The ‘Real-Time’ Of Social Media

Few things have changed faster than the way we communicate. Coupled with the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or green movement, there has been an explosion of information available about how and what companies and organizations are doing to improve society and the environment.

During the past year, at least three major events have influenced how communications relate to CSR:

1) The new administration in Washington is focused on volunteerism, green-collar jobs, alternative energy and other CSR issues.

2) Bernie Madoff and the “collapse” of Wall Street spotlighted (once again) the need for greater transparency and corporate governance.

3) Consumers are demanding information about what the companies from which we buy our goods and services are doing to have a positive impact on society, improve the environment, and in general “save the world.” Companies are finally starting to be held accountable and responsible for the impact and influence they can have to affect change, and they realize the need to communicate it. From a media and PR perspective, this presents both opportunities and challenges.

Any company can issue a press release talking about all the good they’re doing, and consequently greenwashing — and a lack of authenticity has become almost epidemic. It seems every brand wants to capture the green consumer.

The media challenge: To communicate effectively in ways that a growing, “green-focused” audience, consisting of varied demographics, is responsive to and can trust. Authenticity must absolutely be obvious. The age-old, traditional press release isn’t what it used to be. Yes, there’s still a place for it in modern communications, but it’s become widely accepted that its impact is diminished.

Enter blogs and bloggers, videos, podcasts, and various commentaries … all new and different ways to reach an audience no longer receptive to traditional methods such as press releases. Combine this with issues that people are passionate about, that affect their lives and their children’s lives, such as corporate responsibility and sustainability … and that’s the mix that must be communicated. To address that, successful organizations have begun to realize that the value of delivering their messages, consistently in all different media formats, engages a passionate audience.

A paradigm shift has occurred, and we have evolved into new vehicles that embrace social media and technology. Leading organizations have finally realized that the idea of dragging viewers to a Web site to read carefully formulated, single point-of-view, “we really don’t mean to engage with you on this” pronouncements is over.

The obvious answer, as how to reach and influence the most people around a topic or issue, (get the news out, if you will) is to engage them using a media format to which they are most receptive. So, give it to them. And, do so where they’re already spending Web time; online communities, social networks, video channels, iTunes, blog sites and so on.

Forget about the destination Web site. Game over. Every day there are communities of individuals organizing around issues they are passionate about, hungry for information and knowledge about these issues. Whether it’s corporate responsibility, socially responsible investing, human rights, fair trade, the environment or transparency, people have a greater opportunity to engage on each of these issues through new media.

As media professionals, we must help our clients reach and engage with these communities, where they live. And we need to do this using every media format at our disposal to influence and be influenced by the professionals, the consumers and the media points that interact with their brands.

When it comes to issues as important as CSR and green business, leveraging new media to effect change is a must.

 

Prior to founding 3BL Media, Greg Schneider was the COO of a news distribution service focused on corporate responsibility. In recognition of the obvious evolution of communications technologies and the expanding global interest in CSR and sustainability, Greg, along with some friends and colleagues left their jobs to start 3BL Media. Reach him here.

Enter the Sustainable Century – Part 1: A Blog By Chad Tragakis

Strategic communication for business will be critical as President Obama ushers in a new green vision for America and the world

“Let’s be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil. We can harness homegrown, alternative fuels like ethanol and spur the production of more fuel-efficient cars. We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming into a moment of opportunity for innovation, and job creation, and an incentive for businesses that will serve as a model for the world.”
— From Barack Obama’s speech announcing his Presidential Bid in Springfield, Illinois, February 10, 2007

From his campaign kick-off more than two-and-a-half years ago right up through his inauguration this past January, the environment and environmental sustainability were central themes and important priorities for candidate Barack Obama.  He’s been in office for only nine months, but President Obama is moving quickly to reframe the environmental debate and reset expectations on the part of many stakeholders.  All this change will have both an immediate and a long-term impact for business.

