Tag Archives: online community

Facebook, Health and the Pursuit of Happiness

Facebook has become just about as integrated into American culture as apple pie. We all know apple pie tastes amazing–but when taken to the extreme and eaten on a consistent basis, it’s not exactly the healthiest food. This applies to Facebook as well. Facebook can offer a number of benefits–but it also has some potential drawbacks. And despite our shared love for Facebook, it’s important to be aware of its possible drawbacks. This post looks at a number of different research studies published in the past year that include some interesting findings.

Does Facebook help us feel more connected—or alone?

A recent set of studies found a paradox in Facebook psychology. The studies looked to answer the question: Does using Facebook help us feel more connected, or not? The results may surprise you.

The research was actually conducted through four different yet connected studies. The first study found that frequent Facebook usage relates to both increased connection–as well as increased feelings of disconnection. The second study found that disconnection motivates greater Facebook usage as a coping strategy as greater usage leads to greater connection (yes, this seems odd given the first study’s results).

The third study deprived participants of Facebook use for 48 hours. While feelings of connection decreased, the feeling of disconnection was unaffected. However, those who felt more disconnected actually engaged in increased Facebook use during a second 48-hour period.

In the fourth study, participants set a goal to reduce their use of Facebook. In setting this goal and working to achieve it, greater disconnection was felt. Those that had this feeling performed worse in achieving their goal.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Who has the best self esteem of them all?

Another study conducted by researchers at Cornell found that Facebook usage actually leads to increased self-esteem. “Facebook can show a positive version of ourselves,” associate professor Jeffrey Hancock told CNN. “We’re not saying that it’s a deceptive version of self, but it’s a positive one.”

Hancock is the co-author of a report titled, “Mirror, Mirror On My Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to Facebook on Self-Esteem” that was published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking. The study put 63 students in a university computer lab. Some computers were turned off with a mirror in front of it—while others were turned on showing the student’s Facebook page.

For three minutes, participants either stared at themselves in a mirror or reviewed their Facebook profile. When time was up, students were given a questionnaire to measure their self-esteem. The students who had been reviewing their Facebook profile gave more positive feedback than the others. The participants that edited their Facebook profile actually gave themselves the highest marks.

“For many people, there’s an automatic assumption that the internet is bad,” Hancock is quoted saying in an article published by CNN. “This is one of the first studies to show that there’s a psychological benefit of Facebook.”

Is the grass really greener?

Another study supports this finding as it found that those who like themselves tend to share more of themselves through social networks. And, that those more active on social networks tend to think more highly of themselves.

At the same time, another set of research published this past January, found that Facebook reinforces the idea that “the grass is always greener” and that everyone else is happier and better off than you. This research “suggests that people may think they are more alone in their emotional difficulties than they really are.” Not exactly a recipe for great self-esteem…

What does this mean for us?

Given the mixed results already discussed, we know research has also found that Facebook and social networking can help increase connectedness among certain communities–especially when it comes to our health. This post is in no way meant to be a down-with-Facebook rant. More so, here’s the take-away for us: Have a self-awareness of the good and the bad impact Facebook may have on you, to your community and in your work. Knowing and understanding the positive impact technology can have as well as its potentially harmful effects is a part of digital literacy. For those working in public Health, it’s an awareness we need to consider.

BONUS: BJ Fogg’s Psychology of Facebook class is on my need-to-do list. 

Do you know of additional research that looks into the psychology of Facebook? Please share!

flickr credit: Jason A. Samfield

Is Anyone Listening to Social Media Anymore?

I feel my current observations beg this question.

Many are discovering the joys of social media, and as more people are pushing out their materials, whether opportunists or conversationalists, I feel like there is more and more pushing happening, than actual listening, are better yet, engaging.

