Civil Society Groups & How They Use Social Media

From the Arab Spring to the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Keystone XL issue and even down to small, localised activities, civil society groups (from radical left-wing activists to the average and necessary protest) have figured out social media and are making increasingly effective use of it. Below, we’ve provided a diagram of how these groups, some that have been around a long time, others that just form for a short period, are using these tools. Businesses would do well to understand them and the processes for marketing, investor and public relations.

In the Management block, we can see how social media tools are used to manage the administrative functions of the group. In this case they may use email, a Facebook group, Wiki’s and other tools, that are a mix of “open” to the public and private. In the second block, Communication, we see how they use the various tools to communicate/broadcast the messages developed as a team. All forms of digital content are used across multiple platforms (e.g. Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr etc.) Once the content and creative has been released it moves to the “Engagement” phase, where the grassroots group enters into dialogue with the general public, answering questions and ensuring the message is consistent and understood by the public and hopefully shared. The Actions shows how once the message is out there (i.e. “meet at the town hall, wear your t-shirts and bring signs at 2PM”) it can result in a number of real-world activities. The green circle indicates that if an event in public or online piece of content (e.g. video) is successful, the general public shares the results of the activity that took place in public and the feedback communications loop is triggered (the green line returning to the communications block.) Once news media picks up on a story, such as a highly successful public rally, this transitions the story to a broadcast public, usually significantly increasing recognition for the civil society group and expanding their message. Social Media is a highly cost-effective route to organizing, creating and communicating a mission. Traditional news media then plays a vital role in expanding audience attention and driving further public actions.

We have seen this process used in a number of actions over the past two years. It works and has become highly effective. The gap we often find that our business and government clients miss, is that these social media is simply a set of tools used to galvanize support and actions that take place in the real world. They might see videos after  a protest or action and say “oh well, yeah, we know that happened.” But the same tools were used beforehand to organize the rally. Those affected by these necessary and key parts of a democracy could, however, be better prepared.

Use of Social Media by Unions | Canada & USA

Unions have featured quite prominently in news media lately, mostly through the Occupy Wall Street movement (if it can be called that.) With some pundits and media outlets claiming the power and influence of the union has waned in recent years. We can’t comment on whether this is true or not, but a lot of the research we do often features unions. So we decided here to provide some of our aggregate data on which unions are most active in the United States and Canada.

Social Media Use by Unions in the United States
Unions in the US have, for the most part, adopted social media into their communications. Certainly, America leads the way with union’s usage of social media. This is not surprising. There are many more unions and affiliate organizations in the US than Canada and in this instance we looked only at the most active in social media channels. In the U.S. unions use social media for a) broad communications and b) to actually organize rallies and events. We compared usage between 2010 and 2011 to see if there was growing adoption of social media. There is, with some more than others. The AFL-CIO are the most active in the U.S., perhaps not surprisingly so given their broader reach. Behind them is the IBEW for electrical workers.

Social Media Use by Unions in Canada
Unions in Canada have been slower to adopt and use social media. More so than we originally thought. Also, Canadian unions tend to use social media for communications and far less to organize events like their US counterparts. Canadian unions are more “broadcast” as well; meaning they are less likely to engage in dialogue with members and the public. In Canada, the IBEW is the most active and engaged in social media, perhaps as they have chosen to follow in the footsteps of their American counterparts.

Quick Summary
American unions are far more “discussion oriented” than Canadian unions. Unions in the US accept and engage with supporters and non-supporters and are more open in their dialogue. Canadian unions are less engaging with their audiences for the most part. Unions saw their most increased use of engagement in 2011. Prior to 2010, we saw very little usage. Mostly it was the IBEW and their use of YouTube for videos and rallying support.

We forecast increased use of social media by unions in the coming years and across more channels. Today, they are mostly using Twitter, YouTube, Blip.tv, Facebook and blogs as their platforms of choice. Production values of content have improved dramatically and they are integrating social media with traditional channels.

Methodology
To assess use, we first collected data from across all unions in the US and Canada. From here we parsed down the data and analysed which unions a) used the most channels, b) what was their influence and authority (our own algorithms and 3rd party tools such as Klout for verification), c) frequency of communications and d) participation with audience. These primary points were compared between 2010 and 2011. There was statistical variation allowance for populations and unions size to enable more accurate comparions. Based on the above criteria, we assigned a “rank” from 1 to 15 with a 15 being very engaged and 1 being hardly engaged at all (perhaps just 1 or social media channels with little active use.) The data provided herein is the aggregate of that collected for client research projects and does not provide confidential information given to clients.

