Social media for social good: it’s ok to fail

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Karalee Evans

Presenting at conferences and attending regular networking and professional development events, Karalee has a keen interest in the evolution of communications and the emerging relationship with social media
Follow: @karalee_
Website: justanotherprblog.com

It’s ok to admit you failed. It’s ok to admit you learned some lessons. And it’s ok to admit you would do things differently.

Sounds like a life lesson doesn’t it? But that was one of the insights of Tuesday night’s Digital Citizens event, which got me thinking.

There were many more, and I’d encourage you to visit the event’s Coveritlive blog and the forum to have a discussion on the topic. But I was so impressed by the calibre of the night’s discussions that I wanted to try and capture some of them here.

Social media for social good

200 plus people packed into a pub, 4 panellists and a moderator, a cheeky Scott’s-man and a passionate Irish-man plus a couple of gorgeous ladies = digital citizens’ Social media for Social Good event.

The event, the second in Digital Citizens’ newly established lineup, was awesome. There were many insights gleaned from some pretty inspirational men as well as an incredibly engaged audience.

Thanks go to Gavin Costello, Scott Rhodie, James Fridley, Cathie McGinn and Heather Snodgrass for the kind invitation to participate in the panel. I had a blast, and met a lot of wonderful people most of whom I know through social media.

Social media for social good is just one piece of the pie

This seemed to be the common theme from the panel. David Hood (Greenpeace), Mark Chenery(Action Aid) and Nic MacKay (The Human Race) all touched on the need to support your social media activity with other strategies. David explained that Greenpeace have a range of online tactics, as well as more traditional lobbying tactics, when they begin a campaign such as the recent Nestle one.

This is indeed my understanding of the use of social media. It is an earned media, and works best when approached with an integrated strategy. We know there are below-the-line and above-the-line tactics. Social media is a through-the-line tactic (in my opinion). So, to look at it in isolation would be a mistake. Organisations, and in particular non-profits, should look at how they can extend their marketing or community awareness strategy and include a social strategy.

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