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".