For those of us who were not here yesterday for the clicktivism vs activism debate, we are taking it away for another spin..
The man conclusion of last nights debate is that online and offline activism can not work one without the other. Also
/more notes coming from @shrinkydinky http://ecflive.fairsay.com/22/19-clicktivism//
Building lists - powerful fundraising tool.
Don't we do the same with campaigns? We are inventing campaigns to engage people - is this ethical? There is a responsibility of what we do. Focus on numbers is damaging the quality of campaigns. Where you are letting numbers come into the way of the issue.
If you build the list in order to use it for engagement once we need them.
We shouldn't idealise what we had before.
Clay Shirky challeneged charity's idea of engagement in the network for good webinar:
Your users are not like you. activists are active, hence the name.
And if everybody outside of your organization cared as much about your subject as you do inside your
organization, your organization would be a thousand times larger than it actually is.
It’s not a matter of turning everyone into an activist, but rather a matter of saying, “We’re going to reach
people where they are. We’re going to reach people at the level that they care about this.”
If I go to Wikipedia, I don’t have to care about Wikipedia as a whole, I can edit one article. I can edit an article on the US highway system and never care that there are articles on both the Crimean War and Britney Spears. It doesn’t matter to me.
The smallest job I can do on Wikipedia is a tiny edit. I can fix a comma splice. I can change a typo.
And so, Wikipedia is able to integrate the work of literally millions of people because those people don’t
have to be activists, they don’t have to be passionate. In fact, they can be, just a little bit annoyed that
there’s a comma splice on a page they happen to care about, fix that comma splice, never be seen from
again, and still have added some value to the system.
If people see that they are part of a big group - it will help building a momentum around the issue.
Where are we actually powerful - in the polling booth really.
Difference in corporate campaigning and political campaigning. Corporations are bothered about how many people have seen your message and they will care about their potential and current customers.
We need to invest more in building up people to become more and more engaged
Erick Lee in the session yesterday - we are all on the same side. What about the right using these same techniques? british Gas buit a website for schools saying tat they are one of the greenest companies in the UK.
Showing posts with label activism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label activism. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Book review: SMS - mobile uprising in Africa
The request by BOND to review this book couldn’t have come at a better time. I was preparing for a trip to Nigeria to help the local Save the Children create a digital strategy for our child survival campaign. Mobile penetration in Nigeria is high. The country pioneered the use of SMS in their last elections in 2007 when they used Frontline SMS to report election violations. It is obvious that mobile should be the core of any digital strategy. But how has the technology developed recently and how is mobile now being used for social change on the continent?
“SMS uprising – Mobile activism in Africa” was exactly the book I needed to read. Opinion pieces from leaders in the use of SMS for development, from Ken Banks of Frontline SMS to Becky Faith of TacticalTech, combine examples which excite and enthuse with the harsh realities of the digital divide and the political and community contexts that have kept SMS from becoming a significant tool for mobilizing masses in taking action for change.
Yet technology is changing by the day and there is a lot of optimism about the lowering costs and accessibility of mobile phones. This will enable access to mobile internet and open up the benefits of the world wide web to more people in developing countries.
There are also examples of amazing innovation that people in Africa enjoy which we could only envy. Paying your electricity bill by SMS? Sending money to someone via text? Kenyans have been doing this for some time through M-PESA.
And then think about Kubatana in Zimbabwe. Operating in the atmosphere of total information black-out and censorship, this courageous organisation provided essential information and a space where people could voice their opinions and vent their frustration about the chaos caused by the last elections.
Following the 2007 elections in Kenya, Ushahidi – a mash-up of Google maps and SMS used as a reporting tool, enabled ordinary citizens to put violence hotspots on a map for everyone to see. This genius technology has seen wider use recently like in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake.
The book also has a significant focus on the issues of women’s access to technology. While women are the main actors of development, their access to technology is often through their male head of family. Also access to technology can change their status within a family – by using mobile phones to earn small amounts of money, women can reach positions of power which then can lead to increase in violence against them.
In summary, a fantastic book which provides a window into current and future (mobile) technology in Africa and, by extension, a lot of the developing world. As it shows a plethora of SMS uses in development projects, this book is a must-read and a guaranteed inspiration for NGO professionals.
The book published by Hivos and Pambazuka press.
“SMS uprising – Mobile activism in Africa” was exactly the book I needed to read. Opinion pieces from leaders in the use of SMS for development, from Ken Banks of Frontline SMS to Becky Faith of TacticalTech, combine examples which excite and enthuse with the harsh realities of the digital divide and the political and community contexts that have kept SMS from becoming a significant tool for mobilizing masses in taking action for change.
Yet technology is changing by the day and there is a lot of optimism about the lowering costs and accessibility of mobile phones. This will enable access to mobile internet and open up the benefits of the world wide web to more people in developing countries.
