Tag Archive for '4change'

Campaigning #4Change Recap

Published in events and socialchange. 0 Comments Tags: 4change, campaigning, online campaigns, twitter, twitterchat.

Starting off 2010, the monthly #4change Twitter chat focused on the topic of campaigning with social media. There were quite a few participants and some really great conversation. I’ve tried to pull out some of the relevant tweets from the Twitter stream to help follow the flow of the conversation in case you missed it.

This is more of a transcript than a recap, more of what I hope can be a refresher or stimulator for follow up blogs than simply the whole story itself. Please leave a comment or use the #4change hashtag to tweet your post if you do write something of your own!

Question 1: How do we define campaigning in the context of social media?

amysampleward: does growing a Facebook Fan page numbers count? does growing an email list count? what about calls to action that aren’t online?

rootwork: In terms of #s, the easiest things to measure (FB fans, Twitter followers, web hits) seem least useful in online organizing

rootwork: I strongly believe list building w/ petitions etc. that are NOT actually effective for the movement is abusive of one’s supporters

annanten: @rootwork list building is just a strategy to engage more folks in your campaign

ChristinasWorld: I think campaigning has to do w/achieving a particular end – not building a fb fan page, but using that page to achieve x, y or z

engagejoe: Hmm…What about ‘using webby tools 2 organize ppl for impact on an array of issues, w/the goal of creating real world change?’

annanten: @rootwork list building is just a strategy to engage more folks in your campaign

rootwork: @annanten To me the goal should be change, not growing one’s base. 200 engaged members are better than 20,000 petition-signers

SethHorwitz: Seth from Philly here @rootwork altho building lists is not signif per se, NE1 of those low barrier entrants may bcome an advocate

realize_ink: Q1. A campaign (in my definition) is anything that mobilizes action

annanten: social media is here to help you empower your followers with a story to create powerful activists for your cause

lozz: @amysampleward Campaigning is obsolete – social media disrupts “start-end” mentality – constantly adapting efforts now

paddaniels: @realize_ink SM changing the way we see campaigning as not only r small acts of giving visible but so is the collective outcome

ChristinasWorld: building a network of awareness is different from campaigning: 1) campaigning is about mobilizing action toward specific objectives

ChristinasWorld: 2) Network building is about communicating, telling stories, & building trust over time

realize_ink: @ChristinasWorld I agree completely! Good campaigns move away from awareness 2 spur action

annanten: @engagejoe online campaigning = (relationship building + storytelling) * shared cause ^ common goal

SethHorwitz: @ChristinasWorld: agree w/ distinction betw. network building (awareness, trust) and campaigning (action). Both important.

Question #2: what are some of the best examples you’ve seen? Why are they great?

@elliotharmon Here’s a good example from just today of the wrong way to use social media http://bit.ly/88sR45

creativegreeniu: The 350 campaign is one of the best uses of social media I’ve experienced and it worked on a worldwide basis.

creativegreeniu: and why the 350 campaign worked is because it effectively reached a diverse demographic & moved them to action on a complex goal

ChristinasWorld: @kanter’s recent campaign 4 Sharing Found. was amazing – what made it great was existing network ready to take action when called

5MillionPeople: GetUp in Oz do it well. Many of their online campaigns are short and sharp.

cian: Big up to @350’s work. So successful at creating real world actions. do they in themselves create behavioral change too

realize_ink: @creativegreeniu I’d add to that, it succeeded b/c it moved ppl toward a *specific* goal

5MillionPeople: @realize_ink: Agreed. Works best when people can see that action leads to affect. Specific goals help focus.

neddotcom: Another campaign worth mentioning http://twestival.com/

rootwork: I remember a campaign from some time ago about getting more women on tech panels, but can’t find specific blogs abt it.

