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Ten Common Objections to Social Media Adoption and How You Can Respond

Marshall Kirkpatrick has written Ten Common Objections to Social Media Adoption and How You Can Respond. Although I find them a little defensive, I suspect that's the nature of such dynamics some times. I tend to believe that it's best to get underneath and behind the objections and approach technology completely from their point of view. Nevertheless, his tips are really excellent. The objections he tackles are: 1. I suffer from information overload already. 2. So much of what's discussed online is meaningless. We have real work to do! 3. I don't have the time to contribute and moderate. 4. Our customers don't use this stuff. 5. We don't want hostile comments left about us on any forum we've legitimized. 6. Traditional media and audiences are still bigger. 7. Upper management won't support it. 8. These startups can't offer meaningful security. They may not even be around in a year. 9. There are so many tools that are similar. I can't tell where to invest my time so I don't use any of it at all. 10. That stuff's fine for sexy brands. Posted: 8/25/08; 5:00:20 PM #

AdWords-Style Widget Recommends Related Ways to Take Action

Peter Dietz and the people he's brought together around Social Actions have released a widget that recommends related ways to take action. In other words, it scans keywords on a page and offers related actions based on those words, in the same general fashion as Google Adwords. Aggregation and re-syndication flows are one of the key patterns of successful network strategy. Social Actions got the loop going by aggregating peer based action opportunities and this widget begins the process of recontextualizing that back out on the net. Fantastic work. Posted: 8/25/08; 4:50:07 PM #

The Global Justice Game: Seven Political Role Playing Scenarios

I don't remember coming across the Global Justice Game before, but I'm really quite intrigued. This is essentially a political role-playing framework and I've seen that sort of thing work very well. They have developed seven scenarios, with complete material for both coordinators and participants available online. These are the titles: Factory Fire in Fabrikistan, Biopiracy in Plantanoguay, Cancer Alley, Race to the Bottom, Strip-mining Banglabush, Selling Green in Fabrikistan, and Making a Better World. Posted: 8/25/08; 4:38:18 PM #

Examining the Impact of Political Fundraising on Nonprofit Direct Mail Performance

The Merkle consulting firm has published the results of a study they did Examining the Impact of Political Fundraising on Nonprofit Direct Mail Performance (11 page PDF). Given the incessant jealousies and sense of scarcity in the nonprofit sector, it's reassuring to learn that the current political season shouldn't add fuel to that fire. Their conclusion is that presidential campaign fundraising has had little impact on charitable giving, at least via direct mail. Posted: 8/25/08; 4:33:56 PM #