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

Social Media & Innovation Combine to Launch 1st Non-Profit Christian Movie Studio Where You Decide

Who’s more influential – Washington D.C. or Hollywood?

Stay with me. Obviously, not all may agree on the content. But, this is worth taking a few minutes to review even if only:

• You enjoy social media
• You like learning about new business models
• You have a heart for nonprofits
• Want to learn more about the power a community can have
• You want to know how all the above can combine to create CHANGE

IJNP, In Jesus’ Name Productions, launched last week during the Cannes Film Festival. It’s promotional video is below. It’s a bit long, but fast forward to the last minute, and you can get the *details.*

In sum:

IJNP desires to leverage social networks with the purpose of uniting Christians around the world to have a ‘say’ in the making of film. IJNP offers Christians to have an influential role in determining which movies the studio makes and/or partners with.

• For $10/month (the price of a movie ticket), members can be a part of ‘participatory film making’ from beginning to end through IJNP’s soon to be launched member social network.
  • At 50k-100k members, movies on par with Hollywood can be made.
  • At a million members, summer blockbusters can be made.
• IJNP will work with the best Christian filmmakers in the industry and has integrated a Christian Film making Apprentice Program.
• IJNP’s Advisory Board currently has representatives from Campus Crusade for Christ, Hollywood Connect, Luis Palau Association and Youth For Christ.
• More details on how a financial gift breaks down, IJNP’s elected advisory board, ‘participatory filmmaking,‘ and learning how to get involved, visit the newly launched website.

First thoughts? And, this is posted in terms of looking at the non-profit business model and the use of social media through social networks.

This should be interesting… =)

 

Social Media & Innovation Combine to Launch 1st Non-Profit Christian Movie Studio Where You Decide

Who’s more influential – Washington D.C. or Hollywood?

Stay with me. Obviously, not all may agree on the content. But, this is worth taking a few minutes to review even if only:

• You enjoy social media
• You like learning about new business models
• You have a heart for nonprofits
• Want to learn more about the power a community can have
• You want to know how all the above can combine to create CHANGE

IJNP, In Jesus’ Name Productions, launched last week during the Cannes Film Festival. It’s promotional video is below. It’s a bit long, but fast forward to the last minute, and you can get the *details.*

In sum:

IJNP desires to leverage social networks with the purpose of uniting Christians around the world to have a ‘say’ in the making of film. IJNP offers Christians to have an influential role in determining which movies the studio makes and/or partners with.

• For $10/month (the price of a movie ticket), members can be a part of ‘participatory film making’ from beginning to end through IJNP’s soon to be launched member social network.
  • At 50k-100k members, movies on par with Hollywood can be made.
  • At a million members, summer blockbusters can be made.
• IJNP will work with the best Christian filmmakers in the industry and has integrated a Christian Film making Apprentice Program.
• IJNP’s Advisory Board currently has representatives from Campus Crusade for Christ, Hollywood Connect, Luis Palau Association and Youth For Christ.
• More details on how a financial gift breaks down, IJNP’s elected advisory board, ‘participatory filmmaking,‘ and learning how to get involved, visit the newly launched website.

First thoughts? And, this is posted in terms of looking at the non-profit business model and the use of social media through social networks.

This should be interesting… =)

 

Free Rice: Mixing Online Learning and Entertainment with Giving

Have some extra time but also want to engage the brain? Try Free Rice.

Play a simple word game and based on your success, rice will be donated to hungry children.

How It Works

A word appears and asks you to define it. Every definition you correctly identify donates 20 grains of rice. You’re intriguing the mind, using social media tools AND giving. Talk about collaborative innovation.

There are 55 different vocabulary levels, with customized options for your own vocabulary growth…the site says that most people don’t get beyond level 48. Will you be the one to reach level 55?!?

The words are also constantly evaluated on their difficulty level depending on how many people get the word right or wrong and new words are always being added.

Why

Free Rice also lists many reasons why its encourages the development of vocabulary as part of its mission in its FAQ section of its website. They include:

• Formulate your ideas better
• Write better papers, emails and business letters
• Speak more precisely and persuasively
• Comprehend more of what you read
• Read faster because you comprehend better
• Get better grades in high school, college and graduate school
• Score higher on tests like the SAT, GRE, LSAT and GMAT
• Perform better at job interviews and conferences
• Sell yourself, your services, and your products better
• Be more effective and successful at your job

Who Finances The Donation?

According to the site, the site’s advertisers are the ones who actually pay for the rice to be donated. And, the site itself does not run a profit. Thus, you play, advertisers pay to be listed on the site, that money funds the rice donation.

Distribution

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) distributes the rice. The WFP works with over 1,000 organizations in over 75 countries, making it the world’s largest food aid agency. When possible, WFP buys the food through the local growers and economy.

Results

From its start on October 7, 2007 to April 27, 2008, the total number of rice grains donated = 29,724,130,370! For a break down of results, click here.

More

To learn more about hunger, visit Poverty.com, an interactive site that teaches about hunger and poverty, and even tracks how many hunger deaths occur per hour through a moving, interactive map…

Other Helpful Sites include:

• The ONE Campaign
  
• UNICEF
• Millennium Campaign
• Global Issues
• MORE