Current
Hot Topic
Print Version
December
08 / January 09
Exploring Online Social Networking
By
OzVPM Director Andy
Fryar
Special
thanks are extended to Jayne Cravens for her assistance
in co-writing this month's hot topic. Her advice and
assistance in preparing this article have been invaluable.
You can learn more about Jayne and her work at http://www.coyotecommunications.com/
The
topic of how volunteer managers can best network with
one another is a most interesting topic.
Over
recent years, the continued evolution of Online Social
Networking (OSN) tools has moved networking opportunities
from only being available in the physical world to
endless possibilities in the virtual realm.
OSN
is nothing new as far as the internet is concerned.
At its most basic level, email is an online social
networking tool which has been used for years, while
groups such as the OzVPM newsgroup, set up on Yahoo!
have been the bastion of interaction for a long time
now.
However,
the term ‘OSN’ has only evolved more recently to describe
the plethora of new sites dedicated to this type of
communication.
Probably
the most popular OSN site at the moment is FaceBook,
which in the year to June 2008 boasted 132 million
users worldwide and experienced a growth of 458% in
the Asia Pacific region alone during the same period.
(1)
Like
many of these sites, FaceBook allows a user to create
a page with some basic profile information and then
invite others to join to their site as a ‘friend’
for the purpose of keeping in touch socially, exchanging
interests, photos and videos and to meet new people.
Other
OSN websites which readers may be familiar with include
My Space,
Bebo,
myYearBook
and Tagged,
while variations of OSN exist to explore and network
on particular themes such as LinkedIn
(to develop business contacts) Adult
FriendFinder (for singles)
or Flickr
(to share photos) . The list is truly endless.
As
a user of FaceBook, I have noticed over the past six
months a move away from pages only being created for/about
individuals to an ever growing band of volunteer centres
and volunteer related causes creating pages that others
can align themselves to. I myself have even created
a FaceBook
group to promote International Volunteer Managers
Day.
It’s
been interesting to watch this development, firstly
because I see some great potential in what networking
may come of it, but also partially because I don’t
really understand what that potential might be as
yet!
On
her website, leading online volunteering commentator
Jayne Cravens offers advice on how nonprofit organizations,
NGOs, etc. can use online social networking platforms,
as well as online professional networking, to increase
numbers of volunteers and donors and to improve support
of volunteers and clients, among other benefits. But
she also offers several cautions regarding OSN, urging
organisations to keep their expectations based in
reality, to keep in mind that many people want to
keep their online social networking "social"
rather than "serious", and to make OSN activities
integrated into an organisation's overall outreach
strategy.
Her
main point is that large numbers of "friends"
on an OSN platform doesn't necessarily translate into
something tangible, just as large numbers of visitors
to a web site may not either, and that there are ways
to measure OSN success in concrete terms. You can
read her complete advice for organizations interested
in using OSN here:
http://www.coyotecommunications.com/culture/online2offline.html
I
certainly agree with Jayne that it would be wonderful
to be able to better measure the direct and tangible
benefits which OSN bring to ‘on the ground’ volunteer
programs, and perhaps those of you reading this can
give some examples we can use to illustrate this.
For
me however, the internet (and technology in general
for that matter) and all of its nuances is simply
a giant social experiment unfolding before our eyes.
It’s a journey I love being on and observing.
I
remember only a decade ago typing words into the first
chat room I ever joined, and being blown away by the
thought that someone on the other side of the world
was able to answer me in (near) real time. Who would
have thought that just a few years later that programs
such as Skype would enable us to conference call (with
video image) to just about anyone in the world for
free?
Who
would have imagined that you’d be able to access the
internet almost anywhere using the latest Iphone or
Blackberry?
What
was once science fiction continues to become a reality.
One
thing that the internet does do well is respond to
the needs of those who are using it, and I can’t but
help to think that if we are excited by sites such
as FaceBook now, what might the next generation of
OSN offer?
So
let’s hear your thoughts on this exciting topic:
- Is your organisation using
OSN sites to promote itself? Which ones and how?
- If you have a profile on
an OSN platform like FaceBook, is it your personal
profile, or are you speaking as a representative
of your organisation?
- What benefits have you seen
from your organisation's use of OSN, or your use
of it as a representative of your organisation?
What benefits are you hoping for?
- Have you seen an increase
in volunteers as a result of your activities? in
donors? in clients? in event attendees?
- Have you met with others
at your organisation to strategise about your organisation's
OSN activities, so that these activities are a part
of regular marketing activities, volunteer recruitment
and support, client support and funding drives?
- Do you look at the OSN profiles
of volunteers, clients, donors and others? Do you
use OSN for screening purposes of new volunteers?
Have you seen anything on a supporter's profile
that's made you uncomfortable?
- Does OSN create any problems
for you in keeping your personal online activities
and your professional activities separate?
- Any ideas where OSN may
head in the future?
- Any other thoughts you would
like to share?
(1)
Adelaide ‘Advertiser’ newspaper
Let’s
hear your thoughts!
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