Today, someone wanted a list of helpful social marketing websites/resources on the social marketing listserv. Not wanting to be redundant of my Links page….and out of my own curiousity, I’ve created a list of helpful social marketing listservs , and how to join.
First, let’s define a listserv. TechSoup, one of the oldest and largest nonprofit technology assistance agencies, who offers nonprofits a one-stop resource for technology needs, defines a listserv as:
“[an] electronic mailing lists that distributes written discussions to those who subscribe; each posted unit of a discussion shows up in the subscribers’ e-mail boxes. One of the most useful features of e-mail lists or listservs is the fact that you can send the same message to many people at once. Similarly, you can also receive many messages at once in a compiled and organized fashion.”
Social Marketing Listserv
The list is a place for those in academia, in research, and in practice to exchange information to advance the field, create discussion, present issues and debates, and encourage collaboration of resources. Alan Andreasen runs the list.
To join the Social Marketing listserv, subscribe to listproc@listproc.georgetown.edu through email and type subscribe soc-mktg <your name> in the message body (i.e., subscribe soc-mktg John Smith).
Social Marketing in Higher Education Listserv
The purpose for the Social Marketing in Higher Education Listserv is to allow engagement and participation in discussion of the application of evidence- and practice-based social marketing to bring about positive health and social change and enhanced learning on campuses. (taken from the website.)
To subscribe, you must go to this here and fill out the 5 second form.
Fostering Sustainable Behavior Listserv
The Fostering Sustainable Behavior Listserv currently has over 6000 subscribers from around the globe who are involved in delivering environmental programs.
To subscribe, send an email to fsb-on@cbsmlist.com You will receive a reply asking you to confirm your subscription. Once confirmed, you can post message by sending them to fsb@cbsmlist.com
American Communication Listserv
To join, compose an email to listproc@listproc.appstate.edu, and in the text area enter: sub ACA-L your name (Write your actual name there instead of “your name.”) Or, go to the online subscription page, and enter in your name and email address.
The Nonprofit-Social-Marketing Listserv
This smaller listserv I think is out of the UK. To subscribe to this list serv, you must fill out the 5 second online application found here.
ORG-MARKETING Listserv
This list focuses on the subject of marketing for non-profits and NGOs. A partial list of topics include PSAs, low (or no) budget marketing, promotion and advertising, surveys, service quality, marketing planning for non-profits, positioning, market models, relationship marketing, database marketing, and marketing ethics.
To subscribe to Org-Marketing, send the following command to the server listserv@amic.com in the BODY of the e-mail: SUBSCRIBE Org-Marketing
Nonprofit-Net Listserv
This list covers nonprofit and internet related topics. To subscribe, send the email message ‘SUB NONPROFIT-NET’ to: listproc@lists.nonprofit.net
Webcontent.gov Listserv (for Federal employees only) Web Content Managers Listserv
This list is open to web content managers from any level of U.S. Government: federal, state, and local. Since the purpose of this group is to exchange ideas among those of us who are in these roles, they do not admit contractors or other private individuals.
To subscribe, send an email to webmanager@hud.gov with ‘web content managers listserv’ in the subject line along with your email address, name, job title, and agency.
More
For a list of environmental listservs, this site provides a good comprehensive list.
For more nonprofit and related listservs, Idealist.org offers some great ones here.
For a long, comprehensive list of more list servs on a variety of communication related topics, the University of Iowa provides a good list here.
This site also lists about 100 marketing and advertising listservs available.
…and a list serv list of social media sites coming soon…
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Pleaseleave the name of your favorite and helpful listserv in the comments. From my search, I have a feeling there are many more out there! Or, which ones, out of them all, do you find most helpful?
From searching for web analytic tools and social media that encourage evaluation tools lately, I have been able to generate a fun list of sites that you could easily kill time with….while also having fun and learning technical insights into web analytics. Enjoy, =)
This site allows you to receive a monthly report providing helpful and useful SEO information on any site of your choice, AND to compare it against competing sites. A great resource for any search engine optimization or interactive marketing plans. Warning: Hours of time will go by before you realize it! 😉
Ok, we’re not in high school anymore, but don’t act like you’ve never checked out the infamous Hott or Not website or uploaded your friend’s picture to the site as a joke…
Well, now you can rate websites based on the design of their homepage with a 1-10 ranking and see the average rating other websites have received. To become a repeat visitor, register your website into the bank and see what other users rate it!