There are also examples of amazing innovation that people in Africa enjoy which we could only envy. Paying your electricity bill by SMS? Sending money to someone via text? Kenyans have been doing this for some time through M-PESA.
And then think about Kubatana in Zimbabwe. Operating in the atmosphere of total information black-out and censorship, this courageous organisation provided essential information and a space where people could voice their opinions and vent their frustration about the chaos caused by the last elections.
Following the 2007 elections in Kenya, Ushahidi – a mash-up of Google maps and SMS used as a reporting tool, enabled ordinary citizens to put violence hotspots on a map for everyone to see. This genius technology has seen wider use recently like in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake.
The book also has a significant focus on the issues of women’s access to technology. While women are the main actors of development, their access to technology is often through their male head of family. Also access to technology can change their status within a family – by using mobile phones to earn small amounts of money, women can reach positions of power which then can lead to increase in violence against them.
In summary, a fantastic book which provides a window into current and future (mobile) technology in Africa and, by extension, a lot of the developing world. As it shows a plethora of SMS uses in development projects, this book is a must-read and a guaranteed inspiration for NGO professionals.
The book published by Hivos and Pambazuka press.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
ONE Goal mobile presentation
by David Ryder, Y6 Media
1Goal
The only thing that's being asked of people is to campaign. No donation asks.
Mobile - a great way of getting public support for the campaig.
Linkup with mobile networks - everyone will be receiving an SMS. Free to send free to reply - deal with network.
Once they agree to receive SMS updates they get free downloads - celebrity support so very sticky content.
Normal response rate is 8%. For ONE campaign - 30% - because they will have cool content - concert, merchandise, etc etc
Starts 20th April.
In developing countries:
- deal with major African operators to distribute texts.
No charges.
Content is essential - because that is why users are getting involved. Also it needs to be easy to do. So for 1goal - with a wealth of excellent celebrities they shouldn't have an issue.
1goal - mobile phone app - it'll be fun - something people will want to play with/use which has a good message behind it.
1Goal
The only thing that's being asked of people is to campaign. No donation asks.
Mobile - a great way of getting public support for the campaig.
Linkup with mobile networks - everyone will be receiving an SMS. Free to send free to reply - deal with network.
Once they agree to receive SMS updates they get free downloads - celebrity support so very sticky content.
Normal response rate is 8%. For ONE campaign - 30% - because they will have cool content - concert, merchandise, etc etc
Starts 20th April.
In developing countries:
- deal with major African operators to distribute texts.
No charges.
Content is essential - because that is why users are getting involved. Also it needs to be easy to do. So for 1goal - with a wealth of excellent celebrities they shouldn't have an issue.
1goal - mobile phone app - it'll be fun - something people will want to play with/use which has a good message behind it.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
eCampaigning forum: Mobile in Kenya
Presentation by Tonee - Studied international relations. Afterwards worked for the UN and then at a radio station Kiss FM - taking in feedback from people. Then went on to work in TV - a lot of the campaigns/stories were campaig-based, issue-based.
Wazimba youth foundation
Tonee nad his friend decided to give people at universtities opportunity to talk about issues that affect them. The turnout was amazing (sometimes 1,300 people) Mixed it up with entertainment. A lot of people had a lot of things to say but they didn't know how to get involved.
They decided to get people video, audio and text for free.
- Mobile phones expensive therefore people had to get their value out of it
- Bluetooth is the way to create social networks for free.
- 65% of all handsets in Kenya have Bluetooth and people know how to use it
Nocon is a Bluetooth app created to receive info
They've planted a bluetooth devices into a little tree, put it at the bus stop station. While people wait for the bus they receive an SMS which can be a fun video.
At the end of the video people are asked to download the app which says that they can get more of those kinds of video there. They also have access to social info (price of maize). Example of campaign - after funny videos - text a name of politician - choose option - what he's done for you, what he's done for the country, for everybody. last question - would you vote for him? people respond.
What happened to the responses? - we reached 2.8 million - have told politicians what people have said.
How did the bluetooth thing get programmed? nocon translates info from the net and transmitts via Bluetooth. They used magic bluehack to transmit via the SMS card in the pot at the bus station.
Kenya has the highest mobile phone penetration. many phones are 3G phones. People buy phones
Social mobile for young people
Hapo - application which means that money can be trasferred via mobile. Possibility to fundraise - someone sends a message that they need something, they map it, they raise funds via SMS and then they transfer that money to the end user - 2.5 million shillings raised and distributed. Accountability - they would receive a message back showing that they knew where the are. Follow-up phonecall to hear how they were doing. When they pick up the money they need to show identification. They think people were legitimate displaced people.
promoting the SMS phonenumber via community radio
ushahidi - mapping of where conflict breaks up during unrest after Kenyan elections..
