What is Social Networking
Online social networking involves connecting and sharing information with other like-minded people who share common interest and goals via the Web. Social networking simply uses email; user friendly Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn; blogs; text messages and other tools to spread information. In much the same way cell phones and email revolutionized communications in the 1990’s, social networking is the next generation of communication.
Despite the search engines, emails, and phone text messages, social networking has many other advantages. Social networking is one of the easiest ways to quickly filter out the spam one would normally receive when performing web searches or checking email. Moreover, one can choose to follow specific reliable sources (i.e. personal peer, trusted expert, or reliable insider). Information is received in speeds closer to instant messaging or online chatting; can reach multiple people at the same time without resorting to things like email addresses, subjects, or even greetings due to its casual atmosphere; and on top of that, you don’t get charged for used minutes or text messages.
How Nonprofits are Putting Social Networks to Work
While many people regard social networking tools as a fun diversion, some nonprofits are leveraging them to accomplish serious goals, such as increasing their visibility, helping constituents find jobs, and raising awareness about time-sensitive issues. For instance, successful nonprofits regulaly use sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to help promote its work. Organizations can easily amass thousands of members to their website, Facebook site, followers on Twitter and daily views of their videos on YouTube.
Social Networking applications are very powerful tools to spread the message of a nonprofit organization in Hawaii.
So what can Social Networking do for my non-profit agency?
Non-profits sometimes lack the time, manpower, or resources to connect with its employees, network with the public, and disperse or research information. While social networking is seen as a tool for play, it could provide simple solutions
and opportunities for non-profits. Because each online community has its own unique and user base with specific needs, it can be difficult for an organization to find all of its potential volunteers, donors, and sympathizers unless it is willing to invest the time and effort to search for them. Fellow organizations, referral businesses, and specialized services can join common interest networks where they can immediately find each other and plan, coordinate, and trade information. Social networks targeted around a common interest not only make it easier to find related agencies and make important business connections, but serve as a starting place for individual consumers and smaller online communities to reach. One potential connection is a site
called Helpalot.org, a platform through which charitable organizations can gain recognition for their work and raise more funds has been created. The site will help users locate charities that match their interests and connect with others who care about the same causes. Which is why social networking is ideal for public relations, mainly for advertising or marketing themselves in a trendy way for free. Being involved in social networks increases visibility and adds a much-needed personal touch that can reach consumers and communities in a comfortable way, providing a voice to speak with rather than informal business letters and paperwork. “Non-profits can use Twitter to show a timeline or journal of what they do on a daily or weekly basis. When building it, it creates transparency for the agency, more than what can be described from just website information,” says non-profit IT consultant Roget Alabastro. Once nonprofits and their audiences become connected, public awareness, news, and other critical information can be easily and quickly disseminated. Non-profits like Hawaii PIRC, Goodwill Industries of Hawaii, and Kanu Hawaii are already reaching the public through Twitter, providing updates on their projects and how they are affecting people’s lives as they happen.
Navigating Social Network Challenges
Social networks can help your organization connect with similar nonprofits and the general population, but these sites are not without their share of obstacles. In a recent TechSoup online event on social networking, participants discussed some common
social networking challenges and offered suggestions for overcoming them. Many nonprofits lack the time to investigate multiple online communities or manage accounts on a handful of sites, many have suggested that they would benefit from the ability to log onto multiple platforms using a single tool. Although a fully functional, cross-platform social network log-in tool does not currently exist, some discussion participants speculated that a decentralized identity project called OpenID -- which already works with blogging site LiveJournal -- may be a progenitor of a multi-protocol social networking application.
Getting Noticed in the Vast World of Social Networking
Many organizations also struggle with the challenge of standing out on social networking sites that promote thousands of individuals and groups. The social networking world can seem vast and intimidating. But if you take the time to research the various communities, visit pages set up by similar nonprofits, try out different features, and determine which tools could help your organization best fulfil its goals, you'll likely discover that social networks have something to offer your nonprofit. And you never know -- you just might make (or be) that connection that helps in ways you could never have imagined otherwise.
