SOCIAL MEDIA: TEACHER OF THE YEAR
THE VALUE OF AWARENESS IN THE ONLINE ADVOCACY WORLD
THE VALUE OF AWARENESS IN THE ONLINE ADVOCACY WORLD
"Our acquaintances—not our friends—are our greatest source of new ideas and information." |
In his article in The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell contrasts the power of social or protest movements before social media and the same genre of advocacy campaigns since social media. He writes, "Our acquaintances—not our friends—are our greatest source of new ideas and information. The Internet lets us exploit the power of these kinds of distant connections." In today's day and age, the internet (more specifically, social media) is instrumental in spreading information--networks now extend into the cosmos.
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For advocacy organizations, the first step in campaigning for a cause is the educational phase--raising awareness of an issue by spreading information to potential supporters. According to the Pew Report, over the last ten years, social media usage has gone from 9% to 90% in the 18-29-year old age bracket and from 7% to 78% in the 30-39-year-old age bracket. As these statistics make evident, there is, indeed, power in having sheer numbers at a campaign's fingertips, even if the resulting participation is not as impressive as those numbers might suggest. Social networking opens the door to reaching quantities of people, "acquaintances," never before possible. With hundreds of millions of online subscribers, social media is undoubtedly an asset in increasing awareness. But the ability to reach such numbers of people begs the question of the value of awareness.
A recent article in the Washington Post by Laura Seay, Assistant Professor of Government at Colby College, reported, "[Organizations'] logic assumes that the more attention a cause receives, the more likely public officials are to pay attention to a cause, and [...] more attention will lead to a greater likelihood of increased participant engagement, including providing forms of financial support." In simpler terms, awareness in and of itself is crucial to the advocacy process; it lays the groundwork--a superficial grasp of the issue, on top of which the rest of process (presumably gathering funds, influencing government agendas, and changing generational thinking) can operate. Without a method of effectively educating people, organizations struggle with increasing or maintaining a following. Social media provides a platform from which organizations can launch mass education efforts, snag public attention, and, ideally, increase support.
As reported in Newsweek, global issues like the Ebola outbreak have earned themselves the social media spotlight. Campaigns to educate millions of people about diseases and how to prevent those diseases from spreading, political groups and why one should support them, and other topics frequent news-feeds and tickers daily. Some scholarship highlights the values of awareness in the world of advocacy, but do-gooders, marketers, and viral-celebrities demonstrate that the potential for global influence is there. Educating the public means harnessing that potential and pointing it in a productive direction. In order for a campaign to generate enough momentum for significant results (if any), education is key, and social media is certainly a tool worth utilizing.
Image courtesy of weebly.com
A recent article in the Washington Post by Laura Seay, Assistant Professor of Government at Colby College, reported, "[Organizations'] logic assumes that the more attention a cause receives, the more likely public officials are to pay attention to a cause, and [...] more attention will lead to a greater likelihood of increased participant engagement, including providing forms of financial support." In simpler terms, awareness in and of itself is crucial to the advocacy process; it lays the groundwork--a superficial grasp of the issue, on top of which the rest of process (presumably gathering funds, influencing government agendas, and changing generational thinking) can operate. Without a method of effectively educating people, organizations struggle with increasing or maintaining a following. Social media provides a platform from which organizations can launch mass education efforts, snag public attention, and, ideally, increase support.
As reported in Newsweek, global issues like the Ebola outbreak have earned themselves the social media spotlight. Campaigns to educate millions of people about diseases and how to prevent those diseases from spreading, political groups and why one should support them, and other topics frequent news-feeds and tickers daily. Some scholarship highlights the values of awareness in the world of advocacy, but do-gooders, marketers, and viral-celebrities demonstrate that the potential for global influence is there. Educating the public means harnessing that potential and pointing it in a productive direction. In order for a campaign to generate enough momentum for significant results (if any), education is key, and social media is certainly a tool worth utilizing.
Image courtesy of weebly.com