I had the pleasure of speaking last night at an event organized by DC Web Women and I Heart Social Media DC and thought I would share my remarks with you all. I’d love to hear your feedback! Have you converted any social media non-believers? What was your strategy?

When people resist social media it is usually for 3 key reasons:

1. They are scared of what their community really has to say about them.
2. They are intimidated by new technology and feel overwhelmed.
3. They are happy with the way things are.

So when you are trying to convert the social media non believers you want to make sure your argument addresses each of those concerns.

1. I’m scared of what my community has to say.

You can’t hide from social media.

And the irony is, in many cases, the organizations that try to hide are the ones that get the biggest blowback from their community online.

We have seen many examples over the years of this issue coming to the fore in terms of customer service. Whether it is someone complaining about poor Comcast reception, the quality of their Virgin Atlantic in-flight meal, or their Dell laptop battery, The truth of the matter is, just because an organization isn’t active in social media, it doesn’t mean there isn’t already an active community on social media talking about you. All of those examples I gave were cases when someone voiced a concern in the social media space. But they are all also happy endings—each of those brands recognized the importance of engaging with those unsatisfied customers and using social media as a way to let them know they were valued.

2. New technology is intimidating/overwhelming

The best way to address this concern is to simply avoid tech speak. Don’t be like these guys.

Never start a sentence with Twitter.

Don’t talk tactics.

Excite them with possibilities. Instead say, “IMAGINE if a dozen highly influential people told all their friends about our service/product/cause and got a bunch of those people to tell all of their friends? Well I think we can make that happen!”

Rememer, there is never a one-size-fits all solution, so make sure you have the right approach.

Make sure the message is coming from the right person. You need to be a trusted advisor.

And show what it can do for their business.

And then if they are interested in the nuts and bolts you can explain that there is already an active group of people on Twitter talking about your issue/service/product and that by reaching out to those folks in an open, transparent way, you just might be able to incorporate some of your key message points in their conversations.

3. I’m happy with the way things are.

Resistance to change is a tough nut to crack. It is usually based in fear of the unknown mixed in with a little bit of conformity and unwillingness to push boundaries.

Again, your best approach here is to avoid focusing on the platform you want to join. If you think they don’t want to change in the beginning, just wait until you start peppering the conversation with talk of QR Codes, crowdsourcing, and hashtags.

Talk about the results you expect to bring because of the campaign, how social media integrates with your overall marketing strategy. And bring in solid stats on the ways your target audience is already active in social media, what they are already talking about and where.

And if that doesn’t work, show them what your competitors are already doing in the space and how it is making a difference for them.

The only thing that is certain is change.

If you want to be relevant to your stakeholders, certainly you need to be able to address changes in the marketplace — whether it is social media or earned media, everything is changing on a continuous basis. It is all about relevancy.

As much as some of your bosses/clients/coworkers/etc may try to ignore it, social media is not going anywhere fast, and if you don’t embrace it as a new communication tool, you are likely to become obsolete. Fast.

I’d love to hear what you think.

And be sure to check out the two who joined me speaking at this event: Deborah Ager (whose presentation is here) and Brian Chambers (who said that in coming to DC from NY he felt he was descending on a “swampland.” Hmmmm.)

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In most cases I try to keep the content on this blog pretty tightly concentrated around my observations on innovative digital media. However, in this case, I’m going to have to go off topic. I think you’ll agree it’s a worthy topic. This is an example of how grassroots movements begin at the most simple levels.

Huge caveat: This example is from my mom’s first grade class. I’m biased because I think she is a brilliant teacher. Read on and you’ll see what I mean. Everything here was completely driven by her 6 and 7 year olds. These truly are our country’s future leaders…

We Have A Hairy Idea!

What we love about being first grade teachers is you never know what you are going to learn when you start the day! You never know what direction one idea will take you! On Tuesday, as we were lining up after lunch, we had a first grader share a discussion that he and his family had concerning the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. All the first graders were very concerned about what they could do.

We made a list of ideas on how to raise money in support of the cleanup efforts needed. It was a great list made up totally by first graders! Some ideas include: reading to younger children $1, machine sale $0.50, bird walks $0.05 a mile, and toy sale $ 2.00. Making shell jewelry $1, readers’ theater productions $0.50 and selling tickets to our bird shadow puppet show at $0.75– just to name a few. We thought these were some good ideas but things didn’t end there.

The next day the same first grader had a presentation with more information on how the oil spill happened, why the oil was still coming out into the ocean and what the scientist were trying to do to stop the oil from coming out. From that presentation more and more questions were asked. Does the pipe that is in the ocean go straight to the gas stations or does it go up on the platform? Have they tried putting a lid on the pipe? How do you get the pipe into the ocean and how deep does the pipe go? We had to find out the answers to questions so we contacted our very own Upper School math teacher, Jim Moser, who is a trained engineer and worked on an oil rig based in Texas. He used to drill for oil so, of course, he was able to explain how they drill for oil, how the pipes are put in the ground and how they find out where the oil is.

