Social Media in mobility projects -

Usage and experiences

Arbeit und Leben Hamburg, 30th of November 2016

Birte Frische

Agenda

• Introduction 

• Communication between (partner) organizations and participants with social media - Tools and examples of usage

• Questions, remarks,...

Birte Frische

• Media educationist - M.A. Education, Ethnology, Gender Studies

• Project Manager "Connecting" (Journalistic media project with young refugees) in the ABC Bildungs- und Tagungszentrum

• ABC: media and political education, international and intercultural projects

Communication part 1: between (partner) organizations

                                                                      Some examples for tools:

• Slack
• Etherpads 
• Google Drive
• Trello

Slack

• Online-Messaging-Service
• Exchange of data
• Implementation of different services (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Wordpress...)
• Private chat or groups
• Usage: browser or (mobile) app

--> Serves as a communication center for teams/groups and can replace email to a large extent if used consistently

Etherpad

• Simple text editor (public) for collaborative writing in real time
• Usage: in the browser.
• Some providers: yourpart.eu, etherpad.wikimedia.org, hackpad.com (also private)

--> Easy, simple so use, fast setup for writing together on a text (e.g. a protocol), no registration (except hackpad)

           Google Drive / Zoho

• File storage, synchronization service and collaborative editing
• Docs, sheets, slides (like MS Office), forms, drawings, surveys and more
• Public or private, in groups or for yourself, with different rights (read, comment, write)
• Usage: browser or app

--> Lots of options for collaborative work and exchange of documents on- and offline (Zoho: more limited scope of use)

                                    Trello

• Organize and discuss tasks within a team, keep people up to date about tasks
• Works with boards that have cards (e.g. ideas, to do, doing, done) 
• Make notes, set due dates, comment, vote, add photos, give tasks to people,...
• Usage: browser or app

--> Quite simple to set up and use, broad range of functions, very visual

Communication part 2: with participants and social media as a marketing instrument

• Facebook
• Wordpress
• Instagram
• Twitter

 Facebook

• Advertising events and projects (FB-event, fan page)

• Communication with participants (e.g. groups, PM) or people who are interested (publicly): keep people up to date and informed

• Snowball effect: sharing, liking, commenting

• Integration of other platforms and services: photos from Instagram, video-sharing, blog articles,...

​--> Communicating with people where they are, getting feedback

Blog / Wordpress

• Collecting and publishing of (seminar) results and getting potential feedback; making the results sustainably available

• Getting different people in different places to work on one project (concerning content, layout or the results of their work)

• Administration and access (who can write / modify s.th) by one or several people

​--> Various options for layout and content for different purposes: documentation, show progress, articulate opinions, connect to others with similar interest

 Instagram

• Posting photos or short videos 
• Giving a visual impression of what is happening; emotional relations through images

• Integration of other platforms and services

​---> Widely used service by young people that starts growing a lot compared to Facebook. Also here: communicating with people where they are.

Twitter

• ​Similar intention as on Facebook (advertising, interaction / communication, snowball effect), but different target group: multipliers, rarely participants

• Ask questions / to come into a conversation

• Condense news about an event  / a topic with hashtags (#) 

• Integration of other platforms and services

​--> Depending on the purpose and target group; can e.g. be very

useful at events

What else could be / become important?

• Snapchat, Facebook live and Periscope for live video or images  - only visible for a short time. Useful storytelling and giving visual impressions

• WhatsApp: reaching out to participants without email addresses, getting fast contact. Use of alternatives, also within the team: Threema, Signal,...

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Questions to be asked

• Who is the target group of what we do and say / show / write / publish? What is the aim?

• What should be communicated publicity, and what needs to stay within the team / group?
• What should the presentation of our project be like: authentic or "polished"?
• What about data protection, privacy and copyright: names, photos, content?
• How much time do we have, how much time do we need to use this tool? What kind of competences do we need?

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