In the past few months I’ve been talking to whomever would listen about Twitter and the value of communicating with the larger community through social networks. Here at the Tacoma Rescue Mission it is required that staff working with the New Life Program and other programs get involved with Facebook or Twitter to keep in touch with graduates and clients. I think it will be especially useful for our Alumni department, which needs to touch base with graduates who may have moved back to their home state or city, making it hard to maintain effective support. With social media/internet it is easy and inexpensive to keep touch with large groups of people.
While I’m just a neophyte to social media I’ve got some theories on how it can best be used:
1. Build a large LOCAL network: Twitter and Facebook people often encourage the growth of your network getting as many “followers” as possible, regardless of who or where they might be. I disagree. While I follow a few sellect people outside my circle of influence I find the real power of these networks is connecting with those who are in your local area or have some affinity for you or your organization.
2. Share what excites you: Nothing worse than a series of FB/Twitter updates about inane details, yet most people do it regularly. My experience says people don’t mind hearing some of the details of your life, as long as it’s something that you are passionate about or that you are learning. Folks at the Mission should have lots of great stories, info, lessons to share about how you are changing lives. Update your friends and family on these things!
3. FB/Twitter don’t take the place of FaceTime. Yes, more and more people are socializing over the internet, but this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take time to touch base with people face to face. I call it FACETIME, sitting across the table from a friend and chatting. In fact, I think there is a cause and effect happening with these social networks. People are connecting through more impersonal methods, thus making real FACETIME all the more valuable. It has become even more important to get out and touch base with people. This is why I’ve scheduled a series of Coffee events and dinners to connect socially with the supporters of the Mission and why I take the time to have coffee or lunch with various staff each day.
4. It’s Not Either/Or, it’s Both. Don’t fool yourself that you can avoid getting connected through some form of social networking. While next year may bring a different company/site for social networking and companies like FB/Twitter may fold, connecting over multiple channels is here to stay. Your kids and grandkids are going to be doing it, it’ll be required for many jobs and you’ll avoid it to your peril. Anyone under the age of 75 needs to get connected to this! The thing is, it’s not FACETIME or FACEBOOK, it’s both. You need to connect with the new technology and make the time to get together with people in real time.
These are just some of my thoughts. What do you think?
DC
