Category Archives: Resources

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Join the Social Media for Global Health Working Group

Want to meet others with a heart for using social media for global health and development? Rebecca Shore, today’s guest blogger, knows just where to look and how to get started. Having recently met Rebecca and learned of the wonderful resource she shares, I asked if she’d be willing to share it with SocialButterfly’s readers. Read on to get plugged in!

Forming the Social Media for Global Health Working Group

Social media in some capacity has been around since the days of chat rooms and message boards. However, using social media for public health is relatively new. Many working in global health specifically, on communications or social media, work alone with very little input or support from their organization. In December 2011, I saw a need to bring people together around social media to inform one another of lessons learned and best practices around social media.

Out of this need a working group was formed. Social Media for Global Health (SM4GH) brings together those working in global health and development and social media throughout the country to share experiences and learn from one another about social media. The group meets quarterly in the Washington, DC area and covers topics like measuring social media, using humor in your social media campaign and creating a social media strategy.

October’s Recap: Beth Kanter and Benchmarking Social Media for Global Health

Participants from across the U.S. came together during our last meeting in October to hear renown social media guru, Beth Kanter, speak about her new book, Measuring the Networked Nonprofit. Beth offered her expertise on social media and measurement and also shared her own experiences around social media and global health and development.

About 40 people participated with lively discussions and key insights to help working professionals in this space. As a result, the group came to a consensus to work together to create a benchmarking document for global health and social media. This document will serve as a starting place for projects/organizations to set up targets and gauge their success in the hopes of creating more purposeful and strategic social media.

Your Invitation

The group has 150 members sharing information through its community of practice (CoP) which is a useful virtual collaboration and networking site called The Knowledge Gateway. It is free and available for anyone to join and use throughout the world. To access all the archived meeting notes, listserv discussions and key social media resources, sign up! You can also follow discussions online by using the hashtag #SM4GH.

SM4GH is supported by the Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Population and Reproductive Health (PRH), within its Bureau for Global Health. K4Health is led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs (JHU∙CCP), in partnership with FHI 360 and Management Sciences for Health(MSH).

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Rebecca Shore (@Rebecca_Shore) is a public health professional working in strategic communication and new media. She has a passion for international health and development and women’s health. She is the founder and co-chair of Social Media for Global Health (SM4GH), a working group for professionals in social media and global health.

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Your Hashtags for #SocialGood Bible

image courtesy of misspixels

What hashtags do you use the most?

Your suggestions on which hashtags offer the most value to those in the social good space are welcome. In my American University course, students are required to tweet at least three times a week, follow topics of interest and join the conversation. This list helps equip students (and others interested in a social good career) tap into the rich resource that is you.

For those interested, our class uses the hashtag #AUsochealth. It’s in hibernation for now, but come Spring 2013, it’ll be in full force. You’re invited to be a part of the learning process, comment on our observations and participate.

Social Marketing

First things first, how come we social marketers don’t have a dedicated hashtag? Perhaps it’s because we’re all busy using the hashtags shared below! Should we have one? Share your opinion in the comments.

Update: Jim Mintz and Mike Kujawski share that some social marketers have started using #socmar.

Thank you to SocialBrite who offers a PDF download of 45 social good hashtags to consider, Symplur’s Healthcare Hashtag Project and Govloop’s Government-Related Hashtag Directory which were all used to help compile this combined and narrowed list. While not heavily consulted, a Twitter Directory for Higher Education-related hashtags was also discovered.

Social Tech for Good

#sm4sg = Social Media for Social Good
#4Change = Profiles the use of online technology for good
#NPTech = Nonprofit Technology
#text4change = Using Texting for Change
#v4change – Video for Change
#m4change = Mobile for Change
#edtech = Educational Technology
#elearning = Used for Discussing the Use of Technology for Learning
#mlearning = Mobile Learning
#OpenData and #BigData = Refers to Using Data in New, Open, Transparent and Understandable Ways

Social Innovation

Nonprofits + Good Business

#nfp = Not-For-Profit
#CharityTuesday = Highlight Charities on Tuesdays Using this Tag
#fundchat = Tips and Tricks on Better Fundraising
#SocEnt = Social Entrepreneurship (there’s also #SocEntChat)
#neweconomy = Used to discuss how we can find alternative paths to economic growth
#socap = Social Capital
#impinv = Impact Investing
#socialbusiness = Used to refer to business working toward social good
#sofinance = Social Entrepreneurship and Finance
#BOP and #bopbiz = Bottom of the Pyramid
#CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility
#SocialGood = Used for Socially Conscious Tweets
#giveback = Used for talking about giving back to the world and your community
#dogood = Used to support doing good and sharing good deeds with the world