3 Points of Evidence

  • The Anti-Fan Movement: The brilliant Geoff Livingston alluded to this very issue himself when he recently recently wrote, “Twitter’s incredible growth has caused incredible follower populations and corporate/personal marketing activity. It’s also causing a backlash.”  In his full post, he also alludes to three other bloggers who also allude to this same phenomenon. Thus, Livingston decided to take action and therefore installed the “Geoff Livingston Anti-Fan Page.” According Livingston, the anti-fan movement is for those that “…are tired of follower packs, friend counts, and clamours for social media popularity. (and Livingston is not alone in his thoughts…)
  • Mark Drapeau (aka @cheeky_geeky) shares this observation based on his post, “SXSW? Forget It,” where he reminds us that we biologically can only remember so much mentality. And thus, alluding that the #SXSW tweets alone are so saturated with information by more people using Twitter that it’s hard to follow the backchannel conversation. Drapeau greatly reminds us of the important piece of information that we can’t remember ALL that information.  He also reiterated one of my favorite quotes: “It’s not information overload, but filter failure.”
  • Reverse Networking Effect: This article discusses the “reverse networking effect,” that in sum, describes the process that when new people join, others are motivated to leave. I find this true in myself when it comes to Twitter followers. I used to be so excited to get connected, engage and learn from a new person, and now, follow invites are often pushers, those trying to sell or get me to subscribe that I find myself becoming disheartened to some degree. I strongly encourage reading the article as it gives some good brain food to chew on.

What’s Your Observation?

Okay, I shared with you mine, and some other people’s opinions, what about yours? Do you feel people are still connecting online? Still engaging in that personal, authentic and communal spirit?

flickr photo credit: Orange_Beard

Happy Birthday SocialButterfly…and Me!

Today marks SocialButterfly’s 1-year birthday.

This past year was full of surprises, new adventures, and has been such a great whirlwind that I feel much like the kitten in the picture – trying to catch my breathe and “paws.” My anthem for 2008 was “Too Blessed to be Stressed,” and many times, I found myself needing to be reminded of just that.

This past year, I:

  • Moved 4 times, one being from the middle of the Missouri River in Columbia, Missouri to the row houses of Capitol Hill.
  • Have been deliriously happy as a new bride-to-be. After a two-year, long distance relationship, my honey and I are now sharing the same city and enjoying building a new life together. Bless our hearts, we looked at 33 different places in DC before we decided upon our current apartment. Needless to say, I felt like we had earned our real estate licenses!
  • I graduated grad school, finished a fellowship, wrote and presented my thesis paper across the pond, and began a full-time gig doing what I love – social marketing and social media marketing.
  • Worked with a total of about 8 part-time volunteers, including my parents, one of my best friends, and a few people from our community in Arkansas, through a grassroots effort, created and built a fund raiser for Multiple Sclerosis and raised over $70,000 in one night – making my total efforts in four years of MS fund raising a total of $325k+.
  • Made many new friends and colleagues that continue to inspire me through Changebloggers, motivate me through connections on Twitter and online community, support me in my development and run the race with me….so to all you readers and friends, I hope I have done the same for you in return. If not, give me a little kick in the pants, and I’ll get going.

For 2009, who knows what will be next….but I promise you, we’ll be sure to keep it interesting. As a fellow reminder to both myself and my readers, keep perspective, and as a friend of mine once told me, “Keep the main thing, the main thing.”

Not only is it the blog’s birthday this week, but it’s also mine…in case the title through you for a loop. =)

flickr credit: loveberries
Liked what you read? Feel free to share with others: Bookmark and Share

Future Social Marketers Unite

As the debate on the creation of a National Social Marketing Association continues, future social marketing and SM-related students/practitioners should check out FLiP (Future Leaders in Philanthropy). It is another online community that offers many great resources and connections for those exploring philanthropic related fields. According to the its homepage, FLiP’s mission statement includes:

We are the future leaders in philanthropy. By working together, we will further our careers, serve our organizations’ mission, and change the world. FLiP is dedicated to creating a community and a network where other future leaders can meet, learn, exchange ideas, and contribute to each other’s success.

