Connection Café: Surprises, Insights and Revelations about Social Media and Nonprofits from today’s webinar

	Surprises, Insights and Revelations about Social Media and Nonprofits from today’s webinar
	Posted by at Dec 17, 2008 05:18 PM CST Categories: Nonprofit Trends, NPtech, Social Media

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a social media addict and that I tend to think those around me – colleagues, friends and event clients- have a basis of understanding around the fundamentals of social media and basic online trends.

However, today’s webinar on Social Media for Social Good provided some great insight and answers to the questions and concerns the nonprofit technology industry as a whole still have about social and new media, which gave me a better idea on the areas that still need work or additional education to help the sector move forward in 2009.

Throughout the session with Beth Kanter (who has now posted her notes to today's presentation) and Emily Riley, attendees on the line flooded in with questions and comments about the information and tips presented.

I think some of the top surprises and/or busted myths for me were:

1. Many people on the line were unfamiliar with some of the basic social media sites and tools used today. Flickr and Twitter, two tools we often write about and drop casually into conversations with nonprofits, were unknown to many people on the line.

2. We tend to take for granted that the youth are dominating the social media spaces, however according to Emily, the age numbers are quickly evening out and the demographic of 34+ is creating an increased presence in social media spaces (tell that to your boss the next time someone asks why you should invest in social media!)

3. Numerous examples were given around social media efforts made by marketers who are still trying to make social media campaigns that are fake. Despite the scandals and problems driven by falsified campaigns in the past, some marketers have yet to realize that the Web brings transparency and openness – two things that are very easy to recognize online (don’t think your constituents won’t notice if you’re content is fake...)

4. Participants were still interested in learning how to control behavior and UGC content like comments. The answer, of course, is that you can’t and shouldn’t try to control your constituents, but again this is a point some people still don’t quite grasp – you have to let go of control and the message to inspire, empower and move people.

5. Lastly, I realized how completely across the charts nonprofits are in skill level, knowledge and upstanding around social media. After every conference, webinar, blog post and book nonprofits have attended and read over the past year, there are still more questions than answers and fears than convictions around the Brave New World of social media.

Tomorrow, I’ll be posting the follow-up questions we didn’t get to today, but I’d love to hear from all the attendees (or ever Twitter #socialgood hashtag followers) what the overall insights were that you left with today.

So for all of you who attended: what were the zingers and “ah ha” moments for you? Any questions or information that surprised you?