I follow at least a dozen blogs dedicated to nonprofits and social media as well as a handful of others that post regular categorical updates for the industry with social media sections. Do you know what I’ve been hearing? Social media is a must, social media no longer optional, social media necessary for nonprofits, social media the eleventh commandment, ad infinitum. Yes, all of these articles inevitably follow this up with a long list of qualifiers—it must be done well, you absolutely have to have a Social Media Policy, don’t jump in all at once, etc.
But, is all of this really true? (Blasphemy!)
As a social media intern at my organization (yes, they’ve committed the cardinal sin—giving an intern responsibility for social media—luckily for them I’m like, super competent) which means I spend a good portion of my day reading tweets from other nonprofits. Do you know what I see? I see far too many organizations tweeting to hear themselves tweet—sending their sweet little bird songs into the cyber universe to disappear in a mass of useless information. Harsh? Maybe, but I just don’t believe that anyone out there wants to sign up to be constantly berated by useless soapbox speeches and petitions for money (even if they are only 140 characters).
I concede that with a full-time experienced social media team, valuable content, and a strong online network social media would benefit 99% of nonprofits. But the fact is, many organizations just don’t have that kind of time or resources. Maybe social media should be touted as a useful tool for organizations willing to commit to it rather than a mass necessity. What do you think, am I just a content-inundated cynic?
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