annanten: @realize_ink @rootwork indeed – it was @WomenWhoTech who lead that – http://bit.ly/y2twf

rootwork: I think the Jena Six was an early (though not the first) success of social media campaigns http://bit.ly/5hKmih

rootwork: The Powershift youth climate change conf in 2007 was also largely organized via social media http://bit.ly/8MyWtH

elliotharmon: Great example of organizing people online: Sean Tevis campaign. http://bit.ly/5VSjxh

rootwork: @tomjd @bensaint My Society @mysociety is incredibly awesome. Produce great tools for effective UK campaigns

Question #3: What are elements in these examples that are integral to the campaign’s success?

realize_ink: Q3: specific ask.

rootwork: Key element for success, to me, is allowing ppl to speak in own voice, e.g. http://jointheimpact.com was abt ppl, not an org

rootwork: Creating a sustainable org #4change is good, but not at the expense of cultivating leadership among activists IMO

rootwork: Great repository of online campaigns #4change can be found at @DigiActive – lots to analyze: http://bit.ly/4BbKWG

creativegreeniu: Direct contact from national 350 organizers incredibly effective in motivating me. I used that tactic locally 2 move others to act.

creativegreeniu: first step is recognizing value & necessity of it and specifically asking campaigners to do it.

zerostrategist: Q3: I think Access 2 the net, uncensored information, being unmonitored or not fearing reprisals for being an active are important

engagejoe: ‘An element that’s integral 2 a campaign’s success?’ Agree w/@rootwork’s highlights: truly valuing & empowering supporters is key.

zerostrategist: Google / China comes to mind! Thank god for SMS, proxy servers & smart mobs right?

ChristinasWorld: key to good campaign is offering meaningful action for supporters to take; having a network who is ready to take action helps alot

realize_ink: Q3: empowerment & ownership

realize_ink: @amysampleward Giving ppl the opportunity 2 make it their own. Like @350 encouraged ppl’s cr8ivity 2 bring change but hd 1 ask

ChristinasWorld: @amysampleward sharing thru soc med can help maintain an action network – don’t just talk to supporters when u need something

5MillionPeople: @amysampleward: A big part of it is surely about making sure your network feel their actions are having an effect.

ChristinasWorld: Building an effective network #4change who is ready 2 take action requires consistency – sharing stories, building trust in an ongoing way

rootwork: Be honest w/ppl about how a given action gets the movement closer to change. Like a lg version of mission line-of-sight

neddotcom: Cluetrain may be 10 years old, but was 20 years ahead of its time, very related to social media today http://cluetrain.com/

ehon: Online campaigning – the power offer to stakeholders needs to be designed and executed properly & strategically.

Question #4: What are the most difficult aspects of managing/running a campaign?

engagejoe: another best-practice for online campaigning? making it about the cause, not the org(s) that’s coordinating it.

rootwork Giving up control.

ehon: @engagejoe @rootwork valuing & empowering is obvious. Most campaigns lack long-term strategic plan to keep momentum flowing.

SocialBttrfly: @amysampleward For me, one of the more frustrating items, not nec. difficult, is overcoming the campaign mentality.

SocialBttrfly: Along lines of what @ehon was saying. Needs a strategic plan. Most campaigns address short term and focus on one P, promotion.

realize_ink: Q4: in some instances, seeing campaign as a tactic, not the entire strategy.

realize_ink: camp strat brings u closer 2 achieving org strat. camp success = met org objective. org success = worked out of a job.

