Mobilizing Youth

What are they doing on social networks?

boyd, danah. 2006. "Friendster lost steam. Is MySpace just a fad?" Apophenia Blog. March 21. http://www.danah.org/papers/FriendsterMySpaceEssay.html

This is an oldie but goody. was just re-reading for this chapter that i'm writing on social networking and thought i'd put some quotes and notes here for reference:

"Even when there's no prescribed activity, people are doing things on these sites. They're hanging out. They're dancing in front of digital mirrors. They're patting their friends on their digital backs. They're increasing the strength of their relationships through sharing. They're consuming and producing cultural artifacts that position them within society. They're laughing, exploring and being entertained.

People were hanging out on Friendster before they hung out on MySpace. But hanging out on Friendster is like hanging out in a super clean police state where you can't chew gum let alone goof around and you're told exactly how to speak to others. Hanging out on MySpace is more like hanging out in a graffiti park with fellow goofballs while your favorite band is playing. That said, there are plenty of folks who don't want to be hanging out in a graffiti park and they are not sticking around on MySpace as a result."

danah goes on to say how the tech doesn't matter, but I wonder if her perspective has changed with FB's recent moves. she wrote this post before facebook was big on the scene. FB is more of a clean (but not super clean) hang out spot. And people seem to be doing all of the same things that they do on mySpace and more of them each day. Is it just that these are the non-graffiti folks as danah perhaps suggests in her post on class and SNs?  Or is it that  people appreciate a clean UI and have been frustrated with myspace. Or that clean-liking people prefer a clean UI? Probably some of all reasons as is usually the case.

""Being in the know" is more powerful than money. You can't buy your way into knowledge of a rave. "Coolness" is about structural barriers, about the lack of universal accessibility or parsability. Structural hurdles mean people put in more effort to participate. It's kinda like the adventure of tracking down the right parking lot to get the bus to go to the rave."

She calls this is a form of "subcultural capital" vs. "cultural capital"

She notes about Friendster taking away rights and MySpace letting people do what they will.
A compelling example for emergent behaviors and letting go of control.
"Friendster didn't meet their needs and the core practices of identity production and social sharing that MySpace offered were not significant enough for this group"

---

later note: actually danah does talk about clean-liking people liking clean UI in that class essay which i've just reread:

"I'm sure that a visual analyst would be able to explain how classed aesthetics are, but aesthetics are more than simply the "eye of the beholder" - they are culturally narrated and replicated. That "clean" or "modern" look of Facebook is akin to West Elm or Pottery Barn or any poshy Scandinavian design house (that I admit I'm drawn to) while the more flashy look of MySpace resembles the Las Vegas imagery that attracts millions every year. I suspect that lifestyles have aesthetic values and that these are being reproduced on MySpace and Facebook."

boyd, danah. 2007. "Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace ." Apophenia Blog Essay. June 24 . http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html

The aesthetics of class - hmm - i'd like to do more research in that area...

another great quote:
"Given the state of what I see in all sorts of neighborhoods, I'm amazed at how well teens are coping and I think that technology has a lot to do with that. Teens are using social network sites to build community and connect with their peers. They are creating publics for socialization. And through it, they are showcasing all of the good, bad, and ugly of today's teen life"

Exploring the Social Graph

In writing this book about nonprofit tech, I've come across the term "social graph" one too many times. I thought that it was finally time to explore it a bit... especially with some recent Marshall Ganz reading in mind. Here's what I found:

FB's social graph
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=5156
* Social Graph is the network of connections and relationships between people.
* FB has twice as much traffic as any other photo application b/c it has access to people's real connections which trump everything else, including editing/organizing options
* it's the reason FB works
* FB becomes more useful the more people use it
a quote from zuckerburg:
As he describes it, this is a mathematical construct that maps the real-life connections between every human on the planet. Each of us is a node radiating links to the people we know. "We don't own the social graph," he says. "The social graph is this thing that exists in the world, and it always has and it always will. It's really most natural for people to communicate through it, because it's with the people around you, friends and business connections or whatever. What [Facebook] needed to do was construct as accurate of a model as possible of the way the social graph looks in the world. So once Facebook knows who you care about, you can upload a photo album and we can send it to all those people automatically." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20227872/site/newsweek/page/0/
[it seems that FB popularized use of this term as it relates to web]

