Social Media for the Third Sector

[Libby Davy]

We hosted what became a passionate debate on Social Media / Web 2.0 for the Third Sector at the Shine Unconference for social entrepreneurs this weekend.

Notes from our discussion are here.

Essence & Consensus

The key points we wanted to get across follow. Consensus was not sought, but to a large extent was experienced.

1. Web 2.0 / social media is a new paradigm emerging, not another internet fad or buzz word. It is changing the way we do things - potentially for the better. The pace of change is speeding up. New ways of collaborating, new economic models, new ways of building engagement and participation (think: fundraising, recruitment, contracts), new ways of communicating.

2. There are challenges and opportunities. It's not utopia (yet). There are significant gains to be made, with wisdom and caution. Some often overlooked opportunities are for individual and group learning, collaboration and innovation. But it can be as simple as building dialogue tools into your website and partcipating in key online conversations that matter to you.

3. There is essential learning and initial or further exploration to be done by third sector people - leaders, communications/ fundraising people, HR and others. Case studies and other elements in a body of knowledge are already emerging to help in this (see UK Catalyst Awards for example). Professionals from a range of backgrounds are emerging to help.

4. The tools will keep changing but the key conceptual space is already starting to become clear (see We Think and CommonCraft for simple animated examples). Learning needs to focus on concepts first, tools second. This knowledge can be learnt and experienced without undue risk or brain drain, but a commitment is required to build capacity and embed the knowledge in specific contexts. There are no magic bullets or one size fits all.

5. Authenticity has never been more important.

6. Experimenting with tools like blogging, forums, flickr, facebook, YouTube, MySpace, twitter, discussion lists etc is essential. You need to get your hands in there having real life experiences to get a feel for things. That doesn't mean you have to be on facebook nor reveal all, anywhere at anytime.

7. We can now more easily be thinking and connecting with words, images, music, videos, photos, animation. It's good to explore when and how to use a range of media to communicate. Different tools are more or less supportive of different media.

8. It can all be very confusing and time consuming! Even for seasoned specialists.

9. Small steps might be all it takes. One step at a time. As long as the path is clear.

10. Social media should work in support of, not as a substitute for, face-to-face, "real world" interaction.

We are well aware real consensus cannot be achieved in such a short time, nor was this an intended outcome of the session. To ensure your views at this point become clearer to yourself and others, participate in the ongoing debate by posting a response or starting a new discussion here.

Note: links can be found in the original blog post on Authentic Blogging here.

[Libby Davy]

Reposted from original blog post. Won't do this often, but I have a bit of thing for Social Reporter David Wilcox's input.

Libby, Gra - thanks for getting us all talking - rather than talking at us at Shine. I agree about the new conceptual space emerging … and avoiding starting with tools. The important space between those is the people, and needs/problems.
I suggest that organisations identify the real needs/problems they are trying to solve - then look at the tools - bearing in mind that social media only works if people make it work for their way of doing things. This usually means helping people become first, better consumers of content, then communicators and creators. As you say, you have to try this stuff in small steps to get into the new space.