The Constant Rebellion Towards Channels

YouTube became successful in large part because people wanted an alternative to boring old tv broadcast stations that dictated what you could watch and when. Internet radio was largely the same reason and blogging etc., because people could tell their own stories, create and share their own ideas. Throughout history, whenever someone creates a media channel to broadcast, someone looks for a way around it because they have another view or find too many restriction imposed by the gatekeeper of that channel.

This is always happening. With Facebook effectively now a “channel” it was no surprise over their leak of Project Spartan with the intent to deliver apps within the Facebook channel. Some media channels are looking at developing apps in HTML 5 to be delivered in the Safari browser in iPad and the iPhone and other smart-phones, bypassing iTunes and the Apple gatekeeper. Sure they’re a tad slower, but they work. More importantly, they avoid Apple’s control.

As we indicated in an earlier article, it’s the Hippies who created the Bulletin Boards and the The Well back in the 70′s and into the early 80′s. Steve Jobs was one of them, he knows the aversion to enterprise systemic control – and yet is creating an Apple-centirc channel today. We’re always, as humans, looking for an alternative…technology always disrupts, just as the printing press eliminated scribes and the car the horse and buggy.

We see the issues of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook as basic economic cycles. They are disrupting and in some cases creating, entirely new forms (i.e. app stores), of channels. People will certainly use them, but at some point, people will find a way around them when they want a different form of content and new channels will evolve. Google+ threatens Twitter more than Facebook, yet now Google and Facebook are trying to outdo each other by adding new features to encourage people to stay within their channels.

At its inception, Facebook was intended for a narrow audience with a channel that did not exist in the form desired. YouTube, DailyMotion, Break.com have succeeded because people wanted other forms of video content than what broadcast television was providing. Social media channels are simply alternatives or new forms based on either a want or need of the market. Therefore, disruption will be the norm and people will always look for ways to communicate that fill a new perceived desire, decrease friction and cost.

Our Maturing Use of Social Media

Are we “maturing” in how we use social media? We think so. At least, we are starting now to see patterns in how people start, adopt and use certain social technologies. Twitter is now five years old and Facebook is “ancient” in online terms, yet continues to thrive, becoming a “channel” in and of itself. Here are some of the signs we’re seeing that people are finding their way with social media;

Social Network Engagement
Increasingly, as we reported June 13, we are seeing people settle on a primary social network (e.g. Facebook) for general engagement a “business” social network (e.g. LinkedIn or eCademy) and a hobby social network like golfing or sailing.

Microblogging
Where people tried multiple microblogs like Twitter, Plurk or Identi.ca, they now tend to start with one and stay with it. Level of engagement varies with many trailing off unless they find social value fairly quickly.

Filtering Skills
There’s a vast number of channels to get information from…it’s still like drinking from a firehose. What we’re finding in our research however, is that people are learning to filter that data flow and settle into their social networks and 2-3 sources of news such as a local, national and international set of news media channels.

Focused Engagement
In the creation of content, people are increasingly (we hypothesize) focusing the content they create relevant to their interests and professions. They’ll read, write and engage in blogs in a more focused manner.

Traditional Advertising Agencies Still Don’t Get it
Few agencies it seems, have as yet understood how to successfully engage in social media. They engage the same way they do in traditional media channels – short-lived campaigns, striving to create “cool” that will get eyeballs for a short period to frame success to client; but there is little follow-on or long-term engagement. This leaves a client hanging in the digital winds to then sort out how to keep those eyeballs. We suspect the ratio of wins to losses on social media campaigns is a very weak showing on the wins side. Trying to modify or change a behaviour in social media ignores the purpose of engagement – which is ideas, organization and communication.

We Expect More Content Online
If we watch a TV show or documentary and we really like it, people expect that there will be a place in Cyburbia where they can engage more deeply. By sharing parts of a story, seeing more clips or pictures not available through television or adding their own content such as images, video or commentary. Musicians are increasingly deft at building this engagement (e.g. Lady GaGa or The National.) TV shows that attempt this often distill the engagement and try too hard to control the content therein; a failing as we see it. Regardless of how the engagement occurs, what is notable is that we expect to have deeper immersion across all forms of digital content and multiple devices from smart-phones to iPads.