The Social Graph problem
The case for Social Network Portability
http://bradfitz.com/social-graph-problem/
http://bradfitz.com/social-graph-problem/social-graph.pdf (slides)
* there are a ton of social applications
* each is building its own social graph or could benefit from one
* there are 1000s of independent graphs
* if you want to build one you run into the user/pwd/login issue. it's a pain and creates a big barrier to entry
* FB is great, but the graph shouldn't be owned by one company
* makes a case for a distributed nonprofit social graph
* will allow many other apps to bloom

[this is really interesting. would really like to see it happen. the article above written by the creator of liveJournal, apparently. after more research, the above article has spawned a ton of response. was written around aug2007]

Stealing your graph
http://ross.typepad.com/blog/2007/08/social-graph-an.html
Interesting response to the post above. Talks about someone friending you by ruse and then joining another network so as to lift your graph. I've thought about this a lot as I let people sit in my friend request box trying to figure out if I know them or not and if I'm going to give them access to my graph. Clearly, if I can't remember them, they're very distant at least and complete strangers most likely. But it feels terrible to click "ignore" or to send them a "how do I know you" message. I'd love to see an experiment looking atfriending those who are clearly 'strangers' simply b/c they've asked. (serendipitous irony: some strangers just rang my doorbell - and with these thoughts on my mind, I quickly turned them away - not wanting strangers to take my valuable blogging time - or just being mean(?))

Time for Social Networks to open up
http://www.wired.com/software/webservices/news/2007/08/open_social_net
Wired echos (or pre-dates) the comments above:
* personal data is locked up in SNs
* Plaxo launched Pulse, which allows users to share their profile data
* it's possible to roll your own facebook, but missing the valuable - how is this person a friend metadata
* they call for an open source answer to the problem
* they talk about http://www.pageflakes.com/ which seems kind of like a google home page approach

..interesting. I was planning to read a bunch about the power of the social graph and how different orgs were using it. Didn't expect to run into the social graph open source movement - but it makes a lot of sense. I've worked on so many applications that have been hampered by lack of a graph and was excited as anyone to see FB open up their platform - but then again frustrated by their tight control over working in their walled garden (the app I manage needs to be updated every week to keep up with their changes, and despite 10,000 users, I just gave up, b/c I don't have enough time to deal with it). Would love to see an open source social graph come to fruition.

added 9/8:
Have seen a bunch of new discussion on this topic. Fred Stutzman laments the growth of this term as a depersonalization of our computer based social relationships. Dare Obasanjo gives a great definition of the differences between social graphs and social networking sites.

I agree with some of the comments on Fred's site - it's a depersonalized term to represent an aspect of a social network - a technical aspect - not the network itself, which is a different and more personal entity. I think it's appropriate.

added 9/9:
couple of interesting related things from stutzman's delicious feed: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/social-networks, http://www.cs.cornell.edu/Courses/cs685/2007fa/

43things.com, social networking “to-do list” site offers nonprofit development testimonies

When: 05-07

Link: http://www.43things.com/things/view/839

Reading Notes: 
Groups and individuals ranging form Peace Corps returnees to transgender awareness advocates share their experiences about the ropes of starting a non-profit. All contributors have listed “Start a Non-Profit” on their list of 43 things to do to change your life.

Using Social Networking Sites for Campaigns: An Interview with Carie Lewis, HSUS

What. Using Social Networking Sites for Campaigns: An Interview with Carie Lewis, HSUS
When: June 29th 2007
Link: http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2007/06/using-social-ne.html

Reading notes:

Stop Canada's Cruel Seal Hunt campaign
through the eyes of a baby seal, people were able to interact with him, hear his stories, send photos of what they were doing to help, and participate in ways to take action online (posting banners, signing the boycott, sending emails to the prime minister, etc.)
Sunny (the seal) had over 2,000 friends and 14,000 profile views in 3 weeks. We had about 500 new signups to our email list from MySpace. That includes the advocacy actions and the web banners. This does not include those who were already in our email system or have participated in advos in the past
Advice
1 – Take the time to build your friends list.
2 – Remember the WIIFM (what's in it for me).
3 – Come up with something different to keep people engaged.
4 – Don’t engage in a social media campaign unless you have the time and resources.
5 – Take the time to measure results.

