Connecting CommunitiesOnline Tools for Networking

Association of Community Access BroadcastersNational Conference 2009

Simon YoungSocial media exploreriJump Ltd

It’s not about technology

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/avoiretc/3441244946/

It is about communities

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cowbite/3518838283/in/photostream

Some of the options

• Facebook

• Ning

• Google Sites

• Wetpaint

• SocialText

Facebook Groups

Pros

• Everyone’s there

• Great functions (Events, Forums, Photos, etc)

Cons

• Some people don’t want to be on Facebook

• Pull, not push

Facebook Pages

Pros

• Updates show up in fans’ news feeds

• Insights & stats

Cons

• Some people don’t want to be on Facebook

Ning Networks

Pros

• Standalone - someone only needs an email address to join

• Fully featured: Forums, blogs, profiles, videos, photos, etc

Cons

• Doesn’t connect with Facebook or other social media accounts - have to set up a separate account

Google Sites

Pros

• Edit pages together

• Relatively user-friendly

Cons

• Every user needs a Google account

• No personal profiles

sites.google.com

Wetpaint

Pros

• Super easy to use

• Can use other social network IDs to sign in

Cons

• Designed to be public

Other options include Wikia, Wikispaces

SocialText

Pros

• Heavy duty collaboration tool

• Includes desktop app

Cons

• Costs money for groups of more than 50 people

Other options include Wikia, Wikispaces, Wetpaint

Choices

• Private or public?

• Open or Exclusive?

• Mostly two-way, or mostly one-way?

Steps to adoption

• Who’s responsibility is it?

• There is no perfect solution

• Part of the job is training people how to use the tools

Summary

• Facebook - groups and pages

• Ning - standalone social network

• Google Sites - collaborate on content

• Wetpaint - easy-to-use wiki

• SocialText - heavy-duty collaboration

Thank you

• iJump’s updates: ijump.co.nz/subscribe

• On Twitter: twitter.com/ijump

• By email: simon@ijump.co.nz