Case Study: The LAMP and Social

Media Marketing

Nonprofit Social Communications Case Study Conference

Presented by D.C. Vito and Emily Long

October 28, 2009

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Background

“With a commitment to address the lack of basic media literacy

education in New York City schools and communities, The LAMP

(Learning About Multimedia Project) offers free workshops and public

events designed to help young people, parents and teachers make

sense of the media barrage they encounter in their daily lives.”

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Primary Social Networking Outlets

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www.thelampnyc.org

One-stop shop for all

LAMP media

Del.icio.us & Twitter feeds

Newsletter signup

Other LAMP social media

sites

LAMPpost blog

Recent redesign for

increased interactivity,

social media

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Challenges

“What’s media literacy?”

How can we use social media to reach people who are

not tech-savvy?

Existing stigma of new/social media as an educational

tool

The LAMP is based in and focused on NYC, but social

media reach extends beyond. How does this change

policy?

What tools are worthwhile?

How is this encouraging people to be more critical

media consumers?

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@thelampnyc

Use Twitter to talk about Twitter

Quick, easy dialogue on current events

LAMP Twitter guidelines specify frequency and purpose of tweets

Less value as site driver, better as marketing for The LAMP and media

literacy

Also use bit.ly to track link click-throughs, shorten urls

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facebook.com/thelampnyc

Most fans are people known personally by LAMP staff

Where is the interactivity?

Target audience: parents & teachers

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youtube.com/user/TheLAMPnyc

Showcase for student work—process, not product

Comment moderation, dialogue engages new audience

Work shows media literacy, LAMP students & staff in action

Network with like-minded organizations, individuals

Non-profit channel status allows unlimited video length, feature opportunities

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flickr.com/photos/thelampnyc

Image crowdsourcing

Fast, visual networking

Interactive archive

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thelampnyc.stumbleupon.com

Tends to have a greater geographical reach

Little networking, but good driver of website traffic and

brand awareness

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Social Media in the classroom

Nearly all social media tools are blocked in schools

School policies for cell phones differ, but are generally

discouraged in classroom

Youth network differently than adults online; seemingly

due to privacy/Internet safety concerns, age restrictions

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www.thelampnyc.org