We Rise Up.net – Crabgrass

What: Brief Overview of the social networking application, Crabgrass

When: 7/25/07

Link: https://we.riseup.net/

Reading Notes:
• Web application designed for group and network organizing, and tailored to the needs of the global justice movement.

• Why crabgrass? There are many existing social networking websites out there. However, these offerings are geared toward the needs of advertisers or informal social groups. There are also many existing web services for group collaboration. These sites are typically designed for small businesses and do not match the needs of movement organizations. So, Crabgrass was created to provide social organizers and activists with a simple way to connect.

• Functionality: Groups, messaging/discussions, wikis, polls, file management/photo gallery, privacy control. In the future calendaring and a directory of activists will be added. 

ePolitics on Social Networking/Social Media

What: ePolitics Online Advocacy Tools: Social Networking/Social Media

When: 07/03/06

Link: http://www.epolitics.com/2006/07/03/online-advocacy-tools-social-networking-sites/

Reading Notes:
• What is a social networking site: sites on which people and orgs can set up a profile page with basic info and then link to other people’s pages.
• Social networking site users tend to be younger, so they are handy when an organization is targeting high school/college/recent grads.
• While a MySpace page could simply be little more than yet another avenue in which to advertise your organization, there are many things you can do to get more out of your profile: (a) Always include a link to join your email list (b) a donate or some sort of action button is key (c) include regularly pictures, graphics, and video content to increase site stickiness and to encourage repeat visits.
• Important notes for organizations using social networking sites:
• Come up with a strategy for dealing with unsavory or exhibitionist friends. For political campaigns, such “friends” could be exploited by the opposition so it’s important to decide in advance to decide how to handle friend requests from less conventional parts of your audience
• Built a healthy friend list immediately, as friend lists build exponentially. Advertise your MySpace profile on your organization’s newsletter, or include a link on your home page. Reach out to like-minded organizations on MySpace and send Friend Requests.
•Promote your action alerts: Send mass messages out to your friends regarding upcoming events, a call for donations, etc. Post notice of the action item on your site and ask your friends to do the same.
• Social Networking Sites should be an integral part of your organization’s campaign. Management of your MySpace profile should be handled by a staff member so that it meshes with your overall communication strategy.
•How can political campaigns use social media: Social media includes not only social networking sites but also user-generated content (UGC).
•Use social media carefully – gives example of MoveOn.org’s video submission for anti-Bush ads that backfired and ultimately caused a media stir and drew attention away from their original intent
•Whey open the floodgates to UGC? You can capture the brainpower of your users, and it’s a great way to build community
•Article details Ned Lamont campaign in Connecticut – Lamont supporters had the opportunity to upload clips of opponent Lieberman tripping up on the campaign trail. Humorous mistakes were memorialized and the users felt like they were an essential part of the Lamont campaign. These videos were also distributed virally.
•Non-video UGC: campaigns should solicit more than videos, also reaching out to supporters for campaign slogans, comments on ads and speeches, campaign songs, etc. Essentially, empower your network by making them integral members of your campaign.

Using Facebook for your Nonprofit

What: The Bamboo Project blog on using facebook for your nonprofit

When:

4/15/07

Link: http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog/2007/04/some_resources_.html

Reading

Notes:

• What is facebook: FaceBook is a social networking site, an Internet site that allows users to post online profiles (including photos, information about themselves, etc.) and then connect to other users who share the same interests, experiences, etc.

• Why social networking? To expand your reach and help you find volunteers, donors and supporters for your cause inexpensively and relatively easily.

• Why Facebook? The blogger points out a number of reasons to use Facebook, some of which are factual. Essentially, it has broad reach (particularly amongst 18-24 year olds) and is much easier than trying to create your own network through Ning.

• How to use Facebook: references Mashable’s overview of Facebook, which I’ve also reviewed. See this review.

• How Nonprofits can use Facebook: reference’s Emily’s World Blog I’ve already reviewed. See this.

• Look the part: it’s important to understand the culture of interaction on Facebook before launching your organization’s profile. You can’t afford to look Clueless/out of date in this space. Have a staff member create a person profile/do the research on how your target population interacts online before launching your official page.

MySpace vs. Facebook

What: Mashable’s overview of MySpace and Facebook, evaluating traffic, scope, etc.