Government + Civic Innovation

#opengov = Open Government
#mobilegov = Mobile Government
#socialgov = Social Governmnet
#digitalk = Used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human’s Service to Refer to Their Digital Strategy
#digitalstrategy = Used to Reference President Obama’s Strategy for a 21st Century Digital Government
#digitalgov = Digital Government Communications
#localgov = Local Government
#munigov = Municipal Government
#gov20 = Government 2.0
#gogov = Used to Applaud Awesome Government Activity
#hum = Humanitarian Relief Issues
#aidwork = Self-Explanatory
#MicroFinance = Self-Explanatory
#fairtrade = Used to Discuss the Fair Trade Movement
#earthtweet = Used to Talk About Ways to Improve How We Treat the Planet

Health

#pubhealth = Public Health
#hcr = Healthcare Reform
#sdoh = Social Determinants of Health
#healthlit = Health Literacy
#hclitss = Health Communications, Health Literacy and Social Sciences
#mnch = Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
#digilit = Digital Literacy
#healthcomm = Health Communications
#sm4gh = Social Media for Global Health
#HP2020 = Healthy People 2020
#hcsm = Healthcare Social Media
#mhealth = Mobile Health
#HealthApps = Used to Highlight Innovative Apps for Health
#HIT = Health Information Technology
#FPAdvocacy = Used for Discussing Advocacy for Family Planning Programs
#5thbday = USAID’s “Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday Campaign”
#inspirehealth = Used for Inspirational Tweets about Applying Passion + Purpose for Good

Which ones have I missed? Please share below!

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Read to Think

Sometimes, direct instruction is helpful. Like when learning how to cook or change a flat tire. But when it comes to learning about social change, I learn best from those that challenge me to think. This includes blogs.

Last night, Debra Askanase of Community Organizer 2.0 tweeted that she was working on a blog post highlighting blogs to read in 2011. In her tweet, she asked for people to share their own recommendations. I shared the following:

In response, Debra asked me: What are two blogs that get you thinking? Two of the blogs I followed-up with are:

Assetmap: New to the market, Assetmap is the platform that former Change.org’s Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore is working to get started. The blog covers the topic on “how social capital is transforming business, culture and social change.” Not surprising, its posts give me lots of think about, chew on and explore.
Health Populi: Authored by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, often takes on complicated topics, events and news and breaks it down by highlighting evidence and data. With “Health Populi’s Hot Points,” key take aways are provided that connect the dots of application through added analysis. It also gets me thinking of how the “what” of a news story impacts the “how” of everyday life and work.

Now it’s your turn–In the comments, name two blogs that get you thinking. This way, we can give our RSS readers a refresh for 2011.

Social Marketing Works

For all those working to raise awareness, guess what? Awareness just got punked. See this excellent video appropriately titled “Awareness Schmawareness:” from the wonderful Nedra Weinreich to see what I mean:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRhXKTAG0kc

If you feel the awareness building fever catching in your organization or team, have no fear. Review these questions to get back on the right track. The TurningPoint Collaborative also has the following resources (for free!) available:

Last but not least, you can always ask questions here at SocialButterfly. Take a step today towards effectiveness–know that the social marketing approach works. Why else would it now be an official part of how our nation plans on improving our country’s health (see objective 13)?

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What Are Your Non-Negotiables?

It’s the morning after Election Day, and I have a question for you: Have you ever hired anyone? Well, if you’ve voted, then you’ve at least influenced who gets hired. And, with all the he-said, she-said and who is right or wrong when–it can be difficult to navigate. So, I ask you: What are your non-negotiables when hiring someone?

I’m not implying that these are the only things you look for when hiring or even that they correlate to how you or I vote. But, they do provide a focus and help us cultivate an internal culture, mindset and attitude towards our work.

My Four Non-Negotiables:

Initiative

People with initiative are rare–and when you come across them, you can develop not only a mentorship relationship, but also a reverse-mentorship relationship. In other words, like iron sharpens iron, working together makes you both better at what you do and what you know. A person with initiative does not always have all the answers–but they know where to get them. They are resourceful, pro-active and self-thinkers. For example, I once was in an interview where the person asked: If I was hired, what could I do before now and then to prepare for the position? Is there anything you’d like me to study or any skills I should refine? This is initiative. Check.

Commitment

From my experience, those with initiative often possess commitment. Commitment comes in many shapes and forms–maybe it’s in the form of certain ethics and values, maybe it’s a deep passion or belief in what one is doing. Maybe it comes from a personal experience that resonates with the individual or a desire to contribute to the team or be a part of something greater than oneself. Often, commitment is the seed for both initiative and accountability. As, people with commitment tend to be life-long learners. People who are willing to “Do, Learn, Improve and Repeat.”