ChristinasWorld: Q4 I think keeping up campaign momentum can be tiring for campaign champions. I hate that feeling of bugging people

zerostrategist: @ChristinasWorld It IS tiring, mastering the art of the “light touch / soft ask” is not easy to keep that campaign momentum going

zerostrategist: @ChristinasWorld I found that when you run a great social media campaign, other champions and supporters can help keep that going

SocialBttrfly I personally like the term “initiative” vs. “campaign.” “Initiative” tends to get people motivated and is action-focused.

neddotcom: Is your campaign for good push or pull? America’s Giving Challenge = push vs. Kiva peer-to-peer microfinance = pull

neddotcom: Pull can be more effective because people are coming directly to you, hopefully in great numbers and ready to do something

SocialBttrfly: I can expand in a post. In ways, it’s semantics. But the word campaign, to me, says push rather than a fueling a movement.

ehon: Challenge w online campaign – lots of sympathisers not enough activists. Inspiration doesn’t transform to action.

rootwork: .@ehon That’s why “awareness-building” is such a limited goal. I’ll take “action-building” or “change-building”!

zerostrategist: @ehon Might be right about that challenge, but I have seen the reverse too. Where everyone wants to lead but no one wants 2 follow

Question #5: What are the best ways for would-be campaigners to identify possible collaborators/partners?

engagejoe: w/online campaigning, seems a (natural?) challenge 2 coordinate w/other movement builders working on same issue

rootwork: With social media, it seems easy (maybe too easy!) to find the natural leaders & activists and bring them into the “inner circle”

rootwork: But I think that leadership cultivation is key. Someone always Tweeting out yr action alerts? See if they want to help plan them!

ChristinasWorld: Q5 thinking of @kanter & #tweetsgiving, seems clear that existing networks built over time produce strong natural collaborators

ChristinasWorld: btw – meant @kanter’s recent b-day campaign & #tweetsgiving from @epicchange as 2 examples where collaborators identify themselves

engagejoe: w/@christinasworld that building on & seeking connections from yr ntworks makes for a gr8 starting place 2 find potential partners

Question #6 – something people always ask me: how do you measure impact of campaigns (esp w/ social media)?

ChristinasWorld: Measuring impact of #4change soc med campaigns: count unique actions/donors/RTs/shares/posts… but most important, was objective achieved?

zerostrategist: Q6 Most SM people say that it’s the number of “social actions” taken during campaign period, but I think it is much more then that #4change

zerostrategist: Q6: The fact is many things are just just not measurable even with the best tools so pay, attention to tangibles & intangibles!

zerostrategist: Q6: Do the best u can to setup automated systems to capture metrics, look at the numbers, but don’t obsess over them or the ROI

Steveistall: @zerostrategist Agreed! It’s much more important to measure outcomes (especially behaviour change) than to measure outputs

engagejoe: w/@zerostrategist that “How do you measure impact?” will never be as easy as counting clicks, challenges & solutions too complex.

engagejoe: few measurement of success: Did you build relationships? Is the mvmnt bigger, stronger? Are we closer 2 our goals?

zerostrategist: @ChristinasWorld Like how can you measure the depth of a “social action” or an interaction with a human (virtual or physical)?

sdmediareform: Measure campaigns by if it is helping advance community exposure. Ask around…

engagejoe: social media also offers a gr8 opportunity 2 discover, seek out, & highlight the stories which may show the success of a campaign

—–

Future chats:

The idea was suggested during the chat last night that next month we discuss the issue of “Cause Fatique.” I think there are lots of stories to tell, questions to ask, and examples to share on this topic and hope you’ll join us!

You can stay on top of the #4change topic by following the hashtag on Twitter or following the blog at:

http://4change.memeshift.com

Published on January 15, 2010 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

January #4Change Chat Topic: Campaigning

Published in events and socialmedia. 2 Comments Tags: 4change, campaign building, campaigning, chat, ecampaigning, twitter.

The January #4Change Twitter Chat will focus on the use of Twitter and other social media tools in campaigning.