Meanwhile, we had been experimenting with cups of water and some of our home-cooking oil. We placed some feathers into our water cups and saw the differences between feathers when in water with oil and when in water without oil.

Now that we had all this information we were still thinking what we could do to help!

Then we read about a group that had an easy way that is really helping the people that live by the coast. They found out that hair put into nylon bags creates a stopgap between the coast line and the oil that is coming in. The first graders decided that this is something we can do right away. We have asked a local salon to give us their hair and if any first grader or family and friends are getting a haircut, just send in the hair to us!

We will be sending the hair twice– once on Monday May 10th and the second time the following Thursday May 20th.

You are also welcome to send in old nylons. (The hair will be stuffed into the nylons and fishermen are placing the floating nylons to serve as a barrier reef.) It’s fine if they have small runs. We all thought that getting haircuts or just a simple trim and collecting the hair was something we all could do and would be easy! Also, as a family, if you want to you can also go online and buy Dawn dishwashing liquid and $1.00 of the purchase will go to help the oil spill cleanup.

We have all had a great time with our spontaneous learning! We loved finding experts to come in and doing our own research on this world topic. We have learned where in the world the oil is and who in the world it could effect. We have learned about the impact it could have on our oceans and why we want to help clean it up. We have learned how scientists solve problems. We have learned how an engineer finds oil and how they drill and put the pipes in the ground. So much learning! Now you can see why it’s so exciting to be a first grade teacher!

If you want to support this ingenious first grade effort, you can reach them at Principia Lower School, First Grade, 13201 Clayton Road, St. Louis, MO, 63131

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Buzz often starts with a great story. When Americans heard about the tragic 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, there was a lot of buzz. And one group that did an excellent job of turning that buzz into bucks was Hope for Haiti. They used social networking sites to encourage chatter, they brought together major celebrities for a benefit concert, and they presented transparency on their Web site, by assuring potential donors that their 100% of their money will be spent on the relief effort.

In sum, they followed seven keys to inspiring word of mouth:

1. They had an excellent story–it was a tragic event of historic proportions. And everyone was talking about it, and how they wanted to help.
2. Their supporters could show their involvement in a visible way–by donating and then asking their friends to do the same.
3. They offered something new to talk about–more than 100 world-famous celebrities gathered for a star-studded benefit concert.
4. They let their supporters be creative by donating through any possible medium–text message, tweet, Facebook causes, and more. They asked for people’s involvement and organized volunteers interested in rolling up their sleeves and helping in Haiti.
5. Anyone could participate.
6. In return, donors were given thanks and could feel that they became part of an unprecedented donation drive.
7. They made it clear how to spread the word–every badge, button and highlight on the Web site leads visitors to either donate or encourage others to do so.

In all, the power of the buzz brought in $57 million in donations, which will be used to help a nation recover from a disaster that left more than 230,000 dead, 1 million homeless, 380,000 orphaned, and 63 million tones of rubble in its wake.

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What do you think about the longtime debate of how society is impacted by the Internet? Are we all doomed to bowl alone?

Craigslist and outdoor markets both form communities, but in very different ways. Many would argue that a physical community will always be stronger than a virtual one, but even the biggest fear-mongers for the evils of technology admit to a certain cohesion that forms online.

Robert Putnam is famous for arguing that technology is eroding society. In a review of Craigslist, however, he opens up the definition of community to something that can be meaningful–even when when entirely virtual. The paper ends with a quote from Craig Newmark:

People started telling me that they felt connected in some kind of community

sense. I used to be doctrinaire about definitions and I didn’t feel it was

a community site, but I eventually said, if people feel connected, it must be

a community.

So how does your definition of community change when all the interaction is online?

I had a recent experience that made me think of community in a new way. I was eating breakfast with my sister, her family, my husband and my in-laws at a popular outdoor market in my neighborhood when my husband got a call on his cell phone. “Do you have a white dog with black spots?” Our stomachs flipped as we ran over to the place where we had tied our dog. She had snapped the metal clasp on her leash and attacked another dog in this very busy outdoor farmer’s market. One woman had broken up the fight and had blood on her hand. Completely oblivious, our dog was lying on her back, wagging her tail as two policemen and a crowd of people surrounded her.

As I spoke with the policemen and the woman who had broken up the fight, different people from the market came up to me, incredibly upset at my dog and wishing horrible things on her. Other people put their arms around me and responded to the people who were yelling. All of these people were complete strangers. But they were also members of my neighborhood “community.”

In all, everything worked out ok. No dog or person was hurt, the policemen moved on and so did we.

But it left me with a tangible sense of this word “community” that we hear so much about. When people care so much about their neighborhood that they will yell at a stranger for violating the peace, that makes a community. When others strangers will comfort each other and speak for someone they think is getting the short end of the stick that does feel like community.

