A presentation I gave at the NTEN 2007 NTC in Washington, DC with Heather Holdridge of Care2 and Scott Goodstein of the Obama 2008 campaign. My section of the panel (this presentation) covered an introduction to online social networks and a specific case study of using social news networks for good. You can learn more about Jonathon Colman at http://www.jonathoncolman.org/

1. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Using Online Social Networks to Build
Buzz, Community & Support
for Your Cause
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2. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
About Your Panel of Speakers
Scott Goodstein, Catalyst Campaigns
scott@catalystcampaigns.com
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3. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
About Your Panel of Speakers
Heather Holdridge, Care2
heather@earth.care2.com
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4. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
About Your Panel of Speakers
Jonathon D. Colman, The Nature Conservancy
jcolman@tnc.org
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5. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
About You: Good News!
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6. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
About You: The Not-So-Good-News
flickr: makeitup flickr: ricko flickr: varf
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7. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
About You...
...and
You
...and
You ...and
You
flickr: makeitup flickr: ricko flickr: varf
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8. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
“Web 1.0”: A Static Framework
Site owner
creates web site
”Contact us” forms,
Static web site e-mail feedback,
e-newsletters, etc.
visits web site
Site visitors Site visitors
Site visitor
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9. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
“Web 2.0”: It’s All About...
You
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10. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
“Web 2.0”: The Active Framework
blog(s)
photos comments
You
videos friends
songs events
groups
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11. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
“Web 2.0”: Cross-linked, Content-rich, Easy
blog(s)
photos comments
You
videos friends
songs events
groups
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12. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
“Web 2.0”: The Social Network
blog(s) blog(s) blog(s) blog(s) blog(s
blog(s)
photos photos photos photos
photos
omments comments comments comments comments
comments
User User User User
You
videos friends friends videos friends videos videos friends
videos friends
songs songs songs songs
songs
events events events events events
events
groups groups groups groups group
groups
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13. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Whoa... Where Am I in All of This?!
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14. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Social Networks Are Still About You:
...and
You
flickr: makeitup
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15. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Social Networks Are Still About You:
...and
You
...and
You
flickr: makeitup flickr: ricko
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16. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Social Networks Are Still About You:
...and
You
...and
You ...and
You
flickr: makeitup flickr: ricko flickr: varf
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17. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
But Are Social Networks Just About Ego?
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29. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
The Top Five Social Networks Today [ALEXA]
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30. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Building Buzz, Quick ‘n’ Dirty
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31. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Me, Before Non-Profit Life
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32. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Me, First Non-Profit Job
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33. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Your Task: Get Eyeballs!
flickr: ricko flickr: ricko
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34. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Your Task: Get People Talking!
flickr: bucciboo flickr: bucciboo
flickr: bucciboo
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36. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
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flickr: ricko
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37. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
No Time? No Money? No Problem!
• Social news/media sites can help you get the word out fast
• They’re among the most popular sites on the web
• They have diverse audiences
• They’re free for you to use
• Great at driving traffic (eyeballs) as well as commentary (talking)
• Your partners/competitors are already using them
• Hold both short-term and long-term benefits
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38. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Introducing: Digg
Truly breaking news, video, podcasts, and amazing pictures from all over
the world - users find, post, and rate the best of the web’s newest content
• 84th most-visited site on the Web [ALEXA]
• Just over 1 million users [DUGG]
• Over 12 million unique visitors/month [COMPETE]
• Largest demographic: 18-24 years [QUANTCAST]
• Second largest: 45-54 years [QUANTCAST]
• Referred 25,533 visitors to nature.org for FY07 YTD
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39. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Anatomy of a Digg: Breaking News
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40. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Anatomy of a Digg: Posting Your News
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41. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Anatomy of a Digg: Headline & Content
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42. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Anatomy of a Digg: Choose Your Category
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43. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Anatomy of a Digg: Verify & Submit
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44. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Real-Life Results from this Digg post
Eyeballs:
• 836 total “diggs”, 56 comments
• 2,127 visitors to nature.org from Digg in one hour
• 3,747 visitors over four days
• 6,234 views of landing page in one day
• 19,013 views over four days
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45. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Real-Life Results from this Digg post, cont.
