The Changeblogger Story

This is one, in a group of posts by fellow changebloggers, uniting to show that social media can do, and is achieving social good.

Origins of the Changeblogger

In late May, Britt Bravo at Have Fun * Do Good recruited her readers to create a list of Changebloggers – members of the blogging community who:

“…use their blog, podcast or vlog to raise awareness, build community, and/or facilitate readers, listeners, and viewers taking action to make the world better.”

On her blog, Britt developed a working list of 40+ Changebloggers, events and other online lists.

Changebloggers Respond

Since then, a Changeblogger facebook group was created. Then, I developed the Changeblogger Wiki that is being used to gather blogs and their author’s names, Twitter contact names, locations, a shared list of Changeblogger meetups and events while also being a live idea-swapping forum.

How Two Conversations Connected

Then, on a Friday afternoon I had two phone conversations with two truly remarkable people. The first was with Joe Soloman. Joe is at SocialActions, and he helped them develop the Ad-words widget that was launched last week. Joe also created the Twitter box @nptechblogs, which brings together blog posts and news updates from a variety nptech blogs. He also created and maintains the socialmedia4change wiki.

Bascally, Joe is busy. However, he is not just busy – he is effective. Joe, using his creativity and no-limits thinking, contacted me and together we are working on developing a Twitter box for changebloggers.

The next conversation was with Alex Steed. Talking with Steed on a Friday afternoon, both of us exhausted from a long week and feeling a bit overwhelmed could not have been better timing. Alex’s project is exactly what the changeblogger movement needs. And, he needs us.

Alex is planning on traveling to 30+ cities to meet with socially-forward millennials to learn what they are doing, how they are doing int, and more importantly, why they are doing it.

This is our call: If you are a changeblogger or a changemaker, know one, or even if you have an extra couch, contact Alex to connect with him on his tour while he couchsurfs and covers the waves of change.

Rallying the Troops

The changeblogger troops have already put out the roll call, and we’re inviting any and all to join the movement. Here’s a list of how:

1. Take part in the Changeblogging Meme, that was started by Qui Diaz. Anyone can be a changeblogger, or changemaker, it’s a matter of connecting one’s talents with a desire to do good.
2. Chip In, following the example set by Beth Kanter, to help fund Alex’s trip around the country, as he will spread the changeblogger message both online – and off! (Or, put the widget in your blog. Here’s the code:
   

   <embed src=”http://widget.chipin.com/widget/id/a237a485db98c2b4” flashVars=”” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowScriptAccess=”always” wmode=”transparent” width=”250″ height=”250″></embed>

3. If you are in the area, show your support at the 1st Changebloggers/Changemakers Meetup on Oct. 15th as we welcome Alex Steed into the capital of change – Washington DC.
4. Join the Changeblogger Facebook Group
5. Add your blog or Twitter Name to the Changeblogger Wiki
6. Connect on the Changeblogger NING group started by Britt Bravo
7. Tweet it up using the Changeblogger hashtag: #changeblogger and/or follow the Twitter account @changeblogs to receive updates from top changebloggers!

Change is Coming to Town, and It Could be Yours

New Career Finding Strategies for Job Searchers

My now-fiance had a great blog post idea: How social media is transforming the job search and recruiting field – Thus, here we are, and below I hope you find some great helpful resources and add to this developing list.

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Social Networking Sites

Linkedin – Not only does Linkedin allow people to post jobs, but you can also post jobs yourself, or send jobs to your connections. In addition, you can search for jobs at certain firms, see who posted them, and see if you know anyone who works there. Very informative for the investigative types.

Facebook – Certain Facebook group and fan pages are used for recruiting potential job candidates. For example, the U.S. Department of State uses its fan page as a recruiting tool into foreign policy, public affairs, foreign services officer, or even offers to help navigate a career path.

MyWorkster – MyWorkster offers its users a professional presence online. You can create a profile, resume and even a video resume. This network also has a job listing database, blogs, and more.