When:

07/11/07

Link: http://mashable.com/2007/07/11/myspace-versus-facebook/

• Overall, MySpace is bigger than Facebook
• MySpace users visit the site 20% more often than Facebook users visit Facebook
• MySpace users spend about 10 minutes more each month on the site than Facebook users spend on Facebook
• MySpace has 3 times more minutes on the site than Facebook
• MySpace gets 3 times more visitors on the average day than Facebook
• MySpace is

  America

  ’s leading and most trafficked website, and just crossed the 70 million active monthly unique user mark in the

  U.S.

• Almost 1/4 of Americans used MySpace last month (compared to Census data)
• Facebook is definitely currently getting more press (especially with the open platform development). The older, more elitist commentators, investors and even journalists - plus the tech savvy college demographic - are all on Facebook, thus giving it more airtime.

Interview: Joe Green of Project Agape and Facebook's Causes App

What: interview with Joe Green, create of the Causes Application on Facebook and former college roommate of Facebook founder.

When:

06/03/07

Link: http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/6/3/225443/4586

Reading

Notes:

• On social networks and politics: Organizing is all about helping people realize the power of their existing web of friends. When you sit down with someone to plan a house meeting you look at their Rolodex and help them figure who to invite. With a social network it is all there.
• Theory behind causes: today, there’s a decline of social capital in the

  US

  . During and after WW II the country was rich with volunteer non-profits with active member bases. Now, non-profits are check-and-envelope – membership based on payment/donations.
• So what happens is that it is very expensive to raise money. They pay about 30% of what they raise to raise more. Direct mail and phone is expensive. And because there is high upfront cost it hampers small organizations. It makes it not worth it to reach out to younger people, so young people are not reached out to because we do not have land lines or stable addresses and we won't give enough to make it worth it when it is so expensive to reach us. On Facebook Causes there is no upfront cost because people spread the message to their friends.
• Why focus the application on fundraising and recruiting? Money is the first step – it’s real and everyone understands the value of funds raised. Can’t say the same for petitions and letters to Congress. Instead, as young people contribute to organizations through Causes, suddenly the youth have power in the process.
• Strength of Causes vs. MoveOn, Meetup etc.: w/Causes you are raising money through your pre-existing, real friends. With the others you were not interacting with pre-existing relationships. The strength of the relationship is stronger with the Causes model.
• The Facebook app is only the start. Green plans to launch a standalone Causes product.
• Another benefit of causes: currently larger nonprofits have an easier time raising funds as they have the resources and $$ to do so. With Causes, the costs to rais funds is the same for large and small groups. Equal opportunity activism.
• Nonprofits have embraced causes because it complements existing fundraising mechanics: The current systems are good at getting rich 65 year-olds to donate. We are tapping into younger donors who are today untapped. We can allow for many smaller donations, because the cost to entry is so low.
• Advice for non-profits using social networking sites: Experiment with causes. Set up dozens of different causes for the same nonprofit and see what sticks.
• How does Causes work? About page: 95.5% goes to non profits, 3% to justgive.org for credit card processing, 1.5% to us, though we send most of that back to justgive for check distribution. We do not even come close to covering costs.

The Washington Post: social media and building an audience

What: article on the Washington Post's successful use of social media

When:

08/30/06

 

Link:

http://www.epolitics.com/2006/08/30/the-washington-post-social-media-and-audience-building/

Reading

Notes:

• Political operations interested in turning casual site visitors into passionate supporters can look to the Washington Post as a model.
• Blog Usage: the post was one of the first major media sites to host blogs, and the Post.com now fully embraces its own bloggers rather than sequestering them off as also-ran content (on the site’s top navigation bar, “Columns and Blogs” is a single link under “Opinion”).
• The Post.com recently took an even more radical step by forming its own blog ad network, making it a potential financial and promotional partner for bloggers.
• Post.com is embracing the broader world of user-generated content and social media. Like many sites, they’re encouraging easy Del.icio.us tagging, but they’re also implementing reader comments on all news stories, starting with less controversial topics and expanding to political coverage after the editors are sure that the content filtering mechanisms work.
• The site will encourage readers to create profile pages that gather all of their comments in a central place. Genius — every reader becomes a potential author. This not only increases a reader’s connection to the site, but increases the chances that they will direct their friends to the site to read their comments.