It was a privilege to keynote at last weeks Making Links (or was it the week before already).
As a natural born cynic I need to regularly surround myself in people who do amazing things for humanity to keep my spirit charged (sorry to be such taker on that front 😉 , and it was indeed an inspirational couple of days seeing the great projects presented there. I also really benefited from the questions and feedback from those in the audience, many of whom are dealing with complex issues such as supporting transgender teens, protecting sex workers from abuse, and outreach to those at risk of HIV.
The crux of my own presentation was about plotting a presence in the now very distributed digital ecology in which we now can exist, that is appropriate to those whom you are trying to reach. So, rather than thinking in terms of the one stop shop corporate or organisational website, focusing on connecting with communities at their level, in ways meaningful for them. For many organisations then there are opportunities in facebook and myspace, or twitter and other public forums for intersecting and connecting with members of their community around shared interests. However organisations that focus on issues such as those mentioned above, have a very real need to engage in private and anonymous communications with their audiences. So while much of the conversation about social media currently about the place (including my own) is focused on getting your message out their and leveraging these networks to position, dissmenate and amplify your message, we should also take note of other ways in which social technologies can support social change.
For example young people dont necessarily want to friend the Freedom Centre and broadcast to their friends (and possibly family) that they are gay or transgender. Similarly people who are at risk of HIV are sensitive to being identified. But (as was seen through the presentations) technologies such as MSN, and anonymous comments and messaging on websites opens up the possibilities of communicating with these audiences in ways not possible in traditional outreach campaigns. Similarly the enormous opportunity to connect with, and provide support for a remote or iterinant communities through mobile phones was also made visible. For example the Youth Connected presentation talked about the dramatic increase in positive relationships and success stories made possible throught their programm of giving troubled youth and street kids their mobile phones. A lunchtime conversation with another attendee focused on the possibilities for keeping in touch with sex workers via mobile phones, and in particular enabling them to report and register abuses more easily.
It was great to have the opportunity to share such thoughts and experiences with people doing important but often uncelebrated work well outside the mainstream marketing and business focused conversations on social media use.