Click here to continue reading.

via 3blmedia.com

How nonprofits can get into the script of Hollywood’s big new campaign about volunteering

With the Obamas volunteering on MLK Day, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game video with five living Presidents, United We Serve, and the first-ever 9/11 Day of Service, it’s already been an historic year of promotions about making a difference.

But the exciting dénouement comes next month, with the Entertainment Industry Foundation arranging for 60 TV shows to work service into their scripts.

Here’s an easy way for America’s nonprofit organizations to participate.

Click here to read more…

via 3blmedia.com

Socialised government: the rise of micro public service uninstitutions

Personal Democracy Forum

This post brings together two chapters of the recently published report Social by Social: a practical guide to using new technologies to deliver social impact.

Commissioned by NESTA, it provides a collection of tools to engage communities, offer services, scale up activities and sustain public service projects both from inside and outside government. It also gives insight into some real world examples of the use of social technology in making change happen, two of which I draw on here – Will Perrin‘s take on ‘What this means for government‘ and my article on ‘What this means for public services‘ as a whole.

“If you’re interested in using social media in your organization, and you should be, Social by Social is the real deal.”Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist

Whatever digital engagment, We.Gov or Gov20 means to you, there’s no doubting North American and European government has come a long way over the past 18 months in better understanding and implementing social technologies for social change.

Reaching the wider collective consciousness for the first time in the UK back in March 2008 on release of the interim Power of Information Report, social tech came of age during the course of the 9 month Power of Information Taskforce. As the Taskforce itself said at the time of publishing its final report, “the Taskforce brought together a group from government, industry and the third sector who all share a passion for using ICT to enable better public service delivery.”

As in the US, led by inspiring organisations such as the Sunlight Foundation, much of the review focused on what is seen by many as the foundation of open and social government – the release of public data for transparency purposes. As Will says in his Social by Social article:

Citizens are taking control of public sector information and repurposing it in a process known as data mashing. Clever coders are getting better and better at bringing meaning and clarity to vast quantities of incomprehensible information... Political leaders’ interest in what was an obscure geeky area has been redoubled after the expenses scandal, where very large quantities of previously unpublished data were unexpectedly made public and analysed by journalists. Changes to Freedom of Information and the 30-year rule as well as 21st Century interfaces such as Whatdotheyknow.com will bring more and more data out for analysis. The 2011 Census will even have its own API. Data mashing and the new semantic technologies will create far more transparency and analysis by machines for non statistical people.

Widespread data mashing will be a step change in transparency. The public sector needs to engage with people who might mashup its data and be prepared to respond to unexpected outcomes. In America Obama has seized the agenda with data.gov and in the UK, the Cabinet Office has brought in Sir Tim Berners-Lee to advise on opening up government data. But both countries face a huge challenge to bring data mashing to the entirety of the public sector.

Coupled with the release of data for transparency and (online) public service improvement purposes, online social media have brought about a change in how citizens in the UK have been able to interact with government. While again facing the same issues as laid out by Will above (ie not widely known about or used), steps are being taken in pockets of government to pilot new approaches to online engagement around public services and public policy. The recent Digital Britain report exemplifies the possible, published in a variety of formats including a commentable version, providing a forum for discussion and a range of communications channels including a Twitter account.

However what none of this does is fundamentally address the current (gaping) power inbalance between the government and its citizens. These initiatives, while a step in the right direction, remain very much on the government’s own terms, merely allowing citizens to comment on late stage policy documents published in incomprehensible and unengaging English. As such, many of the well documented cultural challenges (whether weak leadership, complex procurement or a lack of incentive to take “risks”) remain barriers to true and system wide change. Policy making remains very much the preserve of the ‘expert’, in the main only drawing on online tools for PR and political purposes to give a sense of listening and engagement at a point in the process which is too late for any true change to be made.