Twitter Recruiter’s/Job Postings

Many people post job openings they’ve either heard about or are currently trying to fill in a tweet, with a link to the job posting. (One great reason alone to become a Twitter-er!) However, more companies and individuals are creating Twitter-streams to post jobs and recruit talent. Some include:

• Jim Stroud
• Jason Alba
• InfoSourcer
• IMC2
• Interactive Jobs

Jim Stroud over at the Recruiters Lounge has posted about recruiters and Twitter…surprised that he could only find 85 recruiters in a Twitter search! In my opinion, that’s 85 reasons right there to start a twitter feed.

To find information on a particular industry or job field, use Twitter Search to conduct a search query for certain keywords like “job positions,” “recruiter” or “career advice.”

TwitHire is also a Twitter application that lets you bundle your job postings into 140 characters. It’s also a great resource to look at current job openings.

Blogs

Jeremiah Owyang has created a blog series “On the Move,” highlighting individuals moving within the social media profession. The series also lists great resources to getting plugged into a social media job, as well as listing current high-profile movers and shakers in the social media world (those who work at Fortune 5000 firms with 1000 employees or more).

Alltop.com, a blog aggregate service by topic, has a ‘career‘ page, which features numerous blogs about how to get a job, keep a job, recruit for jobs and more.

Search for blogs based in the city you want to work. For example, KCRecruiting is a Kansas city blog that works to connect job seekers with KC opportunities or author Jim Durbin’s other more general blog, Social Media Headhunter.

More

There’s also other, perhaps more traditional, job search and recruiting strategies too:

• Monster,
• Job Fox,
• Job-Hunt ( who has a list of Fortune 500 career sites and employers by state!),
• Careerbuilder,
• the Web site of the firm you want to work for,
• employee blogs or Twitter account,
• CEO blogs of the firm(s) you want to work for,
• researching the firm’s social media use/presence,
• industry-specific list servs,
• your college/University network,
• your schools network (i.e. Mizzou Mafia for Missouri Journalism),
• fraternity and sorority networks,
• professional organization networks and Web sites,
• Honorary organizations (i.e. Delta Sigma Pi, Omicron Delta Kappa)
• listen to career advice and industry news podcasts
• Word of Mouth (friends, parents, mentors)

Basically, my research has shown that social media is revolutionizing now only business – but how to get employees, find employees and to become an employee.

I know this is a huge, developing topic. And, there’s lots to add, so I look forward to hearing from you all and your experiences. =)

*Note: I didn’t make this information industry specific, but I could if you guys would like. It does lean a bit towards those in social media….course, I’ve also noticed that for social media job searchers, in a way, you have the easiest of jobs because those are the jobs people are posting in the social media space. Other fields/industries are a bit slow to catch on…are
am I wrong?

photo credit: rockronie on flickr

Your Facebook Professionalism Policy: Balancing Your Relationships On and Off the Clock

For many Gen-Yers and young professionals, Facebook started out as a social network. Then, high-schoolers were allowed in. Now, understandably, more and more people are joining that range in age – and in relationship to you. Point in case:

• My friend recently helped her mom create a Facebook account.
• Another commented that all her co-workers want her to become a Facebook friend.
• According to Quantcast, in July 208, 46% of Facebook users are 18-34.
• in July 2007, ComScore reported a 181% growth of users ages 25-34, and a 98% growth in users 35+.

Thus, with Facebook going from social status —> professional network, it begs the question, what are the new the rules of thumb for one’s Facebook account? So I asked followers on Twitter. The results:

1. All or nothing. One of the most popular answers was to go all access with everyone. This route shows to your co-workers and professional network that you own who you are. Nothing to hide. Some also responded that this helps increase the office culture and camaraderie.
2. Oil and water don’t mix. It gets murky. Best to keep Facebook separate. One person commented that you can come to know too much about someone and that can distract from business.
3. Go Half and Half. Others answered saying they prefer to keep professional work colleagues and co-workers at bay by using the ‘limited profile’ feature on Facebook. Or, setting privacy settings so only certain friends or groups can see certain applications, photos or the wall.
4. Work It. Lee Aase, on his blog, Social Media University, suggest a shortcut. While waiting for Facebook to devise a way to better differentiate relationships with a system more sophisticated than the limited profile graph, Aase suggest creating a group for your professional contacts and name it “FirstName LastName Professional Contacts.” Aase explains further on his blog. Or, use Facebook’s friend lists to differentiate Aase also suggests.

