Turning Social Media into Action

This picture will not help needy children, feed the hungry or save the whales



Last week my classmate Jacqueline and I won second place in Malika  Chopra's What's Your Intent competition at Centennial College.  The challenge was to come up with a campaign that could achieve positive social change through social media.

I didn't think we were going to crack the top three because Jacqueline and I decided to focus on something... a little out of the ordinary.  Most people tackled social issues such as literacy, hunger or endangered species, but we decided to focus on the quality of the TTC experience -- not your traditional "social issue."

As it turns out, the judges bought in and really liked our idea, which was a nice surprise.

As we were working on our presentation and after listening to the other groups, it got me thinking about how hard it can be to take that leap from social media to social action.   The reason we chose to focus on the TTC was that we felt it was something that people could actually identify with, and it might actually be possible to make a real impact (conceivably).  For me, the odds that I can encourage someone to think about how they're acting on the TTC are significantly greater than the odds that I can get someone to do something to save the rainforest.  I'm still not convinced that social media is the way to go about getting changes of this magnitude accomplished.  You are not, as I said to some of my classmates the other day, going to save the whales with a Facebook page.

This is something I've been wrestling for awhile now and is something that has come up in our class quite a few times.  How do you go from Facebook friends or Twitter followers to something substantial and real?

We've all seen the issues that arise when a social media campaign fails to link to action.  The infamous Facebook campaign of a few months ago which encouraged people to change their profile picture to that of their favourite childhood cartoon is a great example.  The goal, as far as I understand, was to help fight child abuse.  Clearly, putting a picture of Mickey Mouse up on your computer does nothing to help fight child abuse, especially since most people weren't even aware of the reason that people were doing this.

You could argue that this kind of "activism" is harmless.  But I'd say that the danger comes when people start mistaking this kind of thing for genuine action.  I'm afraid (because, let's be honest, we've seen worse) that there are many who would post a picture of Bugs Bunny and then happily go to bed thinking they've done their part to help child abuse.

I'm not arguing against social media campaigns.  I think they is tremendous potential here to reach a lot of people and inspire positive action.  All I'm saying is we need to take a better look at how we can turn social media participation into positive action.  We clearly have a long way to go.  I don't have the solution.  Maybe it's that social media is such a relatively new phenomenon that we just don't, as a whole, understand how to best make use of it.  I hope we'll get there.  I aim to help.

-AM

I want this job...

MLB's new social media ambassador (and sidekick)

Apparently Major League Baseball is finally getting into the social media game.

MLB just announced the launch of something they're calling the Fan Cave.  Essentially, they are paying a guy (and a sidekick) to sit around in "the fan cave" and watch pretty much every game of the entire MLB season on 15 TVs and tweet/facebook about it.  It sounds like they'll be doing some interviews with players and fans and hosting parties etc. all in an effort to engage social media savvy baseball fans.

MLB hasn't had much of a social media presence before now.  Sure you can follow them on Twitter or get updates from your favourite teams etc., but this marks their first effort at an original and comprehensive social media campaign.

The coolest thing about this initiative is the fact that they're bringing in an "average joe" to be their social media ambassador.  This guy is just a baseball fan like you and me (ok, maybe just me) and beat out over 10,000 other applicants for the right to live baseball and tell the world about it. 

Anyone that knows MLB knows that they aren't exactly the quickest to adapt to change, but this idea is interesting and refreshing.  I think it's a great idea and has the potential to get a lot of people talking about this guy and his experience.  Good move. 

The only downside to all this is that they picked a Yankees fan.  Do we really need to hear more about the Yankees than we already do?

Still, I'll be following this guy all season long.   @MLBFanCave

Always classy at The Massey

I went to see Levon Helm at Massey Hall two weeks ago. (Former drummer for The Band.  If you're thinking to yourself 'what band?' right now, do yourself a favour and stop reading this and go listen to the song "The Weight" immediately.)

While there I was reminded yet again of how awesome Massey Hall is.  I don't know what it is about that place but I just always seem to have a great time there.  It's one of those places where the atmosphere and the history are almost palpable as soon as you walk in the door.  Just an all around awesome place to see a concert.  Great acoustics, intimate but still big enough to draw big names, and nestled in the heart of the city.

And yeah, it has its drawbacks -- no balcony-level bathrooms makes for ridiculously long waits between acts and obstructed-view seats can give you a sore neck, but all that is forgotten, and forgiven, as soon as the house lights dim.

The best comparison I can draw from places I've been is Fenway Park.  Not the flashiest ballpark, but by far my favourite.  Fenway, like Massey, just has ... something.  I can't explain it, but do yourself a favour and go witness it firsthand if you've never been.  And if you have, you're probably due back sometime soon.