Social Media

Social media… social web…web 2.0…. What do these all mean?

In short, a shift has happened in the way we communicate; the tools that companies, agencies, and governments used to use to talk to their constituents, clients, and customers are now available to more and more of us to talk back (and to each other). 

Below, you will find a list of the more popular social web sites (which you may already be more than familiar with), as well as some resources to help you navigate and make use of web 2.0 technology. For more information about any of this, contact the Violence Prevention Communications Coordinator via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

DISCLAIMER: Social networking sites can be tons of fun – they can also carry risks. Be aware that any information (or images) you put up online could potentially be viewed by those wishing to do you harm; avoid including too much personal information, or information that can be linked among various accounts to paint a more complete picture of your daily habits, places you frequent, or identifying information.

For a good article about some of the legal ramifications of using social media, see Legal Risks in Social Media Use by Nonprofits - by Kenneth E. Liu, Gammon & Grange, P.C. on Law For Change

How about a podcast?!

The WCASA Social Media Podcast series:
Episode 1 : Social Media & Facebook 
A brief overview of social media and a look at Facebook pages.
(streams on YouTube; 14 min.)

Select Social Media Networks

• Facebook– the grandfather/mother of them all; it wasn’t first to the social web space, but Facebook has swiftly grown to be one of the largest and most active (750 million users as of July, 2011!)
  •  How To: Set Up a Facebook Page – a good “how-to” page put together by the geeks at Mashable.com...
• Twitter– an exercise in brevity; you are limited to 140 characters, but you can communicate with vast audiences swiftly, share links, make connections. 
  • Hootsuite – an online, browser-based app that allows you to track multiple Twitter and/or Facebook accounts; you can also use it to schedule tweets; basic usage free, there are paid pro-level accounts which allow for tracking of stats and other bells & whistles.
  • oneforty – a variety of tools and tips; your twitter feed on steroids
  • Hashtags – hashtags “#” denote keywords in tweets (and more and more in Facebook postings); these keywords can be searched, counted, tracked so that you can gauge trends or set up a stream for a conference or event (ie: search for #saam during Sexual Assault Awareness Month)
• YouTube – so ubiquitous, it has now become the go-to place for video content online…
• Flickr – photo sharing site
• Microblogging– sites that allow you to easily create a stream of links or text:
  • Tumblr
  • Posterous
• paper.li – create an online newspaper! this site allows you to create a custom collection of Facebook, Twitter streams, organized and presented visually as a newspaper which you can share. You can view our example - The WCASA View online.

Social Media Resources

• Wikipedia entry on social media: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

• Socialbrite– “social tools for social change” 
  • FREE reports on Social Media – a series of white papers available as PDF’s covering a variety of topics related to social media, using social media for communicating and marketing, working with media, Twitter, and many others…

• Social Good - The Chronicle of Philanthropy podcast series

• PCAR/PCADV “Tech Top 10 Tips”worksheets 
  • Social Media Use by Survivors 
  • Social Media Use by Programs & Staff 

•  mPreventViolence: Communication and Technology for Violence Prevention - a workshop
  • This conference was held in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8-9, 2011; many of the sessions are available as archived webcasts:
  • http://events.tvworldwide.com/Events/IOM/IOM111208.aspx
• National Network to End Domestic Violence - SafetyNet Project
• Tech Savvy Teens worksheet 
• Nancy Lublin: Texting that saves lives - TED Talk