Over the past few months, as part of our Social Media Project, I’ve been extensively researching different forms of Social Media for use in the non-profit sector. From this, I’ve pulled together the following information to help you to more easily find answers to your questions.
I thought I would start off with a quick run down of the Social Media tools we’ve been working with here at Volunteer Victoria (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Youtube) and how they might help your agency to fulfill its mission.
In this, part one of a two part blog post, I will provide an overview of Facebook and Twitter. Stay tuned for my next blog post, part two, which will focus on Flickr and YouTube.
What is Facebook?
Facebook is a global Social Networking website where users can add friends and send them messages, update their personal profiles and notify friends about themselves and their interests. Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region. It is the most used social networking tool in the world today and it is free. Facebook offers great promts to get you started once you register an account which makes it easy to get connected.
Did you know?
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There are more than 250 million active users and Facebook has 130 million unique visitors per month.
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The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is those aged 35 years and older.
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Facebook has a number of features with which users may interact.
Features and abilities:
- Users can join and create up to 200 groups according to their interests or areas of expertise.
- The Wall, is a space on every user’s profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see. A user’s Wall is visible to anyone who is able to see that user’s profile, depending on privacy settings.
- Users can upload albums and photos (Photos).
- There is an ability to “tag“, or label other users in a photo.
- Status, allows users to inform their “friends” of their whereabouts and actions. A user’s Wall is visible to anyone who is able to see that user’s profile, depending on privacy settings.
- A live “News feed” is offered and appears on every user’s homepage. It highlights information including profile changes, upcoming events, as well as highlights other users of Facebook that the user may find relevant/ wish to connect with (add as a friend).
- Users are able to control what content is being shown to the public and what is being seen by other users.
- “Pages” are used to support a group or cause and to bring the community to the forefront. You can highlight both your organization’s mission and/or a donate now button here as well.
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a free social networking and Micro-Blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets.
- Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers who are known as followers. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access.
- A February 2009 Compete.com blog entry ranked Twitter as the third most used social network based on their count of 6 million unique monthly visitors and 55 million monthly visits.
Some tips to get you started:
Start by thinking about your goals and what you hope to accomplish using social media. This is just another communication tool so be sure that you are using the right tool for your audience.
If you decide to use Twitter:
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start by “following” people and organizations that you find interesting – and be interactive.
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Start “tweeting” right away. Even if it is just to say hello to the world.
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Start a discussion. Ask a question.
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Keep questions relevant to your goals and be willing to reply to people’s answers.
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Don’t spam. You can promote your cause, but remember that social media is “social” – it is more about building relationships.
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Keep an eye on your followers numbers to make sure it’s not suddenly trending downward. Interesting “tweets” will help to generate traffic.
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Be liberal with your replies and be sure to “re-tweet” other’s “tweets” if you find them interesting.
Features and abilities:
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It’s a fast and free resource, it is excellent for volunteer recruitment and for promoting your organization and/or service.
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It’s an excellent tool for non-traditional volunteer recruitment and will help reach people that are under-represented in your volunteer ranks.
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You can reach a targeted group, such as a particular kind of professional or organization; and start to build real relationships with them.
As mentioned above, this is just a basic overview of these two Social Networking platforms. Both Facebook and Twitter are highly adaptable and fairly easy to use. These tools are also a great way to further your online presence, promote your mission to the larger community and demonstrate transparency in your organization.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me: john@volunteervictoria.bc.ca or feel free to leave a comment.
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[...] As promised, this is the second and final installment of my Social Media Basics for Non Profits. My previous blog focused on Facebook and Twitter. Here, I will focus on the more visual aspects of social [...]