AWARENESS. ACTION. REPEAT.
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There is no doubt that organizations all over the globe are making drastic changes to their methods of public engagement--how they interact with users. Instead of more traditional attempts to attract people's attention, such as fliers, phone calls, and door-to door introductions, social media, namely platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, have established a colossal, fast-paced presence in the world of advocacy, while other methods seem to be less prevalent.
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Many existing organizations such as NBA Cares and the ALS Association have turned to social media as a method of keeping up with the rampant growth of online populations; in some cases, campaigns have adopted new faces, new mantras, and new benchmarks for success. The Guardian even published an instructional piece for turning a social media campaign into a movement. With a Pew Report calculating that the number of worldwide Facebook users tops the populations of most countries, it is no wonder that politicians, minor organizations, and major corporations have all hopped on the bandwagon that is the social network.
But with this new mode of information dissemination comes a myriad of hopes, questions, and doubts. Social media presents a brand new frontier, and, as with any frontier, there is much uncharted territory to explore. For some organizations, social media campaigns have led to never-before-seen success; for others, dedicated efforts result in dud campaigns. As Malcolm Gladwell, renowned social sciences author and journalist, wrote in a 2010 issue of The New Yorker, social media "makes it easier for activists to express themselves, and harder for the expression to have any impact." Scholars survey and scrutinize organizations' implementations of social media in advocacy efforts, but have not yet picked up on visible trends that may make or break a campaign. The data seems, for the most part, inconclusive in that respect. The direct correlation between social media advocacy and user action has yet to be supported by concrete evidence.
Without the necessary information as to how social media can reliably benefit campaign efforts, organizations must make decisions in terms of how much effort to exert and how much funding to allocate. Launching a social media campaign is a risky decision, but it can bring with it profound advantages such as educational potential and severe drawbacks such as lack of tangible action. Explore the tabs below for a range of positions on the issue:
But with this new mode of information dissemination comes a myriad of hopes, questions, and doubts. Social media presents a brand new frontier, and, as with any frontier, there is much uncharted territory to explore. For some organizations, social media campaigns have led to never-before-seen success; for others, dedicated efforts result in dud campaigns. As Malcolm Gladwell, renowned social sciences author and journalist, wrote in a 2010 issue of The New Yorker, social media "makes it easier for activists to express themselves, and harder for the expression to have any impact." Scholars survey and scrutinize organizations' implementations of social media in advocacy efforts, but have not yet picked up on visible trends that may make or break a campaign. The data seems, for the most part, inconclusive in that respect. The direct correlation between social media advocacy and user action has yet to be supported by concrete evidence.
Without the necessary information as to how social media can reliably benefit campaign efforts, organizations must make decisions in terms of how much effort to exert and how much funding to allocate. Launching a social media campaign is a risky decision, but it can bring with it profound advantages such as educational potential and severe drawbacks such as lack of tangible action. Explore the tabs below for a range of positions on the issue:
Image courtesy of WWW.AMANDAROSE.CO.UK
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