It seems that Facebook is all over the blogs and on everyone’s mind lately.
In Maine it is solving crimes and in Georgia there was a story recently in the paper about the whole content/privacy issue.
Not too long ago many people were weighing in on the whole twenty-five things floating around, even to the point of creating groups to protest. Personally, I kind of got into that list thing, but then I only got tagged a couple times. I guess it is because I am a total nerd for the random info in my head (my friends count on me for trivia all the time). This article was a little more positive but still concerned with the amount of info online.
So with all this negativity, I though I would share something positive about this social media tool that may be getting missed in all the privacy/leave me out of the twenty-five things hoopla.
So I got a strange request from my boss not too long ago. I was asked to cruise Facebook of all things … on the clock. Turns out as many of us already know, there is this application called “causes” that basically allows you to either show your support for a particular cause, or to create your own. Not only can you recruit “friends,” you can also raise money for your particular cause.
The GA State Parks Friends Group has a page, so when my boss wanted me to look into it for our own 501(c)3 friends group, I was all for it. After all we are stretched pretty thin … budget wise anyway, as everyone who works for the state is aware of.
If you have a non-profit, what better way to reach out to people than through an online tool that reaches approximately eight million people all over the world, second in the number of users only to MySpace. Started in 2004 by Harvard grad Mark Zuckerberg, the company offers the ad-supported site to anyone to use free of charge.
So if you are an organization that relies on donations, word-of-mouth marketing, and viral buzz in order to survive, I can’t see a much better way than to take advantage of this awesome tool. Some are worried about credibility and not looking respectable, but with our economy in the toilet and non-profits shutting their doors every day, why not get creative and start looking to what’s out there. Maybe I am just realizing that the old adage is true. If you can’t beat ’em … join ’em.
See you online.
