Social Media | Victor Jung

Social media outlets are often useful tools that entities such as nonprofit organizations can utilize to help promote their message and build a brand. This short blog highlights several tips such establishments might employ to accomplish those tasks.

Put Services Into Action

Nonprofits can maximize the use of social media sites by creating videos or voice spots depicting the goods and services said entities provide. Some individuals refer to this strategy of showing rather than telling what an organization’s mission is.

Give Others the Opportunity to Offer Support and Praise

Social media outlets enable individuals who benefit from a nonprofit agency’s efforts to share their appreciation. Supporter plaudits could go a long way to improving the organization’s reputation and increasing said entity’s influence.

Stimulate Fundraising Efforts

Many nonprofits rely heavily on fundraising efforts to fund the services and programs said agencies offer. Social media avenues provide a direct and public medium to create and promote various fundraising activities.

Engage with the Local and Larger Community

Online public platforms provide nonprofits with an easy and straightforward method of interacting with the communitythey serve, as well as the general public as a whole. Visible online presences enable said organizations to introduce themselves, inform their viewing audiences what their purpose is and keep them informed about important events.

Communicate on a More Personal Level

Nonprofits can utilize social media platforms to interact on a more personal level. Through the creation of videos or photos captions, said agencies can introduce specific people within their organizations or provide a more intimate glance into the entity’s everyday activities. Said actions could endear themselves to many people and improve the organization’s presence.

Allow for User Feedback

Social media outlets make it easier for nonprofit agencies to receive direct and immediate feedback about their performance rendering needed services and programs. Organizing a poll or survey regarding such efforts can be executed with relative ease. Additionally, comment sections give the public the chance to voice their opinions. Organizational heads have this information on hand and, if a significant percentage of the feedback is negative, said professionals can implement improvements on the fly.

Reduce Advertising and Marketing Expenses

Because nonprofits are much more reliant on funding than other organizations, said entities often possess limited advertising budgets. Utilizing social media provides a less expensive method of advertising than taking out ads in publications or using other forms of media like radio and television.

It is no secret that technology is one of the most ubiquitous entities in our modern society. While this fact comes with countless benefits — from increased speed and efficiency in performing menial tasks to the introduction of life-saving technologies — its drawbacks are almost as plentiful.

Take, for example, the Western world’s increasing dependence on technology and social media for communication, entertainment, and even newsgathering. Not only have these tendencies led to gross misinformation amongst the masses, but have resulted in radical lifestyle changes via widespread internet addiction as well.

Unfortunately, the negative impacts of technology are not exclusive to adult users. Instead, thanks to the introduction to technology and, more specifically, social media to younger age cohorts, researchers are finding that more teens, adolescents, and even young children are showing symptoms of problematic internet usage and other subsequent psychological disorders.

This is mostly rooted in the fact that active participation in social media triggers a positive neurochemical reaction — in other words, a burst of dopamine. When users receive technology-related cues, such as their smartphone buzzing with new notifications, they get caught in an endless cycle of dopamine exposure and withdrawal. The desire to avoid such withdrawals can lead to users spending hours scrolling through social media in search of their next burst of dopamine.

When children become entangled in this vicious cycle, they are less likely to resist the urge to avoid pertinent tasks — such as homework, extracurricular activities, or even face-to-face socialization — in favor of spending hours scrolling through their social media accounts on their various devices.

However, forcing a child to cleanse themselves of social media is not necessarily the key to putting an end to these negative ramifications, as they are quickly becoming addicted to just using their devices as well — whether it be for texting friends, streaming music, or other relevant activities.

In an article for The Huffington Post, Dr. Jim Taylor reviewed several pieces of research that all proved the existence and brevity of addiction to technology. One of the students that were surveyed in an aforementioned study stated, “Media is my drug; without it I was lost. I am an addict. How could I survive 24 hours without it?”

That being said, there are substantial benefits to using technology and social media in moderation. For example, teens and adolescents can use social media to accomplish specific social tasks, such as: staying connected with distant friends and family, making new acquaintances, and sharing photos and life events.

Additionally, social media and technology offer enhanced learning and community engagement opportunities, as teens can utilize social media to form groups in which they can exchange ideas and expand their knowledge of the world around them.

It is imperative to note that no technology is inherently good or bad, but that their ultimate purposes are defined by their common uses. If parents, guardians, and other authority figures are proactive in ensuring their children are safe online and off — and spend their time online responsibly as well — they will likely see more of the benefits of social media than their drawbacks.

Tag: Social Media

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