About the Topic

Campaigning can mean many different things and we want to keep the definition of the topic fairly open for this chat, in order to keep insights, resources and conversation in the Q/A format as open to valuable input as possible. Here are some ways that campaigning can be framed for the purpose of this chat:

moving canvassing door to door to online networks
political action
local community building
tying communications, partners, and actions together via social media
social change projects or programs locally or globally

The way we examine the use of social media in campaigning can be further framed in some of these ways:

change campaigns (internal vs external), also organization type variations
social media change campaigns (specific nuances)
change campaigns vs political campaigns (similarities vs differences)
educational campaigns (organizational / institutional / internet) riffing off of last month’s topic
building campaign coalitions & recruiting campaign champions

How to Participate

Share your ideas now:

You can share your ideas about the topic as well as any resources, case studies, examples, research etc. by leaving a comment on this blog post. Or, you can tag your resources or posts using Delicious with the tag “4change” and we’ll pick it up for you.

Join the Twitter chat:

If you want to contribute to the conversation, you’ll need to have a twitter account (it’s free).
To follow the conversation (whether you are planning to contribute or not), use http://search.twitter.com or another application to search on Twitter for #4Change
Jump in to the conversation by adding #4Change to your Twitter message
Feeling brave? Check out TweetChat – it’s a great application that integrates with your Twitter account and makes chats more fun! You can turn it off after the chat.

Rules for #4Change Chat

#4Change will be structured around a series of questions which all participants can respond to. Send your questions to @memeshift to have them considered.
Introduce yourself in 1 tweet at the start or when you join.
Stay on topic!
Be cool.

Details

Date: January, 14th 2010
When: 2 – 4 pm US Pacific Time, 5 – 7 pm US Eastern Time, 10pm – 12am London, UK (Late!)
Where: Twitter (search for #4Change)
Topic: Campaigning: How is social/new media affecting the the way we build and conduct campaigns? and more!

We’ll update this post with specific questions to be asked during the chat and will capture resources and conversations from the chat, too. Send us your ideas!

Published on January 3, 2010 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

December #4Change Chat: Education

Published in events. 0 Comments Tags: 4change, education, events, twitter.

This Thursday is the December #4Change Chat!

Education and it’s discontents are being changed by new ways of learning – much of it by new ways of creating, sharing and validating information and knowledge online. Tools and methods are being customized, adapted and remixed for various educational contexts. Classrooms are no longer bound by geography. But there are still barriers, still challenges – some of which we may not be able to predict. How can we attend to these?

This chat will cover the changing role(s) of teachers, institutions and learners – and how they are affected and transformed by new/social media.

Details

Date: December, 10th 2009
When: 2 – 4 pm US Pacific Time, 5 – 7 pm US Eastern Time, 10pm – 12am London, UK (Late!)
Where: Twitter (search for #4Change)
Topic: Education: How is social/new media affecting the future of education?

Check out some of the questions we’ll be discussing and resources about the topic here.

Join the Conversation!
If you want to contribute to the conversation, you’ll need to have a twitter account (it’s free).

To follow the conversation (whether you are planning to contribute or not), use http://search.twitter.com or another application to search on Twitter for #4Change
Jump in to the conversation by adding #4Change to your Twitter message
Feeling brave? Check out TweetChat – it’s a great application that integrates with your Twitter account and makes chats more fun! You can turn it off after the chat.

Published on December 9, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Next #4Change Chat Topic: Volunteering

Published in events. 2 Comments Tags: 4change, chat, twitter, volunteer, volunteering.

Originally posted on the #4Change blog by Tash Judd.

Social media and new technology are changing the way we recruit and manage volunteers. They’re also changing how we define the concept of volunteering. New forms of participation such as micro-volunteering, and web-generated events such as Twestival, are changing the way people are coming together to raise funds, donate their time and make a difference in their local and global community.

Our next #4change chat, on Thursday 12 November, will look at how the volunteering landscape is changing. Join us for a global conversation, sharing ideas, best practice, links and resources.

How to join the chat

1. If you want to contribute to the conversation, you’ll need to have a Twitter account (it’s free).
2. To follow the conversation (whether you are planning to contribute or not), use http://search.twitter.com/ or another application to search on Twitter for “#4Change”
3. Jump in to the conversation by adding “#4Change” (without the “”) to your Twitter message
4. Feeling brave? Check out TweetChat – it’s a great application that integrates with your Twitter account and makes chats more fun! You can turn it off after the chat.

