While looking at the role of social media in the response to recent floods in the Philippines I came across Project NOAH, the “National Operational Assessment of Hazards”, which is an impressive example of how Google maps can be mashed with historical data, current predictions and reports from the public to provide everyone with a more comprehensive picture.
The “Social Media for Good” roundup is an infrequent series of posts where I share interesting links I found on the web. This week with: Legal advice for social media users, a new YouTube-feature that protects anonymity, outstanding non-profit reports and tips to get more followers on Instagram.
I’m a firm believer that you get what you pay for and in that respect I find little encouragement in the “2012 Nonprofit Social Networking Report”. According to the report, non-profits and NGOs are still very reluctant to allocate resources to their social media activities. But this is also a chance for those who are willing to make the investment.
I’m planning to write a book that will help non-profit organizations, NGOs and charities to select suitable content management systems for their websites. If you have any experience with CMS selection or implementation I’d love to hear from you.
Video is an amazing vehicle to connect with your supporters emotionally, to give your beneficiaries a voice and to show the impact of your programmes. YouTube has now published a free “playbook” for non-profit organizations and NGOs that can help them to use YouTube more effectively.
Liberians will go to the polls on 11 October 2011 to vote for a new house of representative, a new senate and – most importantly – they’ll decide who will be the president for the next six years. Ushahidi has set up a website to monitor the elections.
I think of information management a little bit like of logistics: You don’t notice it if it works smoothly, but it has a massive impact if it doesn’t work. But, unlike with logistics, many people are so used to IM being crap that they think that it cannot be improved. Let me tell you: good information management is possible, it’s not even difficult, and it can do lots to improve humanitarian aid.
I just came across a really excellent post by Ushahidi’s Patrick Meier: “A List of Completely Wrong Assumptions About Technology Use in Emerging Economies”. If you have anything to do with using digital tools in a development context, I highly recommend you read this post. Though, of course, the problem is not limited to using web tools.
