The philosophy of Social Media to me seems to be an easy concept, and that is to be “social.” Social Media for Social Good explains this perfectly, because in every chapter it talks about how we should be connected and active. For example, on page 78 it talks about how you should have more than one administrator for your page. I believe this is very important, because if you’re managing a massive page or even a small one, using multiple social media websites can be a daunting task and making sure you are able to talk with your followers can take many hours if it’s a single person.
Communicating with your followers is a huge part of social media, and it’s what makes people check your page more often, because they feel like they’re talking to a person instead of just listening to a bunch of ads. For example @createthegood on Twitter is a group for AARP members to see groups doing good work and keep their members connected. On top of this, if anyone tweets to them, they always tweet back. On page 96, it talks about “Don’t only tweet your own content”, and this is important, because if you’re retweeting other groups content they will most likely check out your page and hopefully retweet some of your tweets, and this only makes your audience much larger. Also, through this you build relationships with other groups who are doing something close to what you’re trying to achieve, and this will ultimately help you’re non-profit out.
Also, when dealing with Twitter, SMSG talks about the art of hashtagging. I see this art terribly used by a lot of business and non-profits. Hashtagging is there to “tag” your post so it can be grouped together with others like it. Unfortunately, though, I see twitter accounts use hashtags as additions to what they’re saying. Learning how to successfully use hashtags will get other people to use your hashtag, which will make tweeting to follower prospects much easier. You have to market your hashtag, and even though it might be very difficult at first, it will help you in the long run.
One thing, though, that I have a problem with SMSG is it talks about following 1:1. I can see how this will work with a smaller twitter account, but once you get to a higher twitter follower count, your Twitter feed will be almost 90% irrelevant spam. I do believe, though, that it is essential, because people feel that they’re friends with you, and will feel more at the same level, but I just think that your feed could get out of hand. Once again, though, this is where having multiple admins will come in handy, so you’re able to look over everyone’s tweets. This is still one problem I have on my personal Twitter which is probably making me into the “egoist.”
Personally, I see myself as a social tweeter, so I try to communicate with people as much as I can so they can see how I am personally. I believe when working with a non-profit this will benefit me strongly. I am not always so social when in person, but online I feel like my voice can be heard better, and I can get my point across. This is exactly how I look at social media with a non-profit. When using an organization twitter or Facebook, you want it to be fun, you don’t want people to feel like they’re reading from a robot. I think that if I can connect with people through social media while also giving fun, inventive updates about your events.
Brock Azure 