Sustainability & Social Media

Improving community engagement by creating a

digital community of practice.

What is Sustainability?Sustainability is the capacity to endure, it has

environmental; economic, and social dimensions.

It is also the responsible management of resource use.

Sustainability is more than just a ‘buzz’ word. In ecology the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time.

In humans and communities , sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of well being; which has ecological, economic, educational, political and cultural dimensions.

Communities Of Practice

A community of practice is the coming together of groups of people who share a common interest, goal or shared identity, in order to participate in collective learning or discourse.

Digital C.o.P• By using social media, and online resources

or tools we can create a digital community of practice.

• This should not only increase community engagement and lead to improved sustainability, but will also allow practitioners and community members to have a greater understanding of their community; characteristics, orientation, and current configuration (Wenger et al. 2013)

Social media.There are hundreds of different social

media sites too many to cover in one document so for the purpose of this piece I will concentrate on the two largest sites. Facebook and Twitter

• www.facebook.com• www.twitter.com

If a community group establishes a Facebook page and Twitter account then invites current members and other groups that they work with in partnership to join these pages they have taken the first step into social networking.

One of the principle benefits to using this medium is that it is already familiar technology to many staff members thus reducing the need for training which in turn reduces costs and supports sustainability.

Going viral

Viral advertising is the use of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to inform community members of available services, upcoming events, timetable changes……etc

These sites can be updated in real time by the administrators, and information, surveys or feed back forums can be accessed by members 24/7 and in many cases in any location via mobile technology such as smart-phones, laptops or ipads.

Going viralNow the average Facebook user has around 200

hundred friends although community groups and organisations can reach well in excess of these numbers.

For example ‘The Only Way Is Coatbridge’ Facebook group has 16,827 likes · 23,044 talking about it!

That’s the equivalent of nearly half of the town liking the page and more than half of them discussing or sharing articles from it.

It’s good to share.

How many times have you been trying to decide whether or not to watch a movie and so you ask a mate? And based on your mates review or recommendation you make your decision, viral advertising employs that principle.

It’s good to share• Community members and practitioners can engage with one

another in an online environment which allows them to share and link various media resources. (see examples below)

• Image http://tinyurl.com/c87k2yd (picture of a community notice board)

• Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-eVF_G_p-Y (I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate||Spoken Word poetry)

• Music http://soundcloud.com/search?q%5Bfulltext%5D=community (community themed tracks on soundcloud)

• Fund raising www.gofundme.com/9s44g (Successful campaign to provide a specialised wheelchair this was achieved in less than a week thanks to viral advertising and social media)

Tips to boost engagement1. Posting between 8am and 7pm will receive 20% more

engagement than posting at other times2. Wednesdays and Sundays are the best days to post on your

community Facebook or Twitter pages.3. Posting 3 or 4 quality materials will receive more likes and

comments than posting more often with lower quality. 4. If you use 80 characters or less, there is a 66% higher

engagement than longer posts 5. If you ask questions, you are both inviting engagement and

giving them a prompt to help them get started. The key is to ask questions that your members will care enough about ( This is where your knowledge of the community will come in handy but also this will help you gain a better understanding of your community as it evolves and grows)

Tips to Boost Enagement6. Fill in the blank posts are 9 times more effective than

regular posts. 7. Keep it simple; don’t overwhelm your members with

too much complicated information. 8. Members may want to learn more about you and

what you have to offer – but they want to talk about themselves, they need to feel that they can relate to the topic.

9. Use images in your Facebook posts to tell a story, catching users’ eyes as they scroll through their Facebook feed, and as a launching point for conversations.

10. Keep it topical, don’t be afraid to use current events as a way of engaging.

When posting on social media it is important to be fun and dynamic as well as informative or educational. It is ok to post a funny picture that you have come across on the internet, but it will promote engagement if you ask people to share a funny picture they have found or even have a caption contest.

Keeping posts shorter will allow members to read them in full as they scroll through their timeline. If you are posting a link to another site, article or video give a brief description beside the url.

Remember however that when posting on your community Facebook or Twitter that you are the human personification of the organisation.

• Be Bold• Be Creative• Be responsive• Be dynamic• Be human

Online resources and toolsVideo sharing http://youtube.comSurveys- http://www.surveymonkey.com/Online petitions http://www.change.org/en-GB Project fund raising http://www.kickstarter.com/Charity fund raising http://www.gofundme.com/Free-Cycling http://www.freecycle.org/ Image sharing http://www.instagram.com/ Podcasting http://www.moozi.ccPresentations http://www.slideshare.net Qualities and skills required from a good community

Facebook manager http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-select-a-

facebook-community-manager/