No matter what you prefer, it’s best to adopt a strategy early, be wise, cautious and careful. Even those that believed in full access agreed that in the past year, they’ve tweaked their their own personal guidelines. i.e. Adopting the self-policy that one must meet someone in their professional network in person before they cozy up on Facebook.

For me, currently, I adopt a mix between the full access and the limited profile. This is largely for one reasons:

• I want you to get to know me. I have nothing to hide. But, I’d prefer someone get to know me in person, before just reading my profile and making assumptions or place me into some category or description of who they think I might be. It’s one thing to know someone in the office, but it’s another to befriend a person.

Some other guidelines friends mentioned through my Twitter survey. Don’t post:

• Inappropriate pictures (nudity, over-drinking, kissing, dancing, etc.)
• Clean up those pictures from college frat days
• Represent who you are, but be keen to what information sparks controversy
• Don’t use foul language
• Review your privacy settings
• Understand what happens to your profile when you add an application
• When you ‘become a fan’ or join a group, understand some may not get your inner circle’s inside jokes or may think you are endorsing certain ideas/services/products
• If you wouldn’t show it to your mom, you probably don’t want your boss to see.
• Don’t make your profiles busy or hard to read if you want to use it for networking.

What’s your Facebook Professionalism Policy? or, what do you think of mine?

photo credit: Flickr, Amit Gupta (from Newsweek article)

New Blogger Neighbor Inspires Girls Everywhere at New Moon Media

I first ran across New Moon Media when I was researching social networks and sites for teens/tweens, and I was blown away by their concept. Not only it is smart and savvy, but it was and is developed by teen and tween girls themselves (along with some adult guidance).

New Moon Media looks to empower girls making by being led and developed by the girls themselves. Originally a magazine written by and for girls ages 8-12 years old, the girls have expanded into multiple blogs, a MySpace page, e-newsletters, widgets, and NewMoonGirls – an online community for girls ages 8-12 which luanches Sept. 1, 2008. Also in the works is New Moon’s user-experience, Orb28, aimed at girls 13-15+. The video below explains:

Enjoy, =)

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Blog Name: New Moon Girls / Girl Media Maven / orb28

Blog Topics: New Moon Girl Media blogs about issues important to girls and to adults who care about girls. Our girl blogs feature girl-created content on topics such as Health, Technology, Politics & Current Events, Friends & Relationships, and Powerful Women, while Girl Media Maven focuses on topics relevant to parenting as well as girls’ challenges and breakthroughs today.

About the Author: New Moon girls range in age from 8 to 15+ and hail from all over the globe! Adult staff who help coordinate and moderate the girl blogs are highly experienced in girls’/women’s issues, journalism, media, and the internet. Nancy Gruver, who hosts Girl Media Maven, is the founder and CEO of New Moon Girl Media.

If you could live on any street, what would that street be named and why?

The street would be called Voices Lane. New Moon Girl Media would love to live on this street because our company began with founder Nancy Gruver’s dream to give girls a platform to speak out and maintain their sense of self throughout adolescence, and today, the goal of the company is still to bring girls’ voices to the world in significant ways.

Who would be your dream real-life neighbor? Confident, happy girls who go after their dreams!

If you were in charge of the planning the neighborhood’s block party, what entertainment would you plan?

We would plan a variety act showcasing what makes girls unique, special, and capable. This event, which could include girls’ poetry and story readings, music, theatre, dance, and athletic performances, artwork displays, video screenings, and more, would empower girls to speak out in public and feel proud of themselves just who and how they are.