Thankfully this painfully slow and measured top down change is being challenged and turbo charged by truly disruptive, rapid and needs driven change from outside of government. While data may be the foundation to open government, Gov20 means technology that disrupts from both inside and outside of government, working hand in hand to make change happen. As I put it in Social by Social:

For many the speed and scale of this change is not enough and outside of government change is taking a very different form. Change is emerging from the bottom up, with citizens coming together around shared needs and interests and self-organising to resolve the challenges they face together… Communities of purpose (whether by geography or common cause) are coming together to take on what may have previously been seen as the role of the government in public service delivery, or otherwise acting to publicly hold the government to account on its service delivering… Enabled by the power of the web, public services are beginning to be rebuilt from the bottom up, formed around real rather than perceived need and with people speaking for themselves in their own words and through their own experiences and passions.

These nimble micro public service uninstitutions, from School of Everything to Enabled by Design to Patients Opinion (given a helping hand from iniatives such as Social Innovation Camp and Talk about Local), are redefining public services as we’ve come to know them, socialising them in the true sense of the word.

Without any shadow of a doubt, change is happening at an ever quickening pace driven by the power of the Internet. Whether driven by The Gov or We .Gov:

The web provides limitless possibility in every direction and it is now up to the government to work out how best to shape and support ‘public services 2.0’ – and define its own role within it.

via personaldemocracy.com

Posted via web from 3BL Media’s Posterous

Unanimous! UN resolution aims for nuclear-free world

The Independent

With Barack Obama presiding, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution today aimed at ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Russia, China and developing nations supported the US-sponsored measure, giving it global clout and strong political backing. The resolution calls for stepped up efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote disarmament and “reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism.” Obama was the first American president to preside over a Security Council summit, gaveling the meeting into session and announcing that “the draft resolution has been adopted unanimously.”

“The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our shared commitment to a goal of a world without nuclear weapons,” Obama said immediately after the vote. “And it brings Security Council agreement on a broad framework for action to reduce nuclear dangers as we work toward that goal.”

Just one nuclear weapon set off in a major city could cause major destruction, Obama said.

He said the global effort would seek to “lock down all vulnerable nuclear materials within four years.”

“This is not about singling out an individual nation,” he said. “International law is not an empty promise, and treaties must be enforced.”

“We will leave this meeting with renewed determination,” Obama said.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saluted the national leaders for joining in the unprecedented Security Council summit on nuclear arms.

“This is a historic moment, a moment offering a fresh start toward a new future,” he said.

via independent.co.uk

Health Care Reform is “Women’s Business?”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After months of Congressional debate about health care reform, the Senate Finance Committee is expected to take up Sen. Max Baucus’ proposal on Tuesday. As legislation is crafted, First Lady Michelle Obama is challenging women to speak up about health care reform. Obama points out that women are the primary decision-makers about their family’s health care and they often carry a heavier economic burden, too.

Susan Wood, Ph.D., director of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health at George Washington University and the author of several studies on women and health care, lays out the facts: About 20 percent of women under the age of 65 have no health care insurance; in some states, women are denied coverage if they have experienced domestic violence; and when women do have coverage, they are charged higher premiums and often see a long list of preexisting conditions that are excluded, with pregnancy sometimes on that list.

“Women also pay more out-of-pocket than men do, particularly during their reproductive years. It not only is a cost burden to the woman and her family, but it keeps women from getting the care that they need.”

The lack of stable, high-quality, affordable health care during a woman’s reproductive years can be connected to chronic diseases later in her life, Wood says, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Woods’ research shows that those two conditions in women, combined, cost families more than $200 billion a year in direct medical expenses.

Wood promotes the idea of “well woman” visits for primary and reproductive care for all women through all stages of life. She says right now that kind of care is rarely available and is rarely covered by private insurance.

“At a ‘well-woman’ visit, blood pressure is taken, blood sugar can be monitored, screening for depression and domestic violence and counseling about smoking can be provided. These are issues that can have serious consequences for a woman, either right then or later in life.”

Wood’s latest report, “The Economic Burden of Disease in Women,” is at www.wellwoman09.org.via publicnewsservice.org