Social Media Vital to Social Change: Government Predicted to have Smaller Role
When you create a site addressing the social media needs of government, associations and nonprofits, social change (and the mechanisms to accomplish change) matters. The people who follow my material are all interested in some aspect of social improvement.
Walden University offers a unique overview as to who gets involved in social causes and it’s obvious that the most fundamental observation is the belief that individual and small group actions are the driving forces behind social change (43 percent). Eighty-five percent of Americans believe that they can make the world a better place through their actions.
Eighty percent see digital technology as key to getting people involved in social change and 4 in 5 see digital technology as a “game-changer” for positive social change.
The report states that nonprofit organizations will have a larger role (predicted by 35 percent) and almost half the respondents state that they are likely to get involved in social issues through nonprofits.
Government is predicted to play a decreasing role in social change in the future (34 percent) and less than 15 percent state that they are likely to get involved through government organizations.
Forty percent of respondents state that education is their most important issue followed by health-related issues (35 percent) and poverty (33 percent).
My thoughts:
We have entered a world where websites, video and audio are inexpensive and social interactions plentiful.
There may never be a parallel to today’s ability to creatively and inexpensively reach thousands or millions of people through social media. This thought is obviously amplified by the findings of the report.
Best, Len.
Source: http://www.waldenu.edu/About-Us/Social-Change-Impact-Report.htm
3 COMMENTS
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Don’t Believe It
While the report states that “Eighty-five percent of Americans believe that they can make the world a better place through their actions,” in reality, people’s actions don’t match their beliefs. The biggest way that people can make a difference is through their jobs — working for an entity that is contributing to society, rather than one that is moving jobs overseas, degrading the environment, denigrating employee rights, undermining the democratic process, and promoting materialism and consumption. And yet, millions of people work for corporations that do just that.
The second biggest thing that people can do to create real change is to shop in a way that supports their beliefs, and yet, again, they purchase mass produced products made overseas by huge corporations and big box retailers and financial companies that undermine people’s values.
While my company, Red Rooster Group promotes nonprofit organizations (as an expression of my values) I recognize that real change won’t happen by getting more