What latest news bites would you share with your neighbors if they asked you how you were doing?

New Moon Girl Media is celebrating the 16th year publishing our ad-free, by-girls for-girls magazine; now, to reach more and more girls, we are additionally launching NewMoonGirls.com, an ad-free, safe, girl-only online community for girls ages 8-12 on September 1st. We are very excited about this new community and hope you will help us spread the word! You can keep updated on the latest at New Moon Girl Media and share with friends on Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube, and even embed New Moon’s new blog widgets into your blogs and personal sites. We’d love for you to have New Moon news delivered right to your inbox by signing up for our e-newsletters, and you’re also invited to join the New Moon Girls Street Team, where girls and adults spread the love for New Moon!

What first prompted you to blog?

For years, New Moon Girl Media has been a leader in publishing real girls’ voices in print; as more and more people connect, learn, and have fun online, New Moon Girl Media’s blogs are a great way to explore and come together around girls’ issues, bringing even more girls’ voices to even more of the world.

If you customized your own license plate, what would it say and why?

Our license plate would say “Go Girls!” because girls need more empowering and positive messages around them reflecting what it means to be a girl or woman.

What would you gift to a new neighbor as the perfect welcoming gift?

A subscription to New Moon Girls magazine and membership to NewMoonGirls.com!

What’s your favorite blog post and why? Anything written by a girl!

What’s one lesson you’ve learned from blogging? Despite it’s many dark corners and pitfalls, the positive opportunities presented by the internet for connection and social change are very inspiring.

Past Blogger Neighbors Include:

• Osocio @ Osocio, nominated by SocialButterfly
• Beth Kanter @ Beth’s Blog, nominated by SocialButterfly
• Beth Dunn @ Small Dots, nominated by Beth Kanter
• Len Edgerly @ LenEdgerly.com, nominated by Beth Dunn
• Stacey Monk @ Epic Change, nominated by the Twitter-verse
• Jason Dick @ A Small Change, nominated by Stacey Monk
• Roger Carr @ Everyday Giving, nominated by Jason Dick
• Andre Blackman @ Pulse & Signal, nominated by SocialButterfly
• Laura Stockman @ 25 Days to Make a Difference, nominated by Roger Carr
• Karama Neal @ So What Can I Do?, nominated by the Carnival of Change
• Julie Zauzmer @ 52 Ways to Change the World, nominated by Karama Neal
• Vanessa Mason @ Subject to Change, nominated by SocialButterfly
• Stephanie Gulley @ HeyStephanie.com, nominated by Vanessa Mason
• Aaron Ferster @ EPA’s Greenversations, nominated by SocialButterfly
• …Julia Barry @ New Moon Media, nominated by the YPulse Conference

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This continuous weekly series highlights different blogs and their respective bloggers in the blogosphere neighborhood. Following the great Mr. Rogers, who tells us to ‘Get to know your neighbor,’ this series introduces us to our blogger neighbors, making for a more unified, collaborative voice for the social sector. Like to nominate someone or be featured yourself? Contact me @ socialbutterfly4change@gmail.com.

The Bookshelf: 15 Essential Social Marketing Feeds

Going off of Ogilvy PR’s “Essential 15 Pack” of RSS feeds to follow, I’ve developed the “Essential 15 Feeds for Social Marketers.” To follow the feed, just click on the name and the link. Enjoy!

