The BBC has now published elements process for verifying social media content, which makes for an excellent read. What emerges is a process that is more like that of a traditional intelligence agency, than what most people had in mind when joining journalism school.
I find it’s pretty rare that you come across good, fresh case studies of how non-profit organizations are using social media. And I’m not talking about “we use Facebook, too.” I mean something that shows how an NGO actually managed to get a concrete, measurable result with the help of social media. “10 tactics for turning information into action” from Tactical Tech is such a rare example. 10 tactics is first and foremost a one hour long movie, but it’s also[...]
To say that the last days were“intense” would be an understatement. From the minute the earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement pulled out all stops to help the people on the ground.
Communications is only a small part of that response and social media an even smaller part. Nevertheless – here are my observations:
I know many NGOs who produce feature-length advocacy films to state their case against e.g. climate change, human trafficking, dragnet-fishing etc. And I am certain that many of them could be greatly enhanced by an approach like “Us Now”.
I like well made advocacy videos – and the one that British Red Cross released today definitely falls into this category. It features Konnie Huq, a well know and very sexy tv-presenter (well known in the UK). The question is: “Would you still want to kiss her, if she was HIV positive?” The reason this video was made is a survey that British Red Cross commissioned of 16-25-year-olds in the UK. The result: Even though 85 per cent know you cannot[...]
Just before I left for my mini break to Prague last week (great city!) I saw “Us Now“, a one hour feature about how collaborative tools can help us make better decisions. The film is public domain and if you want, you can watch the complete documentary below. You can also buy it on DVD, watch it on YouTube or download it as a torrent! In fact, the film project’s website is almost as interesting as the film itself, which[...]
About a week ago, US comedian Sarah Silverman posted a video called “Sell the Vatican, Feed the world.” It has since been viewed almost 500,000 times and has been tweeted, commented and blogged about. I really like this video. I love satire and I think this video does a great job of raising awareness for world hunger. If you haven’t seen it, watch it before reading on. In case you don’t know Sarah Silverman, I should warn you: She is[...]
Last week the IFRC launched a global H1N1 mini-campaign (www.bestdefence.org). What’s new for us is that in addition to making a number of the campaign products social media ready, we are also offering all the production files through our extranet to National Societies as a toolkit in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. Customizable campaign Because, even though all National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are part of the IFRC, they do want to have the logo of their National Society[...]
