Social Media for Social Change and The Real-time Web
Last month, I attended the #140 Characters Conference in New York City, hosted by Jeff Pulver. Featuring several businesses and individuals invested in the effects of the real-time web, presentations covered a wide range of topics including, “Twitter and Comedy Panel”, “Twitter and the Fashion Industry”, “Interacting with the Television Audience in Real Time”, and “Twitter and The Death Of Rock Criticism II: Music Is Math”.
The talk “15 Minutes with Ann Curry” followed by the “The Evolution of Emergency Communications in the Era of the Real-time Net” panel stood out. Discussing communications challenges in the worlds of Journalism, Disaster Relief, Non-Profits, and Government, the presenters spoke about the ways they’ve used the real-time web to solve problems and communicate more effectively.
Ann Curry, News Anchor on NBC’s Today Show and host of Dateline NBC, opened her talk by discussing a challenge she’d experienced just that morning. While filming the live broadcast of the Today show, Curry and the show’s staff found out that Educator and Social Activist Dorothy Height had passed away. Due to lack of time, Curry and the Today show staff were unable to show video of an interview Curry had conducted with Ms. Height in 2004. Curry noticed Dorothy Height was a trending topic on Twitter, but the majority of tweets were simply acknowledgements of her death and seemed to be wondering who she was.
In an attempt to further inform her audience of Ms. Height’s contributions to society, Curry posted a link to the interview on Twitter. Using her presence on social media, she was able to (ironically in a format that limits the exchange of information to 140 characters) provide more information than she was able to on television, educating people about a historical figure who was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Congressional Gold Medal.
The discussion following Curry’s talk, “The Evolution of Emergency Communications in the Era of the Real-time Net”, was moderated by Jeff Pulver and included panelists Lt. Aliza Landes (Foreign Press Branch IDF Spokesperson’s Unit), Major David Faggard (US Air Force, Office of Public Affairs), Nate Erickson (iRelief), and Luke Renner (Fireside International). One of the great stories that emerged from this discussion was how Curry used Twitter to help Doctors Without Borders communicate with the US Air Force during Haiti disaster relief efforts.
Curry admitted that, as a famous journalist, she had historically hesitated to leverage her social status to intervene in events that she was covering, but decided to send a Tweet @ messaging the US Air Force asking them to clear the air space. Soon after the tweet, air space was cleared and Doctors Without Borders were able to land their planes and deploy lifesaving medical equipment, supplies and personnel. As information enters the public sphere, there is greater pressure and demand for change and accountability, and a need for collaboration.Thanks to Curry, the US Air Force was able to mobilize more quickly and better work alongside Doctor’s Without Borders towards a common goal.
The details and subjects involved with the Dorothy Height story and the Haiti Disaster Relief story are inspiring on their own terms for various reasons. But what’s also interesting, from a communications perspective, is that they are great stories that show how historical moments can be contextualized in real-time to educate people en masse, and effect real change during a moment of need or crisis. Storytelling is an effective technique that can be used to strategically communicate your message.
Stats and data only go so far. Give people a good story, a personal connection to your message, and maybe they’ll start telling you their stories. And then you’ll have yourself a community. What’s your story? How can you use social media to convey that story?
