facebook ads
Pages have
• customisable tabs: enhanced wall for updates/ photos/ video/ events/ reviews/ discussions
• measuring engagement and interaction tools
Fans can
• interact on wall, in discussion groups
• dependent on customisation they can write reviews, upload photos and video
About pages
Page exampleCustomisable tabs.
A network of page admins;
they can add your page
to their page’s favourites
As with groups, subject to
ads that might not fit with
your org brand image
Pages pros and cons
The pros•visible on the wider internet to non-Facebook members (although only Facebook members can interact with them)• can add applications from a wide range of off-the-shelf apps• provides visitor statistics to let you know how many visitors you pages are getting• user RSVPs added to their calendar & friends will see event in newsfeed
The cons• ‘Updates’ sent to those who decide to be a ‘fan’ of your page are lower key than messages to group ‘members’ - appear on side of homepage when log in; not inbox• Facebook users are less familiar with pages than they are with groups• Visitors still need to be a member of Facebook if they want to join in discussions on your page message board.• More difficult to set up than groups; might need tech assistance to add other apps
Privacy & IP issues on Facebook• On Facebook you can adjust your privacy settings; ensure these
meet your level of comfort
• If encouraging your org’s employees to post, remember that their updates are visible by everyone in the network. Request discretion.
• Be aware of the Facebook terms of use & privacy policy and understand what impact this could have for your organisation
• The controversy - Facebook terms of use clause change … and change back again!:– Stated that the perpetual licence that they had granted themselves
to the content of users’ profiles would no longer expire when those users shut down their accounts.
– Translation: We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever
35 mins practical10 mins - group work
• Find one or two pages of non profits and look at, eg: Greenpeace International, – What do you think they’re trying to achieve with their page: goals/ objectives– customisation: how well do you think they’ve used this
20 mins - writing exercise in your groups– Choose a non profit - one from your group - and write a 5-step implementation
plan for using Pages, taking into consideration the org’s objectives and broad strategic goals
5 mins - report back– Report back the ideas used in your implementation plan
Please note that the 5-step implementation plan will need to be written on the wiki during the Intro to Wikis section, so please ensure that your contribution is of value
Wikis
Wikis in Plain English
Lee LeFever, Commoncraft.com
History function
Discussion feature
Wikis gather communities
Practical implementations in the work place1. Collaborative Documents
2. Conference programmes, documentation and planning
3. Project Management
TACP uses Socialtext to coordinate the organisations’ work – meeting notes, to do lists, shared information. (Private wiki)
Where to find a wiki
• Free and EASY, but with advertising• Wikispaces • PB Wiki
• Free but you’ll need a developer• MediaWiki: database-driven, for large wikis
• EASY but not FREE• Wikispaces (no advertising and customisable)• PB Wiki• Socialtext
Wiki Best Practises
• This about it first: Launch a wiki with a clear purpose• Adoption strategy: Set up a staff meeting and demonstrate how the wiki will be used and how easy it is to contribute. • Pre-populate: At least on the front page. This encourages others to participate. • Appoint a wiki gardener and/or a wiki champion• Make the wiki a part of daily work habits
Wiki Best Practises
• Wikipatterns.com: A great wiki resource!
• People patters/anti-patterns
• Adoption patterns/anti-patterns
Wiki Exercise30 minutes
Log on to the Social Media for NGOs Wiki(http://socialmedia.ngopulse.org/)Find your name in the participants list. Create a new page for your nameAdd your Facebook implementation strategy from the previous exercise to your page. Insert the following somewhere in your text: Bold, italic, bullets, headline, an external link. Save the page. Once you are done, add a link on your page to the page of the person sitting to your right.
Multimedia sites
Photo sharing sites in Plain English
By Lee LeFever, Commoncraft.com
Flickr• Essentially an SNS - one of the world’s best online photo management
and sharing apps– Help people make their content available to people who matter to them -
this includes alternative licensing options to allow re-use, download & remix
– Enable new ways of organising video and photo
• Free account to upload photographs and use the site to store, share and explore photos (up to 100 MB per month)
• Members can – Upload and download photos– join and create groups – participate in discussions – connect to people and can help widen your org’s online connections through
photo-sharing
Search on FlickrTags• An online ‘filing’ system to categorise photos and video• a keyword or category label. • Tags help you find photos and videos which have something in
common. • On Flickr - up to 75 tags to each photo or video• Geo-tagging using the map on Flickr• Creative Commons on Flickr
Promote your tag to your community
Flickr and non profits
Tell your story through Flickr
• “A picture is worth a thousand words”
• post pictures about your cause and spread your story
• connect with your supporters and start a Flickr group. – Groups can be private or public – organized around an event, subject, theme
• Encourage everyone to comment and give their feedback on the photos.
• Don't worry if you are a small nonprofit and don't have a lot of pictures to post. Even a few will help demonstrate to supporters your work towards your mission.
• Camera Rwanda is a great example of storytelling using Flickr
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/camera_rwanda/sets/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/camera_rwanda/sets/
Flickr and non profitsPromote your event
• Upload event photos
• encourage your attendees to do the same.
• Provides a wider audience than if you just posted them on your web site.
Launch a campaign
• A great example of a fundraising campaign on Flickr is The Children at Risk Foundation
• They can be easily done on a low budget; increase your visibility, provide an interactive community for supporters and engage new audiences.
Engage your volunteers
• Encouraging volunteers to share photos, ideas and stories allows your org to take advantage of the creativity of as many people as possible
Video to support your causeEducation
• A great way to find resources on issues related to your work. • Example: Common Craft videos shown here today – all sourced from Youtube. • Videos are a great way to effectively explain complex issues in a succinct and entertaining way. You can share explanations about your cause and why it is important. • Which is also linked to…
Video to support your causeMarketing and Fundraising
• Video memesWhat is a meme?Any idea or scrap of content that spreads voluntarily from person to person across the Web.• Example: The Girl Effect
• Documentation of your work and events• Resource• Donors and stakeholders accountability • Archival purposes• Example: The iCommons Summit in Sapporo ‘08
Video site showcaseWhere do I share?
• Youtube channelsHuge international audiences, limit of 20 minute uploads, 10 million uploads a day. • Zoopy
Local option, local audiences, local speeds (faster). Audio, video and photos. Mobile site. • Dotsub
Plugging in to a community of translators
Creative Commons in the digital economySome Rights Reserved alongside All Rights Reserved
• Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright and the public domain. From all rights reserved to no rights reserved.
• The licences help you keep your copyright while allowing certain uses of your work — a “some rights reserved” copyright.
• Creative Commons icenses work alongside copyright
• Creative Commons licenses are not an alternative to copyright. They work alongside copyright, so you can modify your copyright terms to best suit your needs. We’ve collaborated with intellectual property
experts all around the world to ensure that our licenses work globally.
Video and photoUpload/download, resize and embed
DEMO ON WORDPRESS SITE
1.SEARCH
2.PUBLISHa) EMBED (video)Copy the embed codeChoose HTML viewPaste the embed codeResizeb) DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD (photo)Click download and save to desktop. Go to story and click on upload photoFollow instructions
3.SAVE
Practical – Multimedia site20 minutes
1. SearchUse one of the featured video sites or flickr.com to find a video and/or picture to compliment or add to the story you wrote at the beginning of the day.
2. Add your media to your story on the NGOpulse site
3. Publish your final story.