Blogs

1. Spare Change, authored by social marketing expert Nedra Weinreich (Link corrected*)
2. On Social Marketing and Social Change, authored by social marketing thought leader Craig Lefebrve
3. Public Sector Marketing 2.0, authored by Canada’s up and coming social marketing and social media marketing professional Mike Kujawski
4. Osocio, the number one spot for all things social advertising and social change relataed
5. Beth’s Blog, authored by nonprofit tech guru Beth Kanter
6. Health Marketing Musings, authored by CDC’s National Center for Health Marketing Director Jay Bernhardt
7. Have Fun * Do Good authored by Britt Bravo, informing you on all nonprofit related news items
8. Ogilvy’s 360 Digital Influence Blog covers social marketing topics occasionally.
9. Social Marketing Blog, a newly discovered blog just started this month by a man named Jack. So far, there is only one post, but if the rest of his posts are anything like his first, then the social marketing field is in good shape. Welcome Jack!
10. Getting Attention blog, authored by Nancy E. Schwartz offers insights and tips on nonprofits communications and programs.
11. Subject to Change, authored by Vanessa Mason, a young and up-and-coming social marketer currently doing AIDS relief work in Mozambique.
12. Socialbutterfly, authored by yours truly, and highlights the movement of social marketing as well as related social media stories.
13. What Do You Stand For? authored by Cone Communications Inc. Though this blog is linked to a cause marketing firm, the blog covers a range of social marketing related topics, offering fresh insights and useful resources.
14. Getting to the Point, authored by Katya Andresen, talks about all-things nonprofit marketing and what she deems in her book – ‘Robin Hood Marketing.’
15. Pulse and Signal, authored by Andre Blackman, who writes about the intersection between health and technology. DavidRothman.net is another one stop shop for all you need to know regarding the health 2.0 developments.
16. YOU. That’s right. Your blog, whether current or in the works, can become the essential blog. In the arena of social marketing, we NEED more voices to galvanize the field further. If anyone would like to start a social marketing blog, please feel free to contact me with any questions, brainstorming or for support at socialbutterfly4change@gmail.com. The more of us the better. =)

Note: There are many, many more helpful blogs out there that I currently subscribe to, and I wish I could have named them all. Many of the 15 essential also cross boundaries with others fields beyond social marketing, mainly because, there aren’t that many social marketing based voices within the blogosphere.

For more ideas about which blogs to follow, I suggest you check out my links page, the ChangeBloggers wiki, the NonProfit Blog Exchange and the Kivi Leroux Miller’s Carnival for Non-Profit Consultants.

Are you ready to par-tay with Jonny and the gang?

What: Jonny’s Par-tay, the live interactive online talk show
Who: Join special guests Andre Blackman, Qui Diaz, and Alexandra Rampy, with host Jonny Goldstein and super producer Scott Stead.
Where: jonnyspartay.com
When: Weds., July 16, Weds, 9-10PM

As Jonny himself wrote…

Commercial marketing is a powerful discipline that influences people (say, you) to behave a certain way (say, buy Count Chocula cereal). But what if the concepts and tools used by commercial marketers were used to effect positive social change–to get people to stop smoking, exercise regularly, or conserve energy? That’s social marketing. This week we have three afficionados of social marketing, Andre Blackman, Qui Diaz, and Alexandra Rampy, who are also deep into the world of social media. How does social marketing work, and how does social media fit into the marketing mix when we’re talking about marketing for good, not just for increased commercial success. Come to this very special Par-tay 4 Good this Wednesday!

This is my first LIVE webcast, so be sure to tune in for the great convo, interesting topics and the occasional nervous twitch as viewers can send LIVE questions for us to answer. See you then! 😉

Social Marketing: Smokey Bear’s Makeover

Get your smokey on. This is the tagline for a new campaign sponsored by the Ad Council, USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters.

It’s also the tagline for the first social marketing campaign highlighted in my campaigns series. I chose this campaign not only because of its relevance and timeliness, but also because of some of the social media promotional components integrated with the campaign.

Meet Smokey Bear: Born in 1944, a time when firefighters were serving in the war effort. Thus, fire prevention became a key wartime issue. In 1944, 22 million acres of land were lost with 9 out of 10 forest fires were accidental. Most of Smokey’s campaigns focused on specific fire-prevention behaviors with the message, “Only you can prevent forest fires.”