Does this type of community form online?

How do you define community? What communities do you feel most strongly connected to?

Much of what I have observed online is like-minded individuals forming online communities. The backlash for those who express alternate opinions is often biting. People can be very harsh online.

Additionally, it’s much easier to skip out of an online community, than a real one.

That said, Craigslist truly does form a community of diverse individuals after a common goal. Without Craigslist, my house would be sparsely furnished. And I would never have met as many people in my neighborhood without it.

So what do you think? Can the word community be used in the same way for the organization online and your physical neighborhood?

What does “community” mean to you?

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This week I had the distinct honor to interview longtime investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. His office was a love story to journalism of days past. It was filled with piles of boxes, papers, files, notebooks, awards, and books written by him. He even had an old typewriter on top of a filing cabinet. He takes all his notes by hand and only types on the computer when the story is final. No database of contacts, just scribbles on the backs of yellow legal pads.

Newspapers are closing. Does this mean an end to quality information? Not if you believe Clay Shirky's "Here Comes Everybody"

Unsurprisingly, he had a very negative view on the future of the profession to which he has dedicated more than 30 years.

But I’m not so sure I agree with Hersh’s pessimism.

I truly value quality journalism (and in the interest of full disclosure, I am paid to say that). But I’m not so sure that professional journalists are the only ones that can give us quality news. And with dropping circulations, shuttered newspapers, and a widely-held business model going up in flames, we may all be stuck relying on online collaboration to do journalists’ dirty work of keeping politicians honest, businessmen ethical, and communities connected.

Clay Shirky spends 344 pages illustrating what will happen when the masses organize without formal corporations in Here Comes Everybody. Shirky points out that social media is based on very different principles than large organizations.

For one, in social media, collaboration is king.

The most successful social tools are the ones that started small and relied on a community. Through trial and error, and by incredible collaboration, they grew incrementally bigger. Take Linux, which now runs on some 40 percent of the world’s servers. The brainchild of Linus Torvalds, Linux began with an unassuming note on a discussion group. All along the way, Torvalds sought help from a community of developers and promised to implement the best ideas. This collaboration proved to be one of his keys to success.

Steven Colbert teases Craig Newmark for destroying the American newspaper then asks him how he comes up with the idea. Craig's answer is true to Shirky's definition of success for social organization: He put collaboration front and center.

Now, apply that to journalism.

Many analysts blame the rise of Craigslist.org with the decline of the newspaper industry. Craig Newmark started Craigslist with much of the same humble community awareness that went into Linux. He saw people using the Internet as a way to help eachother out, and decided to do the same. Newspapers missed the boat. They put brand and tradition ahead of the community’s needs, and as a result they missed an opportunity to provide a useful tool that could have, in turn, raised their popularity–and their profits.

New Ways to Produce the News

In the new era of social collaboration, Shirky says, quality content can be produced by hundreds of tiny contributions.

Take Wikipedia, a community-created and maintained encyclopedia. Since 2001, this collaborative Web site has been a growing source of information on every topic from asphalt to astrophysics.

And it has the news.

Minutes after the 2005 London bombings, there was a Wikipedia page with a few sentences of what had happened. In the first five hours of the page’s existence, Shirky says, more than a thousand edits were made. Members of the Wikipedia community linked to traditional news outlets, and to phone numbers for people trying to track down loved ones. The page that was never touched by a professional journalist was a hub for vital information. Oh: And it didn’t cost a penny to produce that information or share it with the public.

Powerful Forces

The forces of social media have proven to bring real results. In May of 1992, the Boston Globe published more than 50 cases detailing abusive behavior by Catholic priests, specifically Reverend James R. Porter, who was accused of sexually abusing children in three different Boston parishes. The stories produced outrage, and the church criticized the media coverage as unfair. Despite the scandal, no priests resigned and no legal action resulted.

This online community formed in response to newspaper articles regarding scandal in the Catholic church. Their organized outrage brought real results.

Compare that with a similar scandal in 2002.

Same city. Same newspaper. Same appalling behavior by religious leaders (this time it was Father John Geoghan, a Catholic priest who had abused children at parishes over a 35-year period). The difference? Technology enabled outraged readers to organize and demand action.

When the story broke in the Boston Globe, blogs, e-mail and discussion forums allowed readers to forward the information on to their own networks of friends, parents, and colleagues. An organization of concerned Catholics formed to demand change. And they brought results: about one year after the formation of the group, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, then archbishop of the Boston Diocese, resigned.

In ten years, the technology was developed for communities of like-minded individuals to unite forces. So instead of a newspaper article creating a wave that eventually died away, it created a tidal wave of action around the world. And it brought a powerful institution to its knees.

If online organizations can produce those kinds of results, I wonder:

Could it be that creative collaboration online could produce collective wisdom surpassing that of the professional news industry?

Time will tell.

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