DFID blogs.dfid.gov.uk
In addition to my recent Twitter analysis, I wrote another article on development organizations and social media on the web2fordev blog, which I crosspost also here.
Many organizations have approached the social web and new technologies from different angles during the last years. Large organisations have engaged in one or another way, in social media. But did they fully embrace the participatory web? Let’s take a look at how development organisations have approached the social web and where the status quo stands.
A general objective for development organisations is to increase their outreach. Social media are used to spread news and other information across the social web. Reaching an audience directly has many advantages, but are organisations ready to address the challenges inherent to a two-way communication interaction?
Video
Video channels are a popular form. All large development organizations have their own channels on Youtube: World Bank (2 236 subscribers), United Nations (6 608 subscribers), UNDP (1276 subscribers) USAID (43 subscribers) and CTA. While some organisations rely on the production of professional videos, USAID is still experimenting with a blend of professional and grassroots video productions. Like USAID, on its vimeo platform CTA offers both professional and in-house productions while on its official video site CTA offers a range of professionally produced multimedia related to agriculture and rural development.
Across the sites the number of subscribers confirms of the interest that people have in multimedia related to development cooperation. The download statistics of the World Bank, which exceed one million, support this assessment.
Another area of involvement are social network websites such as Twitter. Many organizations have Twitter accounts such as UNDP , UNICEF, UNHCR , UN , USAid, CIDA , AfDB , CTA, etc. The World Bank has various Twitter accounts such as news of an Asian section.
While videos are used to broadcast news, I wonder whether these organizations use Twitter to nurture two-way communication. A quick analysis indicates that this is not the case. Out of ten organizations, only two reacted to their audience and replied with a message.
Blogging
The blogging efforts from the World Bank and DFID are certainly different. The world bank has blogs covering different thematic areas such as conflict , governance or private sector development and these are linked to debates and interactions with the wider blogosphere. DFID has taken a different approach and provides “real life perspectives from those working on the ground to fight poverty”. It offers surfers to join the debate. DFID’s bloggers trigger quite some discussions on some posts, but also leave some questions unanswered. Other blogging efforts are being conducted by the United Nations and the Overseas Development Institute.
Another popular approach are the Fan pages on Facebook, which are mostly used as an alternative channel to broadcast organisational news (e.g. USAid) and create a space where fans can post questions and remarks. In the case of the World Bank, its page has 7758 members, with whom the organization is interacting quite actively. CTA has launched its Fan page on Facebook and accounts fora few hundred members so far.
Use of multiple social media
An more advanced approach is taken by some NGOs. A good example is Oxfam, which actively taps into the potential of the participatory web. Their blogging portal combines many different social media forms. Discussions are linked to different communities and Oxfam has built a far-reaching audience, with which it is engaged with.
Drawing the line
So, in conclusion, if one looks back at the time of the Web2forDev 2007 Conference , a lot has happened and some organisations have invested considerable resources to engage with social media. Nonetheless despite the promising signs for two-way conversations, it seems many organisations still have to define a well-though strategy and deploy the necessary resources to make the most out of the social web and its potentials.
In parallel some organisations are increasingly investing in integrating “social features” into existing internal web communication. This aspect will we be discussed in a forthcoming post.
No related posts.
This blog explores worldwide social innovations and information and communication technologies. 
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Talking with the audience: Development organisations and social media: While some organisations rely on the produc… http://bit.ly/aTa0qt
Development orgs and social media: http://bit.ly/aTa0qt. Of large aid orgs, guess whose YouTube channel has the fewest (43) followers?
How development and aid organizations use social media http://ur1.ca/041z9 via @asteris @ckreutz
Hi Chris, good overview!
For UN organizations’ efforts on Facebook, see also the UNDP page with 23,500 followers here http://bit.ly/cPkHYj and the (originally not corporate, but staff driven initiative) “DPKO Support Page for UN Staff in Haiti” at http://bit.ly/c6Eps8, which for me is one of the best examples of the helpfulness of social networking tools in an emergency situation.
Entwicklungshilfeorganisationen und Social Media – Entwicklungen und Fortschritte im Blog von @ckreutz | http://bit.ly/c12mhq
Talking with the audience: Development organisations and social media http://ow.ly/1Sudr
RT @KatrinKiefer: Entwicklungshilfeorganisationen und Social Media – Entwicklungen und Fortschritte im Blog von @ckreutz | http://bit.ly/c12mhq
RT @KatrinKiefer: Entwicklungshilfeorganisationen und Social Media – Entwicklungen und Fortschritte im Blog von @ckreutz | http://bit.ly/c12mhq
Most UN organizations have a fairly big official and unofficial facebook presence.
Some examples:
UNICEF http://www.facebook.com/#!/unicef?ref=ts (234,000 fans),
United Nations http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/United-Nations/59900710019?ref=ts (25,000 fans),
World Food Programme http://www.facebook.com/#!/WorldFoodProgramme?ref=ts (47,000 fans)
Also what is interesting is that a lot of UN agency country offices are also creating their own pages for people to learn about specific country programmes- these have fans both from within the country and abroad. One popular one is UNICEF Malaysia with over 22,000 fans.
Large organisations have engaged in one or another way in social media. But did they fully embrace the participatory web? http://is.gd/czwVn
Thanks for a great post. Too often organizations start social media initiatives that ultimately fail due to the lack of an integrated strategy.
thanks christian! i had missed this post, but am glad i came across it!
Have you done any analysis on what kind of resources are needed in order to realise true two-way communication for development orgs? Of course it will vary from org to org, but I’d be interested to know a rough estimate of how much time, effort, staff, etc needs to be involved in order for meaningful exchanges to take place. I’ve been finding that the Social Media efforts are assigned to Comms departments to monitor and post from, whereas the content dialogue and responses are easiest for field staff. But then setting up channels to stream questions and responses from from Comms departments to field staff and back is an additional strain on valuable time.. any thoughts? cheers!
@saskia that can easily take a consultancy assignment.
Most important it often takes more resources then expected. Although I talked to many organizations, which have anticipated the resource challenge, however, they missed the potentials to also automate some stuff to share information. For example if many employees contribute to a channel the efforts can be minimal if you share here and there some interesting information. All together it really depends on what your goal is. There are campaigns attempting to include members or volunteers, which easily “absorb” one person full time. But it can be much less if it is intelligently integrated into the existing knowledge sharing processes within an organizations. Then the benefit is often higher, because there are more people, who share and learn from the exchange. In this respect to assign social media to communication department makes little sense and “reduce” the communication to public relations.