Seven-Ups: A Rough Guide to Engaging Social Media

By Nalaka Gunawardene*

When Barack Obama was elected in November 2008, it was not only a case of democracy at work — but also a show of new media’s ability to harness people power.

The Obama campaign used techniques never seen before in a nationwide election — his grassroots mobilisation and use of the online social media was unprecedented, inspiring and effective. And now, both his constituency and political opponents are using the same communications tools and platforms to keep his administration under pressure and accountable.

This is probably the best known example of social media’s power to trigger change. Social activists, researchers and aid workers around the world are experimenting how to ride the new wave for their own public interest purposes.

Last year, climate campaigners ranging from Tck Tck Tck to Avaaz used social media to mobilise millions of people to demand emissions cuts to reduce global warming. Irate consumers have used Twitter to keep the pressure on large corporations like Toyota and BP. Just last month, the Greenpeace chief declared social media can help save the planet.

Social media started with the computer geeks, but soon spilled over to involve anyone with a computer or mobile phone connected to the Internet. At first sight, it can be bewildering and daunting: dozens of tools offering hundreds of uses and endless opportunities to do our own thing online.

Social media is a basket that includes a lot more than (the more visible and controversial) Facebook and YouTube. It is a collective term to describe online media based on two key attributes: conversations, and interactions between people.

The key to engaging this bewildering world of social media is to…just do it. And see what works — and doesn’t.

Are we ready to take the plunge?  Do we have a choice? Whether we work in the media, business, development sector or academia, can we afford to ignore social media any more?

Those of us working on development, humanitarian or social issues always have plenty of public interest messages to communicate. The social media present many opportunities for not just outreach, but sustained engagement. The development community has long wished for more interactive and participatory communications tools — that wish is now granted!

The biggest remaining challenges are not inside our computers or networks; they are in our minds! To face the many challenges of web 2.0, the development community has come up with development 2.0!

To help you get started and keep you going at a practical level, here’s a little rough guide.

• Turn up. As Woody Allen famously remarked, 80 percent of success is just…showing up. You won’t get anywhere by simply observing or critiquing from the sidelines. You have to wade in and set sail — for better or worse.

• Once we join the planetary conversation, we need to do some catch up. Find your feet — and niche — in the online world. The Internet turned 40 in 2009, and its graphical interface — the World Wide Web — is now 20. So much has happened in that time — and a lot has also been superseded. You need to know what’s on, and what’s not.

• After catching up, we also need to keep up — at least with the mega trends. Large companies like Google, as well as hundreds of individual geeks, keep releasing new applications frequently, many for free use. Popular websites (such as Wired, Mashable and their local equivalents) help us navigate through these depths and currents.

• Next one is harder. We have to give up our baggage of old habits and attitudes picked up over the years. For many Digital Immigrants, leaving the comfort zone of paper was scary enough. How can we let go of complete control over our communication products and processes? But that's just what the social media demand. It's not a choice, but an imperative.

• It’s also helpful — though not quite essential — if we are less glum, prim, exacting and academic in how we relate to others in social media. In short, ease up, mate! There are some basic norms for online behaviour, but crusty intellectuals or matronly bureaucrats don’t gain much traction. Keep things short, focused and simple. And hey, it’s okay to be funny, cheeky and irreverent…

• Conversations in this realm can last for weeks, months or longer. Some topics and discussions tend to have ‘long tails’. When we start something online, we have to be clear when to engage whom and how. Equally important is knowing when to shut up. (A bore is a bore, offline or online!).

• And if all this is making you feel dizzy…just cheer up: there are no real experts in this field. No one is an authority. Everything is ‘in beta’. We are all learning by doing. Neither is there a definitive road map to the social media world. In fact, in this partly Undiscovered Country, there is plenty of scope to explore, innovate and be original.

Think of it as hitchhiking or back-packing online. There are no detailed maps, GPS or travel insurance. Take your chances. Be adventurous. Discover a whole new world! Send us a postcard from the interesting places you get to…

But also beware: social media can be very time-consuming and even addictive.

You have been warned.

(*Trained as a science writer, Nalaka Gunawardene is a Digital Immigrant who blogs, tweets and looks for ways to use the web and social media to communicate in the public interest. )