TNN Chapters 3 & 4

Chapter 3: Understanding Social Networks

-Different types of social networks:

Personal

Professional

Self-organized

Networked Nonprofits

-Our society turned lazy and communities got smaller in the1990's because of home entertainment systems and working longer hours. Social media brought much of the community feeling back through Facebook and MySpace. 

-Nodes= people or organizations on social networks

Ties= the connections between the nodes

Hubs= larger nodes within networks, people or organizations with many connections (make things go "viral" online)

Core= inner cluster of people who do most of the work on any project or effort

Power Law of Distribution= imbalance of the social Web, where the users don't actually contribute much of what is on their pages

Clusters= groups of people who are connected to one another, but who have few connections to the rest of the network

-A network's edge of periphery is vital to its growth b/c the people in the periphery are likely to be participants, the core or hubs, in other networks. 

-Networks made up of strong ties entirely don't expand, they stay as tight-knit cliques. Networks of loose ties are too weak to get anything done. 

-Mapping your network can be expensive, but some online media channels are free (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). We networked Safe Harbor's events during Homecoming and the Chick-Fil-A fundraiser at Clemson through Facebook and Twitter because we do not have any money for projects. 

-Twitter can be useful because a network's hubs/"influencers" may have many followers who will "retweet" the message. 

-Social capital= what makes relationships meaningful and resilient. Trust and reciprocity. 

-Social media builds social capital because:

People are easy to find online and on many channels

Talk is cheap

Serendipity is enhanced online

Reciprocity is incredibly easy

-Network weaving= set of skills that help strengthen and build social networks 

Chapter 4: Creating a Social Culture

-Organizational transparency= customers and employees seeing all of the org., bad and good. No secrets.

-Social media policy= handbook manual encourages staff, chapters and volunteers to participate in social media as ambassadors 

-Social culture= the org. reorients and affects the roles of all staffers and improves their engagement with the public

-Working Wikily= the organizational shift to a social culture, playing with the word Wikipedia

-The transition to a social culture is one that moves from silos to hives -Geoff Livingston

-Organizations who try to use social media without a social culture will be very lonely online. 

-Some orgs. are scared of social media because they do not feel that they will be able to control everything that is done and said online. 

-Almost everyone uses social media already with phones, email and surfing the Web. 

-Questions orgs. have when considering a social strategy: what are the appropriate boundaries between public and private info? How do we balance our interest in being open with the technical needs to safeguard against cyber attacks? Will we be living in the Wild West if we open ourselves up online? How much do we have to be "on" with social media? Who should operate the channels? 

-Some funny social media policies:

Don't write stupid stuff you'll regret some day, because some day you'll regret it.

Don't moon people with cameras (or at least hide your face when you do).

Remember that you can't control it once you hit "update". 

TNN Chapters 1 & 2

The Networked Nonprofit
Chapter 1: Introducing Networked Nonprofits

Surfrider is a networked nonprofit because it is a transparent organization with easy entrance standards and raises awareness and money for oceans and beaches through conservation, research and education. There are many volunteers and paying members leading events for Surfrider and social media pages.

Networked nonprofits incorporate relationship building with people beyond their walls to spread their work.

Free agents= individuals combining their social media savvy with their passion for social causes to accomplish amazing things.

Social media revolution: "the genie has popped out of the bottle, and she won't be put back in" technology will continue to increase, not decrease.

Sean Parker (co-creator of Napster) was in Social Network, the Facebook movie.

"Social media use is a contact sport, not a spectator sport."

LOVED the part about Peggy's Challenge campaign for FA and how she realized social media is such an asset! The viral emails she sent and the help from her kids with Facebook proves how valuable of a tool it can be.

Social media is NOT: hard or time consuming. it IS: core to our work and constituents online.

Social change= any effort by people and organizations to make the world a better place.

Social media is channels (vehicles for conversations).


Chapter 2: Nonprofit Challenges and Trends

Nonprofits need to embrace a new way of thinking and working as networks!!

Elements that make networked nonprofits so effective:
-social networks
-simplifying work
-becoming transparent
-building external relationships

Elements of networked nonprofits that need to be improved:
-leadership
-structure
-rise of Millennials (born between 1978 and 1992, most racially diverse, not likely to join memberships for a lifetime)
-rise of free agents

I really like reading the style of this book! It has a lot of excellent real-life comparisons to networked nonprofits and I think I will learn a lot from it!

SCfN Chapters 9 & 10

Chapter 9: Selecting and Training Spokespeople

I agree with everything this chapter said about having a spokesperson that people can trust. I feel that the credibility or your company/organization depends on more than just the message that you are trying to send. The message is just as important as the people and methods that you send the message through.
For example, the message we were trying to send during Homecoming was that the Clemson family cares about your family. We carefully chose to send this message during the football game against Boston College on the Homecoming floats built by fraternities, sororities and other on-campus organizations. The deliverance of this message was through a table set up on Bowman field, purple ribbons pomped onto all of the floats, and a Safe Harbor banner on the float rolled on the field at half time of the game. I feel that the floats were great "spokespeople" for our message of Clemson family cares for your family because people of all ages come out to Bowman field with their families every year to see the floats. I also feel that the on-campus organizations, who built the floats, were great spokespeople for the message because we represent over 30% of Clemson's student population and have been participating in philanthropy events, such as domestic violence prevention and education, for many years. The fact that all of this was organized through our Comm 456 class gave the message even more credibility because we had supervision and motivation to not only educate, but receive a good grade!!

Erin got some experience doing media interviews when she called into the local radio station and spoke about our message and Homecoming efforts. I did not get a chance to hear what she said, but I am SURE that she stated the message more than once, didn't say anything she felt uncomfortable saying, spoke in complete sentences, was memorable, didn't fake anything, said Safe Harbor and Comm 456's full name, knew prior to the interview who she was talking with, was animated, and did not play or fidget!!! :)

Chapter 10: Capitalizing on the Power of Partnership

Collaborating with parters of similar goals and/or messages is a great way to increase the amount of people who view/hear your message. Opportunities that would not typically be available to your organization may become accessible if you parter with someone who has those sources and opportunities! We partnered with Greek life and other on-campus organizations when we worked with Safe Harbor during Homecoming. We asked the organizations to put a purple ribbon on their float to support domestic violence awareness through Safe Harbor. We would not have been able to reach out to as many families about our message if it were not for the organizations collaborating with us on the effort.

Although we did not have any negative suspicions or communication between our partnership of working with the other on-campus organizations building floats, I can see how that could be a problem in the real world. Therefore, internal communication is key to not have any suspicions between partnerships. Keeping members well informed and "in the loop" is an important step in creating internal communication. Also, staff members should have full briefing on the planning process and should join brainstorming sessions. Internal teams should have communication training at least once a year in order to maintain positive communication.

The press plays a huge role in media partnerships as well. This benefits your organization in many ways: gets the message out faster & to more people, gains credibility because a journalist covered the story, shows your competitor what they're up against, and civic engagement. It was important for our class to get our message out in the media both before and during Homecoming in order to inform the public of what our intentions were with the purple ribbons on the floats, the table on Bowman field, and the message we wanted to reside that may not have been obvious.

Case Study: Many Americans misunderstand and are confused about learning disabilities. Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities was created to provide the media with public awareness strategies to educate readers, listeners and viewers. Media and information kits were sent to hundreds of reporters and policy makers, and focus groups and opinion research techniques were used to refine the messages. Overall, campaign garnered more than $150 million in free advertising on the Web, in print, and in the electronic media. Lasted five years because of increased media coverage. Reached 35% membership increase!!!