Social media

Social media workshops and seminars are a popular feature of many conferences and meetings in the voluntary and community sector.

Why?

I suspect the answer lies in the intuitive understanding that volunteering and community involvement is one of the traditional social networks. Modern social media provides new tools for developing communities of interest that extends beyond the confines of geography.
The growth of social media allows these networks to extend and expand. The networks are largely based on the notion of friendship and shared interest and this means that it allows organisations and individuals to talk from a trusted position. This means that within the network people can promote ideas, exchange information and recommendations and provide opportunities for some great opportunities.

ipadioRecently I have been working with a few groups who want to capture peoples thoughts about the services they use and what could be done to improve these services.

The concern is that using on-line surveys and traditional paper based tools self excludes many people who do not feel confident with the internet and/or reading and writing.

Social media, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and podcasts are created and used by organisations in the voluntary sector to influence people. You may wish to influence their attitudes, their actions and their donations. By understanding the how you can influence people you can improve the effectiveness of your use of social media.

who said thatKnowing what people are saying about your organisation is important.

The speed of communication and the growth of social media means that a misunderstanding or genuine grievance can have a massive impact on your organisation's on-line reputation.

You can also miss out on potential supporters who are making positive statements about you, or the work you are doing.