They offer interviews with young professionals in a variety of social change/philanthropy related careers. They offers resources for further education, career guides, views from fellow interns, opportunities to network, online presence on Facebook, MySpace and AOL and much more.

This community is great for making connections with those who have related interests and goals. In the meantime, there is a Massachusetts Social Marketing Association. However, a national social marketing association is still in progress. Nedra Weinreich, on her blog Spare Change, offers a better history about the creation of a professional social marketing society. Weinreich also offers her views on the status of such an organization. The big debate seems to rest on whether or not the SM Association should be underneath the AMA (American Marketing Association) or be its own separate identity.

As this blog has hinted at, I believe this relates to the ‘identity crisis’ that all of strategic communications is facing, whether commercial or not, in seeking universally accepted definitions. How do you draw the lines between what is and what is not advertising, marketing, dare I say journalism, corporate social responsibility, word of mouth marketing, social marketing, viral marketing, sponsorship, etc. I have my own ideas, of course. But, I’m more curious about learning what others think about this topic.

  • Should social marketing have its own professional organization?
  • How would you decide who could and could not join?
  • Should it me under the AMA? If so, then should word-of-mouth-marketing also be under the AMA instead of having its own organization?
  • Etc. There are much more questions than answers about this topic. Feel free to leave your own questions as comments.

Obama Online – More than Social Media

Change.govWith the launch of Change.gov, commentary on Obama’s social media strategy and success have been made here, here and here. Yup, here too. Some are even calling Obama and the government integration of new media tools through Change.gov the Digital New Deal while others wonder about the extension of the Obama brand and community – post election.

*******

Social media is awesome. Grand. Influential. Amazing. In my professional role working with government agencies, I must admit that my first reaction to Change.gov was, “Sweet, I can’t wait for this priority on social media to trickle down among other government agencies. Man, that would make our job so much easier.” Or, would it?

Because now, instead of talking about why to do it, the opportunity to implement may [hopefully] increase, meaning we must show results. And, Obama set the bar high.

Granted, Obama’s campaign is an amazing case study that aided in achieving an important end objective – getting Obama elected. However, Obama’s online success is due to more than social media.

“Overall, the presidential campaign filled 54% of the newshole as measured by PEJ’s News Coverage Index from Oct. 27-Nov. 2. That represents a slight uptick from the previous two weeks when the election was at 52% (Oct. 20-26) and 51% (Oct. 13-19). The race for the White House was the dominant story in all five media sectors, most notably in cable, where it accounted for 84% of the airtime studied, and on the radio airwaves, at 65%.”

  • Obama created the Obama-brand. If you work in government, you may understand some of the government’s sensitivity to the word brand. And from the outside, how the public might react to the government branding or marketing itself. (Hence, the whole debate back when to transition from health communications to health marketing.) However, the Obama-brand has become widely accepted and adapted while maintaining a consistent message to diverse audiences across a range of platforms.
  • The number of resources available. Obama’s fundraising numbers were out of the roof. Not every project is as fortunate. This is why highlighting and emphasizing ROI is important and critical.
  • Obama was the first, and it was sexy. Being the first is always advantageous. In the government 2.0 sector, Obama led the way in showing how to leverage a comprehensive social media plan to create an online presence that connected with the overall program’s mission. Not only did he do it, but he made it sexy by implementing creative elements that encouraged not only online users, but also online ambassadors.
  • Obama and his team understood the essence of social media online and off line. This is the biggest one I think. Obama’s message tapped into the cornerstone of social media – help me, help you, help me, empower America. Did you get lost in that? Web 2.0 is about the conversation and Obama is encouraging conversation with him and among each other. The Change.gov Web site communicates it best:

“Share your vision for what America can be, where President-Elect Obama should lead this country. Where should we start together?”

He took the essence of social media tools and made it his mantra. He is change, but he needs you to help create that change. You want change, but you need him to lead that change. Brilliant.

In your opinion, what other factors outside of social media helped mold Obama’s online success?