Blogpulse is a Nielsen Buzzmetrics tool that allows one to create customized graphs based on keyword trends for chosen keywords. Other tools include featured keyword graphs based on popular keywords, conversation tracker which follows trackbacks and permalinks between blogs and blogger profiles that show the most recent posts, the sources used, numbers of times the bloggers is cited by fellow bloggers and a list of 10 related blogs. This is great for monitoring how the blogosphere views your brand, topic or organization and helps identify blog networks.
Ice Rocket is like a smaller version of Blogpulse and allows you to make keyword trend graphs, but only for the most recent three months, while Blogpulse lets you make a graph for the last 6 months.
Alltop is a blog aggregate that provides the most recent 5 posts from the top 40 blogs, sorted by topic. Topics include social media, nonprofit, moms, life, dads, career, celebrities, games, SEO, Macintosh, Windows, Journalism, world news, photography and more!
PopURLS is an aggregate that provides the most popular links across the web including digg, del.icio.us, flickr, reddit, Truemors, YouTube, Google and Yahoo news, AOL Video, Mahalo, Twitter and more!
Hits Log is an SEO tool that allows you to discover your site’s Google Pank Rank and search engine rank. Though not as useful as Website grader, it may be easier for some to use.
From searching for web analytic tools and social media that encourage evaluation tools lately, I have been able to generate a fun list of sites that you could easily kill time with….while also having fun and learning technical insights into web analytics. Enjoy, =)
This site allows you to receive a monthly report providing helpful and useful SEO information on any site of your choice, AND to compare it against competing sites. A great resource for any search engine optimization or interactive marketing plans. Warning: Hours of time will go by before you realize it! 😉
Ok, we’re not in high school anymore, but don’t act like you’ve never checked out the infamous Hott or Not website or uploaded your friend’s picture to the site as a joke…
Well, now you can rate websites based on the design of their homepage with a 1-10 ranking and see the average rating other websites have received. To become a repeat visitor, register your website into the bank and see what other users rate it!
Blogpulse is a Nielsen Buzzmetrics tool that allows one to create customized graphs based on keyword trends for chosen keywords. Other tools include featured keyword graphs based on popular keywords, conversation tracker which follows trackbacks and permalinks between blogs and blogger profiles that show the most recent posts, the sources used, numbers of times the bloggers is cited by fellow bloggers and a list of 10 related blogs. This is great for monitoring how the blogosphere views your brand, topic or organization and helps identify blog networks.
Ice Rocket is like a smaller version of Blogpulse and allows you to make keyword trend graphs, but only for the most recent three months, while Blogpulse lets you make a graph for the last 6 months.
Alltop is a blog aggregate that provides the most recent 5 posts from the top 40 blogs, sorted by topic. Topics include social media, nonprofit, moms, life, dads, career, celebrities, games, SEO, Macintosh, Windows, Journalism, world news, photography and more!
PopURLS is an aggregate that provides the most popular links across the web including digg, del.icio.us, flickr, reddit, Truemors, YouTube, Google and Yahoo news, AOL Video, Mahalo, Twitter and more!
Hits Log is an SEO tool that allows you to discover your site’s Google Pank Rank and search engine rank. Though not as useful as Website grader, it may be easier for some to use.
Hookah has recently been in the news due to health warnings concerning hookah users and their vulnerability to contracting herpes. A March 18, 2008 article from Colorado State University describes an incident where two students are believed to have contracted oral herpes from hookah activities due to the swapping of saliva that occurs.
However, other health effects are possible. Until I received the above tweet, I was unaware on the dangers of hookah. I have personally never done hookah nor really care to, but I know it is an increasing trend on many college campuses. A March 5, 2008 article in The Daily Orange describes this trend more:
“The sociality of hookah is also evidenced on a national level, with hookah bars beginning to open up in major cities as it becomes a trendy activity among teenagers and 20-somethings. “
Apparently, I am not the only one who is less informed about the health consequences of Hookah. According to a study conducted by the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), 79% of hookah smokers believe the flavored tobacco is safer than cigarettes. Type ‘hookah’ in Google news and evidence that the topic is increasing its prominence on the public agenda appears ten-fold.
So my next thought was: Are there any social marketing initiatives or PSAs that currently address this issue?
The only PSA I could find was this one on Youtube. The source I have yet to identify.
If you know of more hookah PSAs or social marketing campaigns, please let me know.
For more information on the effects of smoking Hookah, visit CDC’s online factsheet or Womenshealth.gov’s informational description for more information.