All of this shows that as consumers we have adopted these technologies, absorbed them into our information consumption, creation and communication habits. Not just kids, but adults as well, across many cultures and societies. New tools and services entering the social media world will need to become increasingly sophisticated and understand how now established services like Facebook, Google or Twitter are used and connect with them in some form.

Phases Of Social Media Use in Civil Change

Egypt and #Jan25 was perhaps the seminal, global wake-up call event of how social media can be used for driving civil change in a society. Some might argue that it was Iran in 2009 with the so-called “Twitter Revolution”. In fact social media did play a key role in the Arab Spring – but it did not start it. And continues to do so. The term “Arab Spring” itself has become a meme (more on that later.) Here we wanted to provide a quick overview of “how” social media tools are being used and the phases around driving civil change through these tools. We think it’s important to note that in the semi-final stage, social media can become irrelevant to the final change.

Phase One – Trigger Event
In Tunisia it was a fruit-stand operator who lit himself on fire to protest government corruption. In Egypt it was meant to be a small protest over the police beating of a so-called “drug dealer” that unintentionally became a drive for regime change. Any drive for change in society starts with a “Trigger Event”, something that gets a large enough portion of the population angry or motivated to start a movement for change. This doesn’t mean government change alone, it may be around a bill before legislation or simply getting a municipal by-law adopted.

Phase Two – Inception & Formation
This is where the “idea” that will become the meme or issue that will likely result in civil change. We call it the Inception Point. Someone starts it by venting on a blog, posting something on Facebook or a YouTube video around the evidence of the issue and may present the initial idea for a solution. It is at this point a number of tools begin to be used that will be used for later planning & organizing

Phase Three – Rallying & Packaging
The idea has gained momentum, perhaps a meme is starting to form. Enough people have come together that the Planning & Organizing element (or Rallying) starts to take on a more susbstantial form, the actors are becoming defined and some form of leadership or hierarchy is forming. Packaging is developed to pull the “idea” together and begin communicating it.

Phase Four – Media Traversal – Key Inflection Point
This is a key inflection point where the issue gains serious legs by being picked up by mainstream media. This can vary depending on the role of mainstream/industrial media in a local, regional or national context. Our research shows that mainstream media plays a vital role in growing awareness around an issue.

Phase Five – Meme Formation & Mass Audience
Depending on mainstream media’s treatment of a story and issue, once there is larger audience buy-in the social media activity takes on a greater intensity. This is a transitional phase towards where we may see it translate from a mostly Cyburbia action into real-world engagement.

Phase Six – Cyber Transference
There may have been street rallies, flash mobs or small demonstrations prior to this point, but it is an inflection point. This is where the masses take to the streets or we see other forms of protest or civil actions taking place outside of Cyburbia. This is a short period as well of perhaps hours.  A number of indicators are at play here with warning signs of impending activity.

Phase Seven – Change Effect & Technology Shift
This is where the use of social media tools takes on a significant shift from planning and organizing to monitoring, documenting and reporting. The original organizing group and the greater online community begin to use these tools (video/photo sharing, blogs, Twitter, Social Networks etc.) to keep momentum going as real-world actions are brought about. Mainstream media may also go into high-gear as a story gains legs and becomes a major issue either locally, regionally, nationally or internationally depending on the scope of the societal changes being sought by citizens. In Egypt, after the government shut down Internet access, instead of driving people home, it actually caused people to wander out into the streets to find out what was happening and they ended up joining the revolution.

Concluding
While this is isn’t how all civil changes occur through the use of social media, we’ve patterned enough uses of the tools in local, regional, national and international contexts to be able to define these phases more clearly. A number of issues can change the steps, cause a campaign to falter or alter course. In developing states much depends on the form of government and that governments approach to social media and the Internet (do they allow free access? Have they co-opted the Internet to produce their own message? etc.) Fringe groups or radicals with extreme views or those in the bane of the conspiracy theorists tend to be marginalized fairly regularly and they rarely gain momentum for change.

The key challenge in monitoring and analysis of these issues is understanding when an “idea” may grow and become a rallying cry that moves into the phases of significant civil society change; whether that’s for local by-laws or overthrowing dictatorships like Egypt and Libya.