The Power of Social Media

Reisa Levine

CitizenShift / Parole citoyenne

Overview: Social MediaWhat is ‘Social Media’

A new way of communicating

The SHARING of media; films, photos, music & ideas

‘Social’ refers to ‘people to people’ activities

It’s all about conversations

- >Web 1.0 = Linking documents- > Web 2.0 = Linking people

» Social Media is interactive, allowing people to share ideas, opinions, and insights rather than just communicating one-way.

» People want to be social…we have always drawn strength from each other. New technologies now make it easier than ever to connect.

» Social media include things such as blogs (but not all blogs), wikis, discussion boards, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter. (and many others)

We’re using social media sites at a rate of :

• 73% of online teens and young adults use social networks

• 77% of all Internet users read blogs

• 500 Million active users on Facebook

• YouTube serves over 1 billion videos per day

• 50 million tweets per day on Twitter, 75 million accounts as of January 2010 (about 15 million active tweeters)

User profiles

Some Tools of Social Media

» The embed link - a fundamental aspect to social media

» RSS feeds; the oil that lubricates the Web 2.0 experience.

» Facebook – building a ‘community’

» Twitter; follow the trends, get information live (the #tag)

Some more tools

LinkedIn

del.icio.us

Foursquare

12 seconds

WiserEarth

VoiceThread

others…. ?

Why social media is important for educational projects

Social Media helps teachers and students to…

» Share information and discuss work together» Get’s students excited about creating for an

‘audience’ (classmates and/or wider public) » help people learn in an engaged and reflexive

way

Why social media is important for community projects and social action initiatives

Social Media helps organizations to…

» communicate more effectively and efficiently» let people know about your group or cause and

allows them to actively participate. » help people (which is probably why you exist as

an organization)

Why social media is important for social entrepreneurs and businesses

Social Media helps entrepreneurs to…

» Find out what people want and need and how you can help

» Connect with people interested in your initiative/product and/or services

» Improve on any problems or phase in new services based on customer/client feedback

» Stay alert to new trends and opportunities

Some Examples:

» A viral film (and now a series)» A photo campaign» Twitter Case Studies» CitizenShift – photovoice project

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bicycleportraits/bicycle-portraits-everyday-south-africans-and-thei?pos=5&ref=search

Etsy on Twitter

Charity Water on Twitter

CitizenShift encourages and supports community based initiatives and makes people more aware of the issues.

1 video, aprox. 25,000 views, a global network using this piece as their showcase to raise awareness of the issue and offer a community of support for people touched by FASD.

Picture This

Picture This: A photovoice projectMothers of Children with FASD

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a way people can post their material, and keep as much or as little control around their work as they like.

This offers a huge advantage over sites like YouTube and Facebook, who’s end-user licence agreements (EULA’s) take ownership over all the content that is posted.

» A short film about using Creative Commonshttp://citizen.nfb.ca/building-past

OutreachCommunications, support and

cross channel promotion

The importance of Outreach - it’s all about making connections

» Doesn’t just ‘happen’ by itself» You have to be your communities’ first and most

active contributor (same thing in the classroom, teacher has to participate!)

» Have a dedicated person(s) working exclusively on social media outreach & marketing: The Community Manager

The Role of the Community Manager

“The online community manager role is a growing and developing profession. People in this position are working to build, grow and manage communities around a brand or cause.”

- Wikipedia (another example of a fabulous social media !)

Activity

You are a Community Manager !

» Build your campaign

Social media outreach campaign

Create a buzz or newsworthy events around your film or project (facebook and twitter, blogs, targeted press releases)

Build ways that enable “fans” (students, community members) to participate in your project. This can be at any stage of your project’s production cycle, from storyboarding to shooting, to final distribution.

To be successful, social media campaigns must fully engage and respect the users.

It takes time to converse

Time Investment – It depends on the desired outcomes !

5 hrs/wk to listen

10 hrs/wk to participate

10-15 hrs/wk to generate ‘buzz’

20 hrs +/wk to create ‘community’

Posting Frequency (some suggestions)

newsletter : 1 – 2 per month

Blog – 2-3 per week

Facebook – 3-7 per week

Twitter – 20-30 per week

Planning - Before you jump into social media activity, set out a plan with clear points of measurement along the way…

Ask yourself: - What do we need to achieve? (Objectives)- Which audiences are important for this?- Where are those audiences online; which

platforms are they using?- Do those platforms & tools fit with the kind of

content we have or can create?- Budget / Resources ?- Can we sustain what we start ?- How will we evaluate our efforts?

Most Importantly… Outreach with social media is not like traditional marketing; it requires a new way of thinking. A more opened approach must be adopted.» Listen, be accessible, be self-aware, reach out

It is about building relationships, the fundamental difference between broadcasting and conversing. » Traditional one-way marketing is shouting, social

media is about conversations.

Thanks for joining the conversation….!

For a copy of this presentation and references:» http://citizenshift.org/workshops/

Join us on CitizenShift – share your media !

» http://citizenshift.org

and our sister site ‘en français’ : Parole citoyenne

» http://parolecitoyenne.orgReisa Levine

CitizenShift / Parole citoyennereisa@citizenshift.orgreisa101@gmail.com