Rules for #4Change chat

1. #4Change will be structured around a series of questions which all participants can respond to. Send your questions to @tashjudd or post them below to have them considered.
2. Introduce yourself in 1 tweet at the start or when you join.
3. Stay on topic!
4. Be cool.

A few links

How social media’s changing volunteering
Blog: Brave New World for Volunteering
Blog: Sacrifice, optional and about other people (defining volunteering)
Blog: The Extraordinaries: Will micro-volunteering work?
Article: NetSquared and the new wave of online volunteering

Recruiting volunteers online
Volunteer Match
Do-it
All for Good

A few interesting volunteering and participation initiatives
The Extraordinaries
Virtual volunteering
Junction49
Urbantastic
Twestival

Please visit the #4Change blog to contribute other interesting links, case studies and questions you’d like to see raised during the chat. Looking forward to seeing you all online on the 12th.

Published on November 2, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 2 Comments

New on SSIR: #4Change Examines Social Media for the Climate Change Movement

Published in case studies and issues. 1 Comment Tags: 4change, climate change, environment, lessons learned, social media.

My latest post is up on the Stanford Social Innovation Review opinion blog. For those that follow the #4Change twitter-based chats, this is a post recapping and highlighting our latest conversation on social media application in the Climate Change movement. There are lots of great pieces below that I think can apply to all sectors and I’m eager to hear your thoughts!

Read the post below or visit the Stanford Social Innovation Review blog to comment.

Continue reading ‘New on SSIR: #4Change Examines Social Media for the Climate Change Movement’

Published on October 14, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 1 Comment

Next #4Change Twitter Chat: Social Media & the Climate Change Movement

Published in events. 0 Comments Tags: 4change, chat, climatechange, twitter.

Originally posted by Joe Solomon on the #4Change blog.

Every month, a group called #4Change organizes open & lively conversations about how web-connected communities and our use of social media tools are helping to create change in the world. #4Change Chats are hosted on Twitter – Read “Join the Conversation” below for ways to jump into the discussion.

The next #4change chat is this Thursday – we hope you can join us!

Details:

Date: Oct, 8th
Where: Twitter (search for #4Change
When: 2 – 4 pm US Pacific Time, 5 – 7 pm US Eastern Time, 10pm – 12am London, UK (Late!)
Topic: How does the web & social media change the way we address climate change?

(Image from Blog Action Day - their topic this year is also climate change!)

We are at a crucial moment in time for the climate movement (and all of humanity). World leaders are meeting in Copenhagen in December to draft the next major global climate treaty – and organizations, communities, and people from every corner of the planet are stepping up to make sure this treaty gets our planet back on a sustainable path. Copenhagen is a galvanizing force that’s driving a lot of innovations and experiments – which means there’s going to be lots to discuss! Many of the questions we explore will likely also be applicable to other movements.

Starting the Conversations:

Here are some questions to consider:

How does online discussion and networking connect with and support offline action?
How does the web change the way we organize for climate action? What are the key ways the game gets changed?
What role does new media & storytelling play in this space?
What are the impact of online petitions and how can they be most effective?
How can we help connect & empower the climate movement together using online tools? What technologies are both available & needed?
How can the web facilitate culture shifts? As network weavers, how can we faciitate culture shifts?
What are the top actions the social media community can take to join and support the climate movement?

And here are some examples to consider:

TckTckTck, 350.org, Avaaz, 1Sky, Energy Action Coalition, many others – All wired organizations working to catalyze and inspire people and communities to come together and take action for the climate.
Project Survival – Seven new media teams, one for each continent, will report on the most compelling climate stories from around the world.
WiserEarth & WiserEarth API – Open database of over 100,000 environmental & social justice organizations anyone can search and webby folk can integrate into their site.