Smokey Bear’s Make-Over: Today, Smokey Bear wants others to “Get Your Smokey On,” encouraging others to take on Smokey’s characteristics of encouraging others to practice fire safety behavior and to even intervene if necessary.

Background Research: According to the Ad Council, an average of 6.5 million acres of U.S. land was burned by wildfires every year for the past 10 years. Research also shows that many Americans believe lightning starts most wildfires. However, 88% of wildfires nationwide are started by humans. The principle causes are campfires left unattended, trash burning on windy days, careless discarding of smoking materials and BBQ coals and operating equipment without spark arrestors.

Objective: To encourage the target audience to sign the “Get Your Smokey On” Wildfire Pledge,” where signers pledge to “Be smart whenever I go outdoors.” The pledge also outlines 9 points of safety behaviors and beliefs that the reader agrees to follow.

Audience: The primary audience are adults aged 18-35 who are causal campers, hikers and bikers.

Campaign Components

• Online
  • Interactive Website
  • An Online Pledge
  • Downloads: Print your own Smokey Bear mask
  • Educational Information
  • A Mash-up Map showing where wildfires are currently burning in the U.S.
  • A live tracker for how many acres have burned in the U.S. so far this year
  • Online Kid’s games
  • Campaign History
  • View the PSAs online
• Commercials/PSAs

Evaluation: The Smokey Bear campaign has always been evaluated based by the reduction in the number of acres lost annually in fires and based upon the campaigns recognition. Smokey Bear is currently the most recognizable image in the U.S., after Santa Claus.

Creator: Made pro-bono by DraftFCB. In the close future, Smokey will also be featured in PSAs alongside Sleeping Beauty created in partnership with The Disney Company .

Social Marketing Rating: According to the social marketing wiki, this initiative meets the requirements for social marketing. However, on the wiki it is argued that it’s not very good social marketing stating that the online pledge mixes behavior and non-behavior objectives and is too long for readers to actually follow. It’s review goes on.

However, I think it’s a great awareness and promotional campaign. In terms of taking a complicated issue, research and statistics and communicating it, especially online. I think the campaign has two most powerful components:

1. The mash-ups outlining statistics. This makes the issue real, alive, relevant…and local.
2. The message that an individual can be empowered as an advocate.

What do you think? What’s your analysis?

What’s Your Social Media Ritual? Sharing My Own 15-Steps

At work, we’ve been talking a lot about the information scans we all do on our own…who we refer to, which sites are the best, the most useful feeds, etc. So, now, out of curiosity and from inspiration gained from Chris Brogan’s recent post: “Where I Learn More,” I’m asking: Where do you go to learn?

Brogan’s article is great, as in it, he talks about the role of influence and asks us to reflect on what influences what we learn, think, behave and believe….so close to a social marketing (the real social marketing) question my buttons were popping with techy-excitement.

Here is my average, daily, social media ritual.

Please share me yours, and perhaps we can both expand our horizons a little. =)