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Yes, I did say this issue was brought to me in a tweet on Twitter by womenshealth, as in womenshealth.gov. For more information regarding the use of Twitter by non-profits, causes and government agencies, Nedra Weinreich of the social marketing blog, Spare Change, wrote an incredible post on this topic that I know you’ll find helpful.
In an earlier post, I clarified how social marketing differentiates itself from social media marketing. Now, I am asking for your thoughts on how the term social marketing relates to the term social change marketing.
Social marketing, as we’ve discussed, has decades of theoretical history and practice. It is a term constantly evolving and defining itself. However, the field also faces a challenge: branding itself…especially since the onset of social media marketing.
Reading through social marketing texts and journals, the terms – social change, marketing for social change, and social change marketing are making increasing appearances, so I am curious on others’ thought about how the two terms relate.
A good summary of the two concepts, including how they relate to commercial marketing, is found in Dr. Stephen Dann’s slideshow titled:
In this presentation, Dann asks the question: Where to from here? which provides information on how social marketing has grown and compares to commercial marketing and what this may mean for the future. Other signs of the concept of social change’s relationship to social marketing dates back to Prof. Alan Andreason’s book: Marketing Social Change. So, there is a history. On the web, Craig Lefebvre’s blog is titled On Social Marketing and Social Change, suggesting the relationship.
Thus, I am curious on your thoughts about the terms/concepts of social marketing versus social change marketing:
Can social marketing be renamed social change marketing?
Or, is social marketing one component of social change?
Or, is social marketing one piece of social change marketing? What’s the difference? Is there a difference?
It may seem like a matter of scrabble to some, but these discussions really engage me, and I hope the enthusiasm sparks interest as I think the relationship between the two terms is continuing to develop and will becoming increasingly important as we work to brand social marketing. =)
Continuing in my blogger outreach series, this post will focus on law that addresses privacy in regard to bloggers and blog content.
Privacy: Currently, privacy is not included in the bill of rights, but as technology increases, it’s developing into quite the controversy. To protect yourself as a blogger and the subjects included in your posts, it is important to understand the law surrounding online privacy issues and the increasing issues involving privacy
There are 2 ways to approach privacy:
Your privacy as a Blogger AND
the privacy of the people involved in your blog’s content
To protect your privacy as a blogger, there are some different approaches with strengths and benefits. These include:
Blog Completely Anonymously
Create a Psuedo-name
Do not give away identifiers in the blog’s content
For COMPLETE anonymous blogging, try Invisiblog, Tor and Anonymizer. These are applications that help you create an anonymous blog where the creators and hosts of the blog won’t even have access to your information, can hide your IP address, and allows for anonymous editing of your blog.
Limit Your Audience
To avoid being found in search engines or in Google, install a ‘Robots Text File Generator’ into your blog’s architecture.
Set-up an alternative email address.
Update from a public computer.
Pros/Cons: Privacy protected. But, if you desire more traffic, hits or views, this could limit you. And, you don’t get credit for your hard work and time into up-keeping your blog.
Blog Anonymously, but control who knows who you are
Create an alias…but with talking with friends, family, co-workers, or online contacts, feel free to share that it is your blog. But, you don’t have to put your name on the blog. This allows you to control who can identify the blog as yours, and allows you to control to some degree who knows you have a blog.
This is the option this blog SocialButterfly has chosen for a variety of reasons. Eventually, I will more than likely reveal my true identify, but in the meantime, I am collecting feedback on what employers, friends, colleagues think of someone wearing a ‘blogger’ hat.
Pros/Cons: Allows you to get feedback on what others think of your blog and protects your privacy to some degree meaning that random unique visitors can’t identify you without first contacting you and YOU deciding to disclose your identity to them based on your interactions with them.
Blog Openly, but control the type of information visible
Put a picture of yourself on the home page, along with a concise bio about your background and why you are blogging.
Consider the blog as a way to extend your ‘personal brand.’ So, your communications about yourself need to help build and add credibility to your blog.
Allows creator to develop long-term personal connections and relationships with readers.
Pros/Cons: This allows you take full advantage of social media at its best. As a small business owner, it allows to you communicate with possible consumers and to extend your business’ message and purpose and connects consumers to you on a more personal level. Cons include that you are personally identifiable on the web. Anyone can find your blog, know its yours, and may judge you on your blog before meeting you or making a personal connection with you. This could also affect potential employers or current employers.
Blog Completely Openly
This is an open, anything goes approach to blogging.