People Talking:
• “Three cheers for The Nature Conservancy!”
• “Good to know that my monthly donation helped them accomplish this.”
• “This is one of the most breathtaking places I have ever seen. The photos
are amazing, and the craziest thing is that 20 minutes ago I never knew it existed.
Amazing job by the conservancy.”
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46. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Best Practices for Using Digg
• Be a real person, not an organization
• Be open/transparent about your role within your org
• Be a good community member: don’t spam
• Don’t “game the system” or pay for diggs
• Be patient: build up credibility over time
• Make tit-for-tat/quid pro quo friends, digg their stories (5 mins. daily)
• Digg stories in your topical area regularly (5 mins. daily)
• Test, test, test to find out what works for you and your org
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47. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Introducing: StumbleUpon
Surf the best-reviewed sites on the web while blogging about your
favorite content and connecting with others who have similar interests
• Downlodable toolbar/extension for IE, Firefox browsers
• 363rd most-visited site on the Web [ALEXA]
• Just over 2 million registered users [STUMBLEUPON]
• Nearly 400,000 unique visitors/month [COMPETE]
• Largest demographic: 45-54 years [QUANTCAST]
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• Referred 29,784 visitors to nature.org for FY07 YTD
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48. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Anatomy of a Stumble: Your Fun Feature
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49. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Anatomy of a Stumble: Install the Toolbar
See everyone’s reviews for a page
Send a page to your contacts
Rate a page negatively
Rate a page positively
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See a recommended site
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50. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Anatomy of a Stumble: “Photoblog” a Page
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51. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Anatomy of a Stumble: “Photoblog” a Page
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53. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Anatomy of a Stumble: Send to Contacts
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54. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Real-Life Results from this SU Post
Eyeballs:
• At least 20 “thumbs-up”s, no “thumbs-down”s
• 894 visitors to nature.org from StumbleUpon within three days
• 1,264 visitors over ten days
• Over 2,000 views of landing page within three days
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56. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Best Practices for Using StumbleUpon
• Be a real person, not an organization
• Be open/transparent about your role within your org
• Be a good community member: don’t spam
• Don’t “game the system”
• Be patient: build up credibility over time
• Review other stumblers who review pages in your sector
• Send stories out to your contacts
• Add/review new pages daily (5 mins. or less)
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57. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Short-Term Benefits of Social News/Media
• “Popular” stories gain a lot of attention within the network, which
sends traffic to your site
• “Popular” stories are often mirrored on other sites, which drive
more traffic to your page
• Many bloggers review social news sites to get ideas; if your story is
“popular”, then you increase your chances for blog coverage
• Your landing page gains faster ranking in search engines, which
results in more traffic
• Claim your social news network presences in Technorati so that your
posts show up there as well and attract even more blogger attention
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58. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Long-term Benefits of Social News/Media
• You attract new audiences to your site, yielding new constituents,
because you’re building relationships through good content
• Your profile gains authority within each network, making it easier
for you to connect with more (and better) community members
• A credible profile with powerful contacts can more easily place
“popular” stories in the network over time
• More high-profile links pointing back to your pages means higher
ranking in search engines for your landing page and site
• Blog coverage of your org can, over time, increase virally as more
blogs point links to you
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59. Using Online Social Networks to Build Buzz, Community and Support for Your Cause Friday, April 6, 2007
Many Thanks!
Scott Goodstein, Catalyst Campaigns
scott@catalystcampaigns.com
Heather Holdridge, Care2
heather@earth.care2.com
Jonathon D. Colman, The Nature Conservancy
jcolman@tnc.org
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