We have written about Generation Y, or the "Net-Gen," who are the pioneers of social media. Now let's tackle the paradigm shift that is happening (has already happened actually) because of social media.
If you think of Facebook, MySpace and YouTube when "social media" is brought up, think again. True, these social sites targeted at young people are highly visible, but social media was happening before these big social sites really got rolling.
So, what are social media? The characteristic that most applies to social media is the ability to "upload." That is, individuals (formerly the audience) are now providing content by uploading information for all to see.
The blog was one of the first breakthroughs that let ordinary people, without much tech knowledge at all, create their own content. Technorati, a blog tracking service, tracks 112.8 million blogs -- and that number just keeps growing. One of the neat features of the blog is that anyone can comment on its content, and link to it as well. Blogs are viral in that sense, with ideas spreading easily and quickly across the Internet.
Tight on the heels of blogs came podcasts, little audio programs that you can embed in your website, facebook profile, or blog, or zap around your social networks for viral communication. For example, here is a podcast of a conversation between Anna Farmery, a business coach, and Beth Kanter, of Beth's Blog. Just click on the big blue button to play the podcast.
About the same time that blogs and podcasts were coming onboard, Internet innovator Amazon.com made it possible for anyone to review the books for sale on its site. No longer must one wait for the voice of a "professional" book reviewer to decide what is a good read.
The idea of reviewing and rating items has spread across the Internet. Now, any online retailer worth its gigabytes has a way for consumers to rate and review its products. Just look at Wal-Mart or Target for examples of this. In addition, eBay's system of rating its buyers and sellers introduced a "reputation" model where one lives or dies by the number of stars next to your name.
Wikipedia is another example of "uploading." It is a gigantic online encyclopedia but written by just about anyone. Anyone can write or modify entries. It has been an amazing success...so much so that now Wiki software is available so that you can incorporate that ability into websites and more.
Social media is all about uploading your own content and having conversations with other people. It has been a great "leveler" where we no longer just take in information that is fed to us but we interact with that information, rate it, and upload our own information. Social media is proliferating with the likes of:
- Flickr, a photo sharing site.
- LinkedIn, a networking site for professionals.
- Even Dogster, a Facebook for canines, and Catster, for felines.
Lest you think that social media is only for people under 30, consider these facts:
- According to Forrester Research, over 40 percent of Facebook users are over age 35.
- eMarketer projects that, over the next five years, the number of US baby boomers who use the Internet at least once a month will grow by more than 5 million, from 58.2 million in 2006 to 63.7 million in 2011.
- eMarketer says that "silver surfers" (over 60 years of age) are also a large segment of the US Internet population, growing from 17.7 million Internet users in 2006 to 25.3 million by 2011.
- A Weber Shandwick survey, “Boomer-to-Friend (B2F) Connections,” found that boomers are naturals when it comes to recommendations, gladly telling family and friends what they think of products, organizations, and experiences. Nearly half (45 percent) of boomers have made recommendations online.
- Blogs, websites, and social networks by and about Baby Boomers and Seniors include: 50Fabulous, Time Goes By, and EONS.
None of this is new to anyone in your organization who is under thirty but what if this is all a blur to you...and overwhelming in addition? Here are some suggestions:
- Take it slow. Try sticking your toe into the social media waters and don't worry about having to learn everything right now. Start with setting up a profile for yourself on one of the social sites such as FaceBook, MySpace, or LinkedIn. Play with that for a while.
- Sign up to receive RSS [really simple syndication] from some blogs that talk about this stuff. One of the best, and one of the few directed right at nonprofits is Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media.
- Check out other nonprofits that are using social media. The Humane Society is a good example of a nonprofit putting social media to work. They are blogging, IMing (instant messaging), grouping, letting supporters rate them. They have a slide show, videos, an online poll and more. Take a look at their profile at MySpace.
- Start engaging yourself. Leave comments on blogs, listen to podcasts, take part in polls, search the Web for information on social media, read books. Ask questions of people or organizations that are using social media.
Social media are here to stay and will only grow more powerful. We all have to understand it and learn to leverage it for the benefit of our organizations and our causes. So, take an aspirin to ward off your headache, and jump into your computer screen.
Resources for this article include:
- Momentum, Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age, Allison H. Fine, Jossey Bass, 2006. This is an excellent overview of social media and how nonprofits can use it to advance their missions.
- The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Third Edition, Thomas L. Friedman, Picador/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. A best seller since first coming out in 2005, this book is by a journalist who writes about the leveling of the globe through technology. He is not a computer geek and does a fabulous job of writing about complex issues in a way that anyone can understand.