1. Check my work e-mail account. Its true fellow co-workers.
2. Check my regular Gmail account. I get various e-newsletters and feeds here such as the Ad Council Creative E-newsletter, emails from the Social Marketing listserv, Chris Brogan’s new e-newsletter and others.
3. Check my blog email account. I get various e-newsletter and feeds here that help me stay up to date on the social media, nonprofit, and social marketing arena. Some of my favorite includes Nedra Weinreich’s Spare Change Blog, Beth Kanter’s blog/wiki, and Ogilvy PR’s 360 Digital Influence blog.
4. Check my Bloglines feeds, to see what good posts are up and published.
5. Check out both the nonprofit and the social media categories on Alltop.com
6. Do a scan of: TechCrunch, Trendspotting, Read Write Web, Osocio, Non-Profit Times, NextGov, BrazenCareerist, Social Times, and others. This can depend on the day and the topic I’m currently investigating.
7. Check old Twitter feeds I may have missed. Especially key feeds from @GeoffLiving, @Nedra, @chrisbrogan, @scobleizer, @rww, @abfdc, @allllll the others I follow on Twitter. Really, it’s a community working together and sharing. It. is. awesome.
8. If it’s a Monday, I check out the Carnival for Non-Profit Consultants.
9. Check in on Linkedin to see if anyone new I know has joined or connected. The homepage on Linkedin is becoming increasingly fun.
10. Surf around the NonProfit Blog Exchange if Emily has posted some great new posts.
11. Then, it’s on to the social bookmarks. I check my delicious, both my networks and my subscriptions. Oftentimes, those I am connected to are in a similar field or have similar interests, so thank you everyone on del.icio.us.
12. Then, I spend a little time on Digg, and may occasionally check in on StumbleUpon. I’m really liking Mixx more and more too, though, there doesn’t seem to be as many people on it.
13. I check up on the scoop of my work’s internal wiki.
14. Check meetup.com for upcoming events and opportunities to take online connecting –> offline.
15. More scooping that I probably, and I apologize, didn’t list. Though, if I remember more, I will place in the comments. There’s always MORE to learn and MORE resources to discover. =)

Important note to make: This is just the listening phase.

About the listening phase. I might do some or all of this ritual depending on the day and the time. The point is though, that my ritual is…I am always listening. Always checking in. Always asking questions. Always working to seek answers.

The FUN part, is taking it all in, reflecting, and creatively organizing the content and information in your head to implement innovative, effective communications. And, when I really want to *get wild,* I reflect further, beyond the field of communications, social media or marketing…but more to what Chris mentions, about influence. About change. About society. About trends. About what it all means.

Photo Credit: Flickr, Elias Pirasteh

The Government’s A-Twitter: Comprehensive List of Government Twitter Feeds

This post is written in the spirit of social media guru Robert Scoble’s visit to DC and his interviews with political reps to discuss tech policy. Specifically, let’s talk about the fact that the U.S. government is a-twittering. True words, government and Twitter in the same sentence. Scoble reflects in his post here.

Even U.S. President George Bush sent out his 1st Twitter with the help of Sen. John Culberson when Sen. Culberson was showing the President both Twitter and Qik. You can see it here!

Government Agencies

For government agencies, most often, the Twitter account is in conjunction with the government’s related blog. So, now, we’re getting government agencies who are not only blogging, but using TwitterFeed to promote the posts through Twitter. I am still rounding up info. to find government accounts on Jaiku and/FriendFeed.

@dipnote – The U.S. Department of State

@govgab – USA.gov, component of their blog, GovGab

@greenversations – The Environmental Protection Agency

@TSABlogTeam – Transportation Security Administration, Based on TSA’s Evolution of Security Blog

@USAgov – USA.gov

@GobiernoUSA – USA.gov’s Spanish Portal

@womenshealth – Womenshealth.gov

@NASA – Well, it’s NASA =) Check out NASA’s Twitter box and find various other NASA Twitter feeds about certain missions including @MarsPhoenix, @nasacolab, and 13 other NASA related feeds!

Government Officials

@BarackObama – Barack OBama

@joebiden – Sen. Joe Biden

@JimDeMint – Sen. Jim DeMint

@SenatorDodd – Sen. Chris Dodd

@ChuckGrassley – Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa)

@frankwatson – Sen. Frank Watson

@jiminhofe – Sen. Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma)

@johnculberson – Congressman John Culberson

@MarkUdall – Congressman Mark Udall (Colorado) On his website, he is even implementing his own mini-social network for citizens to join, blog and join county groups!

