Posts from — March 2008

We’re really interested to know what you think of the Webguide.

Please take a few moments to complete a short survey. Since the Webguide was written for New Zealand community organisations, those are the opinions we’re seeking.

If you’ve never used the Webguide, we need to know that too.

Please pass the word to NZ community organisations.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

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Google have a section dedicated to non-profit organisations where they explain all the various tools they have available, and how your organisation can use those tools. Google for Non-Profits lists all the tools, and links to tutorials for all of them.

Note that not all tools are available worldwide yet.

I use many of these tools daily — Gmail, Calendar and Analytics, for example. They can provide a lot of value for community organisations.

Here’s what Google for Non-Profits has to say:

You are changing the world. We want to help.

Learn how to use free Google tools to promote your work, raise money, and operate more efficiently.

Gmail

Save time and resources with free Google-hosted email, customized for your domain

Checkout

Collect donations online and process them for free, with no monthly, setup, or gateway fees

Docs

Create and edit documents online and collaborate in real time with staff and volunteers

Calendar

Organize schedules and publicize events with shared calendars

Analytics

Understand how people find and interact with information on your website

Google Grants

Reach and engage your supporters through free online advertising

YouTube

Broadcast your cause to the world’s largest online video community

Blogger

Publish instantly and keep your supporters informed and engaged

Maps & Earth

Give life to your cause by illustrating its global context

Gadgets

Drive traffic to your website and interact with your supporters more often

Groups

Communicate easily to staff or volunteers and encourage discussions among supporters

[Thanks to Ted Zorn for suggesting this post. ]

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Another tool that looks interesting, though I haven’t had time to explore it — Zoho People:

Zoho, best known for its suite of free productivity and collaboration online tools, a direct competitor to Google Apps, has just launched Zoho People , a free online Human Resources Management Application. It’s designed for small and medium-sized businesses, but Zoho People could be just as useful for a nonprofit that needs an efficient way to manage a workforce of volunteers.

[Via Wild Apricot Blog: Manage Your Nonprofit's Human Resources Online With Zoho People.]

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The Internet is abuzz with a whole new vocabulary: memes and tags, posts and mashups, LOLcats, tweets and RSS. Friends, characters, flag, subscribe and interesting have a whole new meaning. This article helps you find your way in the new Web 2.0 world.

characters

letters, numbers, symbols, or spaces. When you send a txt message with a cellphone or a tweet through Twitter, you’ll be cut off after about 140 characters.

flag

Seen a photo on Flickr or a YouTube video that you find offensive? Flag it for the staff to review.

Flickr

An online service for storing and sharing photos. Add comments and tags. Subscribe to an RSS feed to automatically catch all photos from friends. Search or explore by many criteria.

friends

On social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn a friend is anyone you set up a connection with, whether you know them personally or not.

interesting

Flickr calculate an ‘interestingness’ score for each photo, based on tags, clicks, comments and so on. Explore the most interesting photos.

LOLcats

pictures of cats, with humorous captions, written to a certain style. LOL is short for ‘Lots of Laughs’ ‘Laugh out Loud’ (thanks Che for the reminder). Example: www.lolcats.com/view/55.

mashups

putting information together from more than one source. For example, combining crime statistics and Google maps CSI-style.

memes

An idea, saying or activity that takes hold and becomes popular. For example, LOLcats.

posts

Articles and other contributions to blogs, forums, etc.

RSS

Automatically delivers information from websites and other sources. For example, subscribe to the RSS feed for a particular person’s Flickr photos and any new photos appear automatically in your reader. Example National Library (NZ) photo feed.

subscribe

Usually free of charge. When you subscribe to something you add it to a list of items you will check regularly or receive automatically. For example, you might subscribe to the BBC Worldwide YouTube channel.

tags

Words that help describe something. A photo might be titled ‘Solace in the wind’, but have tags such as: wellington, waterfront, sculpture, statue, and so on.

tweets

Messages sent through the Twitter service.

Twitter

A service for broadcasting short text messages. People use it as a way to keep in touch and up-to-date with friends and colleagues, or news. Example: twitter.com/StuffNZ_World.

User generated

this means that you do the work. If you visit a website you may leave comments, upload images or movies, add information

that is all ‘user’ or ‘consumer’ generated.

Web 2.0

Websites and services that make it easy for people to connect with one another by rating items, marking favourites, sharing, commenting and so on.

YouTube

An online service for storing and sharing short videos. Add comments and tags. Subscribe to an RSS feed to automatically catch all new videos from a given topic. Search or explore by many criteria. Example, WildlifeDirect.

Written for and reproduced from CommunityNet Aotearoa Panui, March 2008.

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In February 2008 Nielsen Online revealed that most New Zealand Internet users are generating web content. (Source: 02/26/2008 Consumer Generated Media: Evolution or Revolution?. )

We like photos, videos, music, blogs

In plain English: we share photos, links and videos, through websites such as Flickr, YouTube, MySpace. We read and write blogs and wikis. We download and stream audio and video content. We like photos, movies, music, and probably podcasts. We edit and comment; we upload.

The report also found that once people are comfortable online, they then often become more involved — they actively edit and comment on content from others and upload video and music to the web.

It’s a revolution in relationships

“We are seeing a revolution in the way in which consumers here in the Pacific and around the world are interacting, communicating, creating and nurturing personal and professional relationships, expressing and publishing their opinions and thoughts, creating and distributing content for and to one another, and entertaining themselves,” says Melanie Ingrey, Market Research Director, Asia Pacific, Nielsen Online.

Nielsen Online found that people tend to take up these activities if their friends and peers are doing them. They join services (such as Bebo) if their friends recommend them.

Problems facing us here in New Zealand are lack of time, slow Internet connections and concerns about security.

Kiwis want to reconnect

A further report tells us that 62% of online New Zealanders have browsed other people’s online profiles within the past 12 months, and 49% have actively updated their own online profile. (Source: 02/12/2008 New Zealand Surfers Ride Social Networking Boom.)

Old Friends, Bebo and MySpace

Their profiles are on Old Friends, Bebo and MySpace. Kiwis want to reconnect with people from the past such as former colleagues and old schoolmates.

” … different social networking platforms cater to varying online identity desires,” notes Melanie Ingrey, Market Research Director, Asia Pacific, Nielsen Online. “Sites such as MySpace essentially promote a fantasised identity where relationships are based on common network interests while Facebook is grounded in real identity and online connections are simply an extension of real friendships. Then you have sites such as LinkedIn which promote social networking for business and career advancement purposes.”

What are you doing?

So, that’s what Kiwis are doing this year. What’s your organisation doing in response?

Do you have a blog where visitors can comment on what you’re doing? Bloggers can also track your activities and write about you on their own blogs.

Do you share photos and videos from your events, using services such as Flickr and YouTube? If you do, then visitors will spread the word about your organisation when they tell others about your content.

Do you recruit volunteers by means of a MySpace or Bebo profile?

Kiwis want to participate. Do you know how to Engage your Community?

Written for and reproduced from CommunityNet Aotearoa Panui, March 2008.

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