Join the Conversation!

If you want to contribute to the conversation, you’ll need to have a twitter account (it’s free).
To follow the conversation (whether you are planning to contribute or not), use http://search.twitter.com or another application to search on Twitter for “#4Change”
Jump in to the conversation by adding “#4Change” (without the “”) to your Twitter message
Feeling brave? Check out TweetChat – it’s a great application that integrates with your Twitter account and makes chats more fun! You can turn it off after the chat.

Rules for #4Change Chat

#4Change will be structured around a series of questions which all participants can respond to. Send your questions to @engagejoe to have them considered.
Introduce yourself in 1 tweet at the start or when you join.
Stay on topic!
Be cool.

Join us for the chat this Thursday – looking forward to discussing the role social media can play in creating a safe climate future!

Published on October 7, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

September #4Change Chat Topic: Change Failure

Published in case studies and events. 0 Comments Tags: 4change, strategy.

Originally posted by Zero Strategist on the 4Change blog.

My experience since I started working in the social media field is that the failures are where you learn the most as a community manager, a social media manger, a change manger, a professional and as a person.

Yet, organizations tend to have a low tolerance for failure even though it is failure that often leads to innovations and improvements in products, services or processes. Leaders often blame change managers or teams who do not control the source or circumstances which cause the “failure.” Having a low tolerance for small failures can actually lead to more catastrophic failures.

Though many orgs flaunt their “lessons learned” they are not all written down, distributed, or accessible depending on the enterprise architecture. Too often, these lessons end up on individuals’ computers, shared drives or locked away in portals and are not shared in order to prevent repeated mistakes. Most organizations lack the enterprise 2.0 tools that they need to help their workers become more efficient at their jobs. This lack of tools can prevent individuals from learning from their previous missteps and reaching full productive work potential. There is also general lack of integrated risk management systems in business for employees to submit risks to the organization for tracking, sourcing and mitigation. The workers on the front lines of the change are often the first to see signs of trouble yet, in most org structures, they have the least interaction with upper management.

I think that the previous blog post by Tom is a great lead into this month’s discussion and #4CHANGE chat topic. The 4Change Team thinks that this topic is a really important.

#4 Change September Chat Topic: Change Failure / Change #Fails

#4Change Chat Questions on Change Failure:

What is the value of failure?
What roles do change failures play in furthering larger change campaigns in organization?
What constitutes change failure / success inside and outside of your organization?
As a change/community manager, how do you handle separation / transition issues with the community and the organization?
How do failures in society, business and government affect change in non-profits?

new_twitter_fail

Here are some background definitions to stir your thoughts about this months topic.

Failure (definitions from Visual Thesaurus):

an act that fails
an event that does not accomplish it’s intended purpose
lack of success
a person with a record of failing, someone who loses consistently
an unexpected omission
inability to discharge all your debts as they come due
loss of ability to function normally
condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning
a mistake resulting from neglect
your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
an event that happens
an act that does not achieve it’s intended goal

Success:

an event that accomplishes it’s intended purpose
an attainment that is successful
a state of prosperity or fame
a person with a record of successes
the condition of prospering; having good fortune
the act of achieving an aim
an event that happens

Change:

an event that occurs when something passes from one stat or phase to another
a relational difference between states; especially between states before and after some event
the action of changing something
the result of alteration or modification
a thing that is different phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon
something done (usually as apposed to something said)

Please feel free to leave question and comments on this subject and if you have open case studies or links to resources on the topic. Visit the 4Change blog to join the conversation!

Published on September 9, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

NPTech Conversations in SXSW Panels

Published in events. 2 Comments Tags: 4change, challenges, competition, impact, innovation, panels, socialchange, socialmedia, sxsw.

sxswpanelpicker-lg The SXSW Panel Picker is now open for your thumbs up or down on the thousands of panels proposed for next year’s SXSWInteractive festival.

What’s SXSWi?

SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer. Learn more at: http://sxw.com/interactive

NPTech Panels Want Your Votes!

There are many exciting proposals available for your vote. You can view all of the panels (from all categories) at http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/

I am part of 3 proposals and would love your support if you think any of them are interesting and worthy of some stage time at the 2010 SXSW event!

Can Social Media Change Global Consciousness?

Description: We know that social media has wired the globe for friend lists, business connections, and supporting social causes, but can it do more? Can social media create a permanent shift in global consciousness, one that will change the way we all think and live?

Read more from Mark Lovett (panel moderator) and John Haydon (fellow panelist).

Vote for this panel!

Crowdsourcing for Innovative Social Change

Description: Social media builds buzz and raises money, but what about real, on-the-ground change? The Social Change Challenge will crowdsource innovative ideas from nonprofits to change the world. We’ll share big ideas for using social media for nonprofit program delivery and some good tips for crowdsourcing for social change.

Read more from Beth Kanter (panel moderator).

Vote for this panel!

Competition > Innovation > Change: Examining Competitions For Social Change

Description: Organizations, foundations, even individuals are creating social innovation competitions, hoping to drive social change projects and solutions into the global marketplace. What are these new competitions about—are they working? How do we—innovators, entrepreneurs—know what’s going to make real-world impact and where do we start? Let’s discuss: join us!

August #4Change Chat: Opportunities for Collaboration

Published in events and issues. 0 Comments Tags: 4change, chat, collaboration, twitter.

The next #4change chat is this Thursday – I hope you can join us!

Details:

Date: August, 13th
Where: Twitter (search for #4Change)
When: 5 – 7 pm US Eastern Time
Topic: How do social media open new doors for collaboration (especially internationally)?

Starting the Conversations

Unfortunately for me, I will unable to join the chat this Thursday; so, I’d like to offer some conversation starters now to get you thinking of questions, ideas, and stories you want to share!

Here are some questions to consider:

has your organization found new collaborators (other organizations, companies, networks, etc.) for your work via social media use/presence?
have you reached out, either as an individual or an organization, with opportunities to collaborate to others you only connected with via social media? why?
what issues are unique to collaborations of this type?
what kind of reassurances (and what are the mechanisms for providing them) are unique to parties entering collaborations via social media?
how could collaborations enabled or maintained via social media be more or less sustainable than traditional tools/outlets?

And here are some examples to consider:

SocialActions – a great example of social media powering the sharing and aggregation (and thus the collaboration and partnership) of social action opportunity portals all over the world
Amnesty International, Red Cross, and others – organizers working globally/locally have changed the way they campaign or operate now that they are really in the same space (online)
Journalism – writers are now using their social media platforms (whether it’s Twitter or Facebook, or even the newspaper’s comment-enabled websites) to collaborate with witnesses, locals, and experts for their contributions to the story

Join the Conversation

If you want to contribute to the conversation, you’ll need to have a twitter account (it’s free).
To follow the conversation (whether you are planning to contribute or not), use http://search.twitter.com or another application to search on Twitter for “#4Change”
Jump in to the conversation by adding “#4Change” (without the “”) to your Twitter message

Rules for #Change Chats

#4Change will be structured around a series of questions which all participants can respond to. Send your questions to @tomjd without the hash tag (to keep them out of the stream) to have them considered.
Introduce yourself in 1 tweet at the start or when you join.
Stay on topic!
Stay cool.

Join us for the chat this Thursday – looking forward to discussing the role social media play in collaboration!

Published on August 10, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 0 Comments

Using Twitter for a Global Conversation

Published in community and events. 4 Comments Tags: 4change, chat, lessonslearned, twitter.