Accountability

They say that few people can admit when they are wrong. What may be more rare, are people who are willing to admit that they don’t know something (but then have the initiative to discover it). To me though, accountability is more than this type of black and white definition. There are shades of accountability, that when you can find hints of it in someone, it is easily recognizable. This is because accountability can also be referred to as servant leadership. I first learned of servant leadership from my dad. In sum, servant leadership is when the leader serves others–rather than others serving the leader. I believe leadership can come at any level in an organization. And one who is a servant leader is the cream of the crop.

Writing Ability

In marketing, we write…a lot. Whether it’s email, marketing plans, research reports, presentations, blog posts, tweets, etc., writing and overall communication is at the core. Writing can be a detailed yet creative process. It gives you insight into how someone thinks and arranges thoughts and ideas and how someone approaches a task. Maybe it’s my own love for writing that gives me this bias, but you can tell a lot from someone’s writing–it can be a canvas for change.

Your Challenge

So–What are your non-negotiables? Consider putting together your team or organization’s non-negotiables. Make it a team brainstorm over lunch. Even if just as an exercise, I think you’ll find it telling about the culture you work in and the direction you’re headed. And that holds great importance in achieving your team and organization’s mission and affecting positive social change. If you do this, please share how the experience goes with the rest of us by posting a comment.

flickr credit: Jose Betancur

Things to Do, People to Meet: November 2010 Event Listing

From online webinars to Twitter chats to traditional conferences, people are on the move. Starting this month, I plan on posting that month’s event listing at the beginning of each month. I also do my best to keep an updated, ongoing list of events. So–Where will you be this month?

November Events

Month-Long Observances

American Diabetes Month
Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Individual Events and Observances

2010 Election Day–Vote!
Nov. 2, 2010, United States

World Entrepreneurship Forum
Nov. 3, 2010, Lyon, France

Civil Society 2.0
Nov. 4-5, 2010, Washington D.C.

Connecting Social Innovation 2010 (Hashtag = #cosi10)
Nov. 4-9, 2010, See Website for Details.

TEDxMidAtlantic
Nov. 5, 2010, Washington D.C.

APHA Annual Meeting–Social Justice: Public Health Imperative (Hashtag = #apha10)
*Worldways Social Marketing is hosting an #apha10 tweet-up on Nov. 7.
Nov. 6-10, 2010, Denver, CO

mHealth Summit (Hashtag = #mhs10)
Nov. 8-10, 2010, Washington D.C.

National Drug Facts Week (Hashtag = #drugfacts2010)
Nov. 8-14, 2010, Everywhere

HealthCampDC
Nov. 12, 2010, Washington D.C.

TEDxYSE (Young Social Entrepreneurs)
Nov. 13, 2010, Washington D.C.

World Diabetes Day
Nov. 15, 2010, Everywhere

On the Move: The Power of Mobile Communication
Nov. 15, 2010, Washington D.C.

Web 2.0 Summit
Nov. 15-17, 2010, San Francisco, CA

D.C. Entrepreneurship Week
Nov. 15-19, 2010, Washington D.C.

Broadening Influence: Examining Public Health Driven Social Media
Nov. 16, 2010, Washington D.C.

Great American Smokeout
Nov. 18, 2010, Everywhere

Health 2.0 STAT Meet-up
Nov. 18, 2010, Washington, D.C.

Big Tent
Nov. 18-20, 2010, Houston, TX

National Survivors of Suicide Day
Nov. 20, 2010, Everywhere

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
Nov. 25, 2010, Everywhere

Medicine 2.0
Nov. 29-30, 2010, The Netherlands

Open Innovation Africa Summit (Submit your own ideas for innovation in Africa and potentially win a spot at the conference!)
Nov. 29-December 1, 2010, Nairobi, Kenya

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Feel free to let me know of events I should consider adding by emailing me at abornkessel@fly4change.com. In particular, I look for events that combine a number of the following topics: social media, social marketing, mobile, tech, health 2.0, social innovation, government 2.o, social change, non-profits, journalism, social entrepreneurship, leadership, special observances, and more.

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CDC Asks You to Name That Blog

You may have noticed a fun new badge on the bottom right of SocialButterfly. This badge links to CDC’s recently launched “Gateway to Health Communication and Social Marketing.” This gateway acts as a feeding ground for those looking for resources, tools, templates, case studies and answers to all their questions about social marketing and more. At the very least, it’s a starting point.

Part of this new land is a new CDC Blog–and guess what–you can be the one to name it! Though, CDC isn’t the only one with a new blog on the market. Ogilvy PR recently launched their Social Marketing ExChange as well (and started an office in Atlanta–as did AED…). I know I’m not alone when I jump up and down at these new steps in bringing social marketing to bear. Maybe one day, with organizations with this type of umph and leadership behind us, social marketing will be a household name. Or, at the least, recognize-able as a profession.