Liked what you read? Feel free to share with others: Bookmark and Share

Blogging: Finding Magellan in an Identity Crisis

After my last post, I received an email asking how other non-profits or social causes could also use blogging technology for its purposes. Below, I list someways blogging can be used by non-profits as well as some strengths and limitations of the technology.

First Things First

I come with the view that like in the commercial sector, finding an umbrella term to put all non-profit marketing and advertising under is difficult. Research studies have been explored, textbooks written, debates held and still universal definitions are lacking. Some used to think a few years back the IMC, Integrated Marketing Communications would be the end-all classification system for advertising. Yet, this debate still continues. Do we put public relations under this? Why the term marketing? Where does viral belong? etc.

Therefore, just like the commercial advertising arena suffers from an identity crisis, so does the community of non-profit/health communications/social causes/etc. Though, I might classify many of these as social marketing. But then, where do we put corporate social responsibility or cause marketing? (These both have profit aims…) So, yikes! Is there overlap? Is overlap the right word? What are we to do? The questions and debates continue. In discussing these terms and looking at definitions, I am going to offer up that is depends largely on your end objective. I agree there’s more to this debate, but for practical considerations (and when looking to use blogging technology) I say, first determine your end objective to decide if, and what type, of blogging is right for you.

Examples of Blogging Being Used by Non-Profits:

Citizen’s League in Minnesota. They have two blogs. One that is updated with public policy news, trends and updates. The other who is from the point of view of a person which has similar content, but the first person point of view adds relevance and personalizes the stories.

Children Matter. A Christian non-profit ministry who uses a blog for its message.

Strengths of Blogging

1. A blog can provide an outlet for stories to be told regarding the issue or project. This can also be created as a way to get more involved and to increase participation. It can also make the message for personal and relevant. Interplast has their volunteers upload information and share stories about their experiences regarding their work site.

2. Helps build an online community. This includes expanding your traditional media lists to include other bloggers, online social networks, websites and more.

3. Blogging has no geographic limitations unlike a lot of traditional media (tv, radio, magazine, newspapers).

4. Requires small tangible finances. But, may require more employee/volunteer hours and time to manage.

5. Can boost media coverage by expanding your traditional media list to include fellow bloggers, social networks, online communities, websites and more.

6. Put your already-drafted press releases to good work by setting up an RSS feed on your blog to provide up-to-date news about your organization. this allows others to know what the organization is up to, gives those interested more information to talk about and can increase your media coverage.

7. Provide information and resources via a blog. A blog is one way to provide the same information you could on a website or brochure, but in an interactive, fun, and personal manner. For example, instead of telling what the participants do throughout the year. Have the voice of your blog be told through the ‘Volunteer Sarah’ and give it a diary feel.

8. From your blog, you can also provide information on how to get involved, donate, volunteer, and participate. This could include a sign-up page for the weekly email blasts.

9. Blogs also are a way to track, organize and build a resource for an organization/cause. If it comes time to write a report, you can search your blog for all relevant information regarding ‘XYZ’ and poof- you have all the information you need already written.

10. Use a blog as your organization’s website.

11. For good feedback, use your blog as a sounding board or discussion forum. Also, blog stats and analytics could help you find more target audiences interested in your cause.

12. Add your blog to the Nonprofit Blog Exchange using this form to automatically get plugged into an online community and to increase traffic.

Limits of Blogging

1. If you use a free service (blogger, wordpress, etc.), sometimes you are limited with the type of content you can post. Examples including: limitations for customizing options including how you organize content or the design unless you have someone with the expertise to do so, or upgrade your blog service.

2. The domain name can be tricky. Unless you want to purchase a domain, your domain name will (usually) include the blog service you are using. However, domains can be purchased for something like $10/year. This blog also provide many helpful tips and resources for creating your own domain.

3. Must provide quality information at a consistent rate.

More Sources

Should Your Non-Profit Launch a Blog?

10 Ways Nonprofits Can Use blogging

Have Fun * Do Good

Blogs for Non-Profit Orgs

5 Tips to Starting a New Blog