Over the last few months, we have seen Twitter serve the global community by playing an important role in communications – whether it’s finding new friends (#FollowFriday), or telling the world about your government/election/political state (#IranElection), whether it’s having a conversation together (#4Change), or non-linearly replacing your RSS feed. What do those # mean? That’s part of the key to success when using Twitter for a Global conversation. Using hashtags lets you mark your message as pertaining to a certain topic, then automatically include that message in a stream with everyone else’s that include the same hashtag. Using Twitter search or other tools, you can watch news and updates about the election in Iran by using #IranElection; or, find interesting people to follow and connect with using #FollowFriday to peruse the recommendations that pile up on Fridays.

There are many opportunities to see hashtags in action! There are also more and more opportunities emerging for people to coordinate global conversations that happen at the same time, instead of disconnected over time (still tied together via hashtag). I am part of the planning team working on the monthly chat series behind #4Change. There is also a Twitter-based chat starting up for consultants who work with social benefit organizations.

I wanted to share some of the lessons I’ve learned from my involvement with organizing Twitter chats. I’m looking forward to your ideas, too!

1. Build a landing pad

It is helpful to have some place where you can send people interested in your topic or chat that haven’t participated before – whether it’s a website, a blog, or just a separate Twitter account. If you have a landing pad somewhere online where you can refer people and provide information about your chats, your group, or your purpose in more than 140 characters, it will save you a lot of extra tweeting! Plus, it will provide a natural and obviously place to aggregate your content, thoughts, updates, and promotion of the chats.

2. Brainstorm lots of questions but pick a few

It seems obvious that people using a communication tool like Twitter, and then electing to participate in a large-scale public chat would not require much prodding to keep conversation going. But, it is actually just this reason that it’s more important to pre-select your questions. Twitter chats are slower moving than you’d expect because everyone is waiting on the Twitter search to refresh with new posts. It works best to have 3-5 questions selected ahead of time and shared with a core group of chat leaders or guides. This way, there is a group of people helping keep the conversation on track, focused on one question at a time. Otherwise, the group can quickly and easily splinter off to other topics using other hashtags, after all, that’s what Twitter enables all day, every day.

3. Consider your time

If you really want to pull in participants from all over the world, it’s important to consider what time you are holding the chat. It’s also important to consider how long you want the chat to be. Knowing that Twitter based chats are slower in development and pace than something like a live web chat, you don’t want it to be too narrow of a window, but you can only hold people’s attention for so long as well.

4. Narrow your focus

#4Change or #NPCons (nonprofit consultants) seem like pretty obvious topics. But coordinating a conversation would be far too difficult without a specific topic for that chat because the possibilities for questions or specific ideas within those two general topics are endless. For example, recent 4Change topics have included using competitions for social change and Twitter as a political/revolutionary tool. This also means people can identify ahead of time any resources they want to share during the chat and if they are interested in the specific topic of the month or not.

5. Invite your audience

If you have your topic for the month picked out, you may have some experts, prominent thinkers, or maybe organizations/companies/ groups that are known for working in or with that topic that you want to explicitly invite to participate. Ensuring that fresh voices participate is important – we could all talk to the same group of people without organizing a public conversation. Promoting the chat widely via Twitter and other social networks is a great way to find more participants, too.

6. Never underestimate the technology

I already mentioned that Twitter-based chats aren’t as fast-paced as live web chats or some other technologies. But, you also have to remember that Twitter isn’t in your control! If the server has a glitch, if there’s scheduled maintenance, or if search tools lag, then your Twitter chat will dramatically suffer. This happened during the July #4Change chat and caused us to call the chat off half-way through as search was 15 minutes behind and many participants’ messages weren’t showing up at all.

7. Participate!

#4Change:
If you want to learn more about the #4Change monthly chat series, visit http://4change.memeshift.com The next chat topic will be announced there and on Twitter using #4Change.

#NPCons:
Join the first #NPCons chat this coming Tuesday, 21 July, at 1pm US Pacific time. These chats will be monthly, on the 3rd Tuesdays, at 1 pm Pacific.

Published on July 16, 2009 by Amy Sample Ward. 4 Comments

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