So, what would you name the new CDC blog? Here are some thoughts off the top of my head:

Push and Pull: Not only does social marketing combine a number push and pull strategies and tactics, but the blog can also serve as a forum for health communicators and social marketeers to debate, discuss, share and “push and pull” insight and information amongst one another.
Influence Health: This is action oriented and speaks to behavior change, but also to the impact and influence social marketing and health communications can have. Influence health could be interchanged with a name like Impact Health or Improve Health as well.
The Power of Health. This is what we believe in–if we improve health, we improve quality of life, and therein, increase happiness (in sum).
Speaking of Health. I didn’t come up with this…someone who already commented over at CDC did, but I like it too. I feel it’s catchy, frames the conversation for health, is action-oriented and can umbrella a number of topics.

What do you think? What would you name it and why?

PS: For a listing of additional blogs, UNC’s School of Public Health has a strong listing of health blogs, and I have a long list of social marketing specific blogs as well.

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Red Light, Green Light or How to Make Change Happen

Change can be a stop-go process, and sometimes, you feel held at yellow for what seems never-ending. On the social marketing list serv, someone recently asked–in so many words–How do you make change happen? You might have this question (I know I’ve asked it plenty of times myself). Today, I’d like to share with you the “traffic light” approach.

In the email, the inquirer specifically wanted to know how to use the concepts and social marketing framework to influence one’s staff and motivate them in their work for change? One of my favorite social marketers is Mike Newton-Ward. Thus, when someone pointed to Jay Kassirer ‘s Tools of Change website and the case study Marketing Social Marketing in North Carolina Public Health–my ears perked up.

The case study shares the journey of how social marketing was adopted by North Carolina, but my favorite part is in the notes section where the author describes the process of change in terms of a traffic light:

We’ve learned to take a ‘traffic light’ approach to introduce social marketing very gradually, rather than a ‘race car’ approach where change is presented suddenly. For example, if you’re in your city and the department of transportation is getting ready to put up a new traffic light. They don’t just put up the traffic light and turn it on and you stop one day. They start out months before putting up a sign that says, “Warning, there’s going to be a traffic light here.” Then finally they put it up and it just blinks for a while. And then finally, they put up the sign or the light, so that by the time they do that, people are used to the idea. This approach helps staff acclimate to a change in their way of doing things.

In a world of instant gratification, patience and perseverance seem like words from the stone ages. But they are important for a reason. Persevering doesn’t mean doing nothing–it means learning, absorbing, and evolving. If given a red or yellow light, we should be looking for the little signs pointing the direction along the way. Or, thinking about the little ways we can influence a behavior, belief or attitude at any turn in the process–even if it’s our own. Because, eventually, the light turns green. Persistence–this is how change happens.

The authors of the case study talk about how to make change happen within an organization, but there’s some core take-aways for anyone working to make change. Read more lessons learned on the Tools of Change website.

flickr credit: maartmeester

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Behavior Change Made Easy (Sort of)

Tuesday was the start of the highly anticipated Mobile Health Conference taking place at Stanford University. Though not an on-site attendee, I’ve been staying up-to-date by tuning into the Twitter chat. You can too by following the hashtag: #mh2010.

While scanning the tweets, I came across what I consider a mother-daddy in the world of behavior change: an easy, do-it-yourself module for behavior change planning (see screenshot below) developed by Dr. BJ Fogg, founder of Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab.

The wizard is designed to help those plan and design behavior change strategies through answering a brief set of questions. Depending on your answer, the wizard will describe the type of behavior you are working towards based upon Dr. Fogg’s Behavior Grid–which identifies 15 ways behavior can change (see image below).

This past week, I’ve been refreshing my knowledge of the different processes and documentation for social marketing and behavior change planning as one of my biggest observances in practice is that people like tangibles. They see a print ad or a PSA, and they can respond. But are those effective? Thus, in my current organization, I’m working to make behavior change and social marketing tangible and relevant–in terms of the new frontier of technology and the human experience. This is why Dr. Fogg’s work excites me–it’s a tangible. It breaks down behavior into bite size pieces we can understand, digest, analyze and follow-up on.

The conference continues on Tuesday, but already, even though I didn’t get to attend in person, I’m enthused to see that many of the presentations on day one got right into the heart of social marketing and behavior change–not just Dr. Fogg.

Why This Is Important to You…

If you are working to influence the world for good, have a mission or cause you are advocating, you need to get plugged into this arena. Social marketing is relevant and if you are doubtful, just scan the tweets from the Mobile Health Conference. We’ve all heard “Mobile is the future,” but social marketing and behavior change are right along with it. Want more evidence? Look at Jen McCabe’s presentation from the conference. The movement is growing. Join us.