Pros/Cons: Your belief in free speech is rightly communicated and your views are open, honest and shared. However, you may have to provide evidence and reasons why you say what you say. Basically, be prepared to back yourself up. Cons could include potential employers shying away from you, or wanting to fire you because of your blog.
Some more points to remember as a blogger are found here including laws on political speech, unionizing, whistleblowing, blogging when you work for the government, and legal off-duty activities. Blogging about work activities when you work for the government is actually protected under the First Amendment according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Lessons from Privacy for people involved in the blog’s content:
If you plan on posting images, videos, or audio of subjects you interview or interact with, gain their consent before posting this material – especially if the material contains minors.
Get parental consent if the content relates to minors, and blur the minors face or voice if possible since laws pertaining to minors are much more strict.
If you shoot film or take photographs, to be safe, make sure it is done on public property unless you have the participants consent. This will avoid trespassing and invasion of privacy issues.
As blogging increases, it is important to note that many people have different feelings about anonymous-related blogging and the laws continue to change as the technology matures. And as a disclaimer, I reiterate, I am not a lawyer.
For more information on electronic privacy issues, see EPIC, the electronic privacy information center.
**If you are an expert in this area, please contact me as I’d be curious on your thoughts and feedback on this post. Thanks! **
Monday, March 10, 2008 Marks the National Observance of
National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
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10 Ways to Celebrate
1. Find an event near you. Visit Women’s Health Gov for more information.
2. To find a support group, call CDC-INFO at 800-232-4636 or visit www.hivtest.org
3. Want to find a place that offers care? Even if you don’t have insurance or funds? Find a location here.
4. Become educated. Some helpful sites include:
Learn the Link between Drug Abuse and contracting HIV/AIDS.
The official NWGHAAD site provides downloads for posters, podcasts, facts and more!
AIDS.gov acts as a ‘gateway’ to federal HIV/AIDS information and resources.
5. Get tested for HIV.
6. Know Your A,B,C’s…
7. Practice safe sexual practices.
8. Be educated about high risk behaviors
9. Talk about it. Text about it. Tweet About it. Spread the buzz.
10. Write a blog post, ;).
Continuing in my blogger outreach series, this post will focus on law that addresses issues bloggers need to know, understand and be conscience about when deciding how to go about starting a blog, conduct blogger outreach or a blog marketing plan.
As the democratization of journalism increases, many bloggers can be considered journalists. One issue with the current Shield Law being debated in the Senate is that some would like there to be a definition on who/what is a journalist. Indeed, bloggers are recognized by the Supreme Court as having the same protections as media individuals and organizations since they engage in similar activities. (Since the Shield Law is currently developing, it is important to note that Shield Laws do not necessarily always protect bloggers). As of now, no such definition exists and the implications of such a definition, could be, well…interesting….and perhaps, dangerous.
But enough about that, as I admit, I’m no politician and I haven’t been following the case the whole three years it’s been going on. My point –> it is important for a blogger to understand some of the issues the law addresses .
As a disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, but these are concepts that must be considered in the broader media industry. There are many, but this post will focus on defamation and negligence, while part b will cover copyright and privacy.
1. Defamation
A person or organization can file suit for ‘defamation of character.’ For content to be considered defamation, a private plaintiff must prove:
falsity (this includes insinuation or implication)
about or concerning the plaintiff filing the suit
exposes the person to hatred, contempt, aversion or introduces an evil or bad opinion about the plaintiff
In addition, the law is written differently when the plaintiff is a public official or a public figure. A public official or figure must prove: actual malice. A public official is defined as someone who has been elected, appointed, presented to a position. A public figure is someone who is either known to the public already or someone who were drawn into the issue. Actual malice means that the false statement was published “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” To determine actual malice, courts will look at the process and extent of pursuing the truth.
Other way defamation occurs comes from misidentification.
Be conscience of legal terminology. (i.e. accused vs. alleged)
Take extra measures when any content involves a minor or a private citizen.
Double-check names or contact the person to fact check names mentioned in posts.
Before publishing an address, phone number or email, be sure it is the correct contact information for the individual/organization.
Be wary of depended on internet sources and search engines. This includes wikipedia. =)
If you do realize a mistake, correct it, and write a retraction. A retraction acknowledges the mistake and re-iterates its correction.
If you are faced with this issue, truth can act as a defense.
Satire, parody and hyperbole are not considered defamation.
Opinion is not considered defamation. But, whether you and the plaintiff agree that the statement in question can be classified as ‘opinion’ is another story.