Wazimba youth foundation
Tonee nad his friend decided to give people at universtities opportunity to talk about issues that affect them. The turnout was amazing (sometimes 1,300 people) Mixed it up with entertainment. A lot of people had a lot of things to say but they didn't know how to get involved.
They decided to get people video, audio and text for free.
- Mobile phones expensive therefore people had to get their value out of it
- Bluetooth is the way to create social networks for free.
- 65% of all handsets in Kenya have Bluetooth and people know how to use it
Nocon is a Bluetooth app created to receive info
They've planted a bluetooth devices into a little tree, put it at the bus stop station. While people wait for the bus they receive an SMS which can be a fun video.
At the end of the video people are asked to download the app which says that they can get more of those kinds of video there. They also have access to social info (price of maize). Example of campaign - after funny videos - text a name of politician - choose option - what he's done for you, what he's done for the country, for everybody. last question - would you vote for him? people respond.
What happened to the responses? - we reached 2.8 million - have told politicians what people have said.
How did the bluetooth thing get programmed? nocon translates info from the net and transmitts via Bluetooth. They used magic bluehack to transmit via the SMS card in the pot at the bus station.
Kenya has the highest mobile phone penetration. many phones are 3G phones. People buy phones
Social mobile for young people
Hapo - application which means that money can be trasferred via mobile. Possibility to fundraise - someone sends a message that they need something, they map it, they raise funds via SMS and then they transfer that money to the end user - 2.5 million shillings raised and distributed. Accountability - they would receive a message back showing that they knew where the are. Follow-up phonecall to hear how they were doing. When they pick up the money they need to show identification. They think people were legitimate displaced people.
promoting the SMS phonenumber via community radio
ushahidi - mapping of where conflict breaks up during unrest after Kenyan elections..
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
eCampaigning forum - break-out sessions
THANKING SUPPORTERS WELL
- Beneficiary thanking for a donation rather than an organisation
- Liberville - Save the children - people can email beneficiaries andf they respond
- publicly acknowledge people's support - example of WDM printing names of people who donated for publishing a report on the back of the document
- establishing 1-2-1 relationship between donor and beneficiary like on http://www.kiva.org
- using SMS to thank people - combine thank you with a new ask
- showing people the impact of their action immediately - video after an action, animation showing something happens after they did something
- video of a beneficiary thanking
- a campaign where people collect points http://www.treeagochi.com
- if you bought an Oxfam unwrapped present - at Valentines day you get an email - You have a secret admirer email.
STORYTELLING
Bright Kite - used in Kenya for pulling all the stories together from different sources
- tor network - for hiding your ISP in a conflict situation where freedom of speech is endangered
HOW DO WE MOBILIZE CITIZENS IN AFRICA?
WHAT LOCAL EXISTING NETWORKS CAN WE LINK UP WITH?
- Influencing African politicians makes real difference in campaigning about conflict.
- Climate hearings - people's testimonies - traditional dance on youtube, messages from local families
- twitter map of superball - similar thing from Africa on climate change - Twitter, funded by a mobile services provider
- direct donations from the UK to persons mobile phones
- need for advocacy tools to be translated into mobile format in developing countries
- finding the way of making new media tools affordable to people: build your site as a sub-domain site of the mobile phone provider
- Greepeace Argentina - pay cost of broadcast SMS by fundraising from the list that you are SMSing
- picking your tactics for different countries to achieve change
- African leaders care about what people say - so we should influence people to influence their government. Other opinion is that leaders do not care. If you show leaders how they will lose money (if you win the elite on your side you are more likely to make a difference).
- But we are talking about different audiences for different countries so mobilizing them will be very different from country to country
- the assumption is that if you tell a compelling story people will react
- there are some civil society organisations and individuals who are already doing mobilization who whould be involved/asked to work with
- Beneficiary thanking for a donation rather than an organisation
- Liberville - Save the children - people can email beneficiaries andf they respond
- publicly acknowledge people's support - example of WDM printing names of people who donated for publishing a report on the back of the document
- establishing 1-2-1 relationship between donor and beneficiary like on http://www.kiva.org
- using SMS to thank people - combine thank you with a new ask
- showing people the impact of their action immediately - video after an action, animation showing something happens after they did something
- video of a beneficiary thanking
- a campaign where people collect points http://www.treeagochi.com
- if you bought an Oxfam unwrapped present - at Valentines day you get an email - You have a secret admirer email.
STORYTELLING
Bright Kite - used in Kenya for pulling all the stories together from different sources
- tor network - for hiding your ISP in a conflict situation where freedom of speech is endangered
HOW DO WE MOBILIZE CITIZENS IN AFRICA?