@TomLatham – Congressman Tom Latham (Iowa)

@neilabercrombie – Congressman Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii)

@ThadMcCotter – Congressman Thad McCotter (Michigan)

@CongJoeWilson – Congressman Joe Wilson

@schwarzenegger – California Gov. Arnold Schwarsenegger

@GovernorGibbons – Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons

@govgranholm – Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm

@johncherry – Michigan Lieutenant Gov. John Cherry

@PeterKinder – Missouri Lieutenant Gov. Peter Kinder

U.S. States

@coloradogov – Colorado Government

@kygov – Kentucky Government

@vermontgov – Vermont Government

@UtahGov – Utah Government

@SCGOV – South Carolina Government

@www_maine_gov – Maine Government

@rigov – Rhode Island Government

Other

@TheWhiteHouse – The White House

@HouseFloor – U.S. House of Representatives

@SenateFloor – The U.S. Senate

@NRSC – National Republican Senatorial Committee

@secgen – The U.N. Secretary General

If I missed any, please let me know and I’ll add them to the list!

Ok, what are your thoughts? Is this a good thing? What does this mean, and how will it affect or impact constituent and government relations? LOVE to hear, =)

photo cred: Flickr, vagabondrhythm

Social Media Highlight: Ning is Great, but waiting for Relevance

Next up in the Social Media Highlight Series, where I sign-up for a certain social media site/app/platform, use it for a couple of weeks and offer a reflection on my thoughts and experience, is the social network Ning.

About: Ning was co-founded by Netscape founder Marc Andressen and onetime Goldman Sachs banker Gina Binachini in 2004. It’s software enables anyone to create their own social network based around any idea, topic or mission. There are Ning groups about hobbies, gourmet food, geographic locations, causes and more. Interestingly, 50 Cent has his own Ning with over 100,000 members. Ning was recently estimated to be worth half a billion dollars with 237,000 current networks and growing at 1000 a day!

Use: Ning allows for any user to create his or her own social network. The service is free, and you don’t have to know how to code. Ning is currently all the buzz and is said to have a bright future as more and more capabilities are added onto to service. Currently, Ning can incorporate video, music, discussion forums, google maps, flickr, web badges, and ways to cross promote with Myspace and Facebook.

Demographics: Anyone and Everyone. NING features a diverse group of users that run the gamut in uses and interests. However, according to Quantcast, Ning is especially popular with African-Americans, who make up 75% of Ning’s users. With age, Ning is most popular among users 18-34, followed by users 35-49.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 wings

Rationale:

• Good:
  • Ning has a lot of potential and is doing a great and innovative service that no one else really provides except for CrowdVine. However, Ning was first, and usually the first gets more brand recognition because it’s well, the first. However, I think CrowdVine has a great promotional strategy of separating it’s call to action for users around groups and events, whereas Ning’s call is primarily more individual based (e.g. “You can create your own network”).
  • Also, Ning is nice because you don’t have to be a developer to use it, there’s numerous groups, it is more niche and interest based than say Facebook of MySpace, and it’s growing.
  • And, if you purchase your Ning page, you don’t have to display ads and more security features can be added.

• Bad:
  • Though its big and its growing, I didn’t find much on Ning that I thought was relevant to myself. Thus, for the everyday user, it could be too niche-focused. Perhaps I will become more interested when I attend a conference that has a Ning page. I did find the 29-Day Giving Page on Ning which I enjoy, so its not that bad.
  • You have to do some digging once on Ning to find something that grabs you, or, you have to be pointed to use Ning by a certain group.
  • And, when you do want to join, you have to go through a lot of steps.
  • You can join multiple social networks, but then, that’s can become a lot of managing different profiles and group communities.

Social Marketing and Ning:

• Marketing4Change is one step ahead with their Ning, aka their own social networking site, dedicated to social marketing. You can join them here.
• There are groups for library 2.0 and numerous groups for those involved in government and health communications.
• My own ID is SocialButterfly. I like the idea behind Ning. I’m just waiting for when it becomes uber-relevant for something I need. Like, if we would want to create a “Social Marketing Network” and then get everyone to join, that would be awesome. I even saved the Ning name “Fly 4 Change,” just in case. However, not all of us social marketers are connected online…so, I figured it be me and a few of the trustees that I already stay in touch with through blogging, Twitters, email, facebook, etc.

What do you think? How would you rate Ning?