Corporations are not public figures. They are judged like private figures.
There is such a concept as defamation insurance, even for bloggers.
Each state has a different statute of limitations for how long someone can sue after a posting has been made.
See here for more extensive details about issues of defamation and libel as it applies to bloggers.
2. Negligence
Negligence means that the author acted recklessly beyond that of a reasonably, responsible person would have. Private figures – friends, coworkers, people at the bus station – only have to prove negligence to win their case; whereas, public officials and public figures must prove actual malice.
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If you are filed a law suit for what you blogged, the Electronic Frontier Foundation advises you to seek an attorney who is knowledgeable about Anti-SLAPP laws. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, and the Anti-SLAPP laws are enforced to help people who get sued for making legitimate, protected speech about public issues.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation offers a link to the The First Amendment Project, which has a helpful FAQ on Anti-SLAPP laws. Please note, that Anti-SLAPP laws currently don’t exist in every state and tend to vary.
Stay tuned for my continuing series on Blogger Outreach, issues to address when developing blogging outreach plans.
Next week: Law Issues Part B, Copyright and Privacy
On my Twitter feed, I recently asked the question:
What are people’s experience with their clients and organizations about incorporating blogs and/or blogger outreach to their interactive marketing plans?
I ask this because as social media knowledge expands, more organizations are looking at the concept of blogging, including government agencies. Thus, this next series of posts will revolve around questions organizations must ask themselves when wrestling with the ‘blogging dilemma.’ Or, to change the outlook and attitude, the blogging opportunity.
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Question 1: To blog, or not to blog, that is the question.
The first response I usually receive when discussing blogging is a question relating to regulation. Thus, to start-off this series, this post will focus on regulation. Not all organizations desire to blog. In fact, many fear blogging because of a popular notion that it is an unregulated mode of communications…a public relations disaster waiting to unfold. These fears inspire numerous questions.
1. What if someone leaves a bad comment?
2. What if the blogosphere doesn’t approve or doesn’t view us as transparent?
3. How will we manage this logistical mess?
4. How do we even evaluate if we make any progress?
5. What can a blog even achieve?
6. What is a blog?
7. What will a blog cost us?
8. How do we control a blog?
and the list continues. These questions cover a lot of topics. In my experience, this concept of regulation most often appears with government clients. Here is a common statement:
“We can’t do blogging. It’s unregulated and you have no idea what people will say or how they’ll say it. We are a government agency, and we can’t take that sort of risk.”
This fear is understandable. For those not infiltrated in the blog arena, it appears messy – and at times, honestly, it is. However, the blogosphere doesn’t have to be completely viewed as ‘unregulated.’
Here are two examples on how organizations have approached blogging:
1.Regulate Blog Access. One organization I’m working with loves the idea of blogs, so much…(possibly a bit too much in my opinion…but hey, it’s also going to be a trial and error basis)…that their site will have 5-8 blogs. Logistically, this will be interesting. But in theory, the idea is to regulate who has blog access. The site will be set-up as an online community, so only members will see all the topical blogs. Whereas, the public will only see the one main blog. This way we can regulate what non-members have access to.
Allow comments or don’t allow comments.
Organizational, internal blogs only. The CIA has over 1,000 internal blogs!
2.Trial and Error. One consulting client I worked with loved the idea of a blog, but wasn’t sold on having the blog content being created and written by the organization. They wanted to use a blog as an outreach to their non-profit’s community as another tool of engagement. So, they started the blog, regulate it, but let their community members write the content by having the blog’s perspective be: Share Your Story. So, those wrestling with the non-profit’s illness shared their stories, could build online community and support one another.
Event blogging
Live Blogging
Topical Blogging
Now, if you are working with a federal or state agency, the notion of blogging ruffles some feathers. Here is a critical case to make: blogging has been done. and can be done. Here eare some helpful sites to note:
1. Public Officials’ Blogs. Just do a quick environmental scan of the presidential candidates’ websites! This site even offers a full listing of current blogs held by public officials across the United States.
2. Increasing Government Agencies’ Blogs. Now the list may be small, especially when considering just how many agencies exist, but it’s a starting point.
3. Government Blog Resource. A great outline of what blogs are, issues to consider, blog statistics, viewpoints, etc…a great resource!
I am a social marketing believer, blogger, practitioner, researcher and enthusiast. This site highlights the growing movement of social marketing. Learn more about social marketing and how to be your own socialbutterfly--> here.
SocialButterfly. 