WHAT LOCAL EXISTING NETWORKS CAN WE LINK UP WITH?
- Influencing African politicians makes real difference in campaigning about conflict.
- Climate hearings - people's testimonies - traditional dance on youtube, messages from local families
- twitter map of superball - similar thing from Africa on climate change - Twitter, funded by a mobile services provider
- direct donations from the UK to persons mobile phones
- need for advocacy tools to be translated into mobile format in developing countries
- finding the way of making new media tools affordable to people: build your site as a sub-domain site of the mobile phone provider
- Greepeace Argentina - pay cost of broadcast SMS by fundraising from the list that you are SMSing
- picking your tactics for different countries to achieve change
- African leaders care about what people say - so we should influence people to influence their government. Other opinion is that leaders do not care. If you show leaders how they will lose money (if you win the elite on your side you are more likely to make a difference).
- But we are talking about different audiences for different countries so mobilizing them will be very different from country to country
- the assumption is that if you tell a compelling story people will react
- there are some civil society organisations and individuals who are already doing mobilization who whould be involved/asked to work with
eCampaigning forum: Email is still the no1 way of engaging supporters
Open rates
one example
- general list - 20 -25%
- segmented list of 30k - 75%%
other example
general list - 15-19%, segmented list - 35%-45%
27k list about public broadcasting. If content is related to the recession
- open rates increased - from 25% to 40%
12% action rate (conversion)
- a lot of email activity lately because it's cheaper
- not always able to test emails due to lack of time/staff
- quick wins - easy to forget that there are many areas to look at to make an email successful
- split AB test with a new subject line
- test the landing page
- email content - Obama example - some emails are only 300 words
- user journeys need to be thought out - emails tailored accordingly. Need to be careful in how you welcome then and what they'll receive next.
- Thank you email should always be personalized
- some emails are building capital (giving info, fun) and some emails are taking capital (data)
- different from name
- donation is a form of political action
Social networks
- Facebook - people keen to join up but it doesn't convert people
- forward this email to a friend - needs to be more prominent
- set the target - it works well for the people - donations go higher and people re-visit the page to check if the donation got higher due to their donation
- relating email that you are writing now to the next email - like a soap-opera - so that every email works on its own
Segmentation
- based on who is likely to respond to the action
- based on people's behaviour and based on people's preferences
one example
- general list - 20 -25%
- segmented list of 30k - 75%%
other example
general list - 15-19%, segmented list - 35%-45%
27k list about public broadcasting. If content is related to the recession
- open rates increased - from 25% to 40%
12% action rate (conversion)
- a lot of email activity lately because it's cheaper
- not always able to test emails due to lack of time/staff
- quick wins - easy to forget that there are many areas to look at to make an email successful
- split AB test with a new subject line
- test the landing page
- email content - Obama example - some emails are only 300 words
- user journeys need to be thought out - emails tailored accordingly. Need to be careful in how you welcome then and what they'll receive next.
- Thank you email should always be personalized
- some emails are building capital (giving info, fun) and some emails are taking capital (data)
- different from name
- donation is a form of political action
Social networks
- Facebook - people keen to join up but it doesn't convert people
- forward this email to a friend - needs to be more prominent
- set the target - it works well for the people - donations go higher and people re-visit the page to check if the donation got higher due to their donation
- relating email that you are writing now to the next email - like a soap-opera - so that every email works on its own
Segmentation
- based on who is likely to respond to the action
- based on people's behaviour and based on people's preferences
Monday, 29 September 2008
elections websites
Looking for different ideas for election websites.
1) use of the Web as a resource space - downloadable resources, customizable print resources (posters, images, etc)
http://www.dopolitics.org.uk/Toolbox/index.cfm
2) vote match + reminder - quiz that matches your views with the views of candidates and reminds you of your choice on the election day - pluggs into social networks etc.
http://www.votematch.co.uk/
3) http://www.labourspace.com./
http://www.labour.org.uk/
4) write to your MP, London assembly, Councillors
http://www.writetothem.com/
5) Community action
pledgebank.com
6) Obama's action centre
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/actioncenter
7) Canadian Make Poverty History
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/
1) use of the Web as a resource space - downloadable resources, customizable print resources (posters, images, etc)
http://www.dopolitics.org.uk/Toolbox/index.cfm
2) vote match + reminder - quiz that matches your views with the views of candidates and reminds you of your choice on the election day - pluggs into social networks etc.
http://www.votematch.co.uk/
3) http://www.labourspace.com./
http://www.labour.org.uk/
4) write to your MP, London assembly, Councillors
http://www.writetothem.com/
5) Community action
pledgebank.com
6) Obama's action centre
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/actioncenter
7) Canadian Make Poverty History
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/
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