Article Index

Q&A

Here are the questions harvested during the webinar. We hope that these will set you on the right path to social networking.


Question: Do you have a draft social media policy that you can share?
(several other questions had to do with matters of unpredictability / transparency / accountability and are gathered here for simplicity)

Social media policies will vary depending on the nature of your organization, its structure, its mission, the amount of people dealing with social media and many other factors.
Here are a few points that generally apply to everyone:

  •  Sharing and collaborating are at the heart of social media. Make them the building block of your policy: gather all team members who are active on social media to help shape the guidelines.
  • Clearly identify the person or persons who will have access to your organizations social media accounts.
  • Aways respect privacy and copyrights. 
  • Remain neutral 
  • Always respond to comments, whether positive or negative.
  • In case of negative feedback, remain courteous, proactive and constructive i.e exercise the same common sense that you would in a "real life" situation.

Socialbrite offers very useful guidelines for non profits, educators etc. on creating a social media policy: 
http://www.socialbrite.org/2013/02/05/create-a-social-media-policy-for-your-nonprofit/


Question: How can you prevent your social media use on sensitive/complex  topics from becoming vacuous  or leading to overly simple messages?
Answer: Character-sensitive platforms do not appear to leave much room for nuance, but each social channel offers different options.
You will be able to submit much more content on a channel like Facebook or LinkedIn than you would on Twitter.
Twitter is a brief expression of a moment or an idea and allows you to share links to more in-depth pieces. See it as a headline to grab the readers' attention and get them to read your full article, blog etc. It is an exercise in conciseness to get to the heart of what you want to share.
Thankfully, many of your peers are likely already doing this quite well. Keep an eye on what they do, retweet them, and find inspiration in their style.

Question: WEAAD is coming up.  What and why would I tweet?
Why tweet? For the same reason that you would advertise or call friends to tell them about WEAAD.
You will reach more people and share your knowledge with a wider group of individuals through popular social channels.
What can you tweet? Activate your network and become each other's champions: announce the events that you are planning, talk about other partners' activities.
Let people know where they can find WEAAD activities and material.
If you are organizing an event, take photos and document the event as it unfolds. 


Question: Creating your own 'community' was sort of discouraged, but that is our organization's only option, because there is no solid network wherein we fit.  Any quick tips about that?
Creating your own community may take more effort and time than are available to you currently. Chances are similar groups already exist online. Are your organization's activities related to healthcare? research? law-enforcement? social work? academia? Maybe they are connected to several fields? Reach out to other organizations in these fields first. 
If you have any doubt, start with bigger networks, like the CNPEA, whose mandate is to gather individuals and organizations from across Canada to build a national community of practice. Our members and supporters come from all walks of life and have much to share. Contact us directly by email or use our social media as a gateway to a wider net of contacts to share your activities and programs with.

If you are giving Twitter a go, search hashtags like #elderabuse #elderlaw #seniors #WEAAD #WEAADweekly. Each of these gathers all tweets relating to these themes.
#WEAADweekly is a weekly Friday chat. The organizer, The National Center on Elder Abuse (@NCEAatUSC) will announce a new theme each week until WEAAD and will invite insightful stakeholders to take part in the conversation. You could easily join in, it is a good way to get inspired,  gain exposure and interact with other peers through an easy Q&A format.


Get in touch with us
You can inquire further about how the CNPEA can help you get your word out by email, or find us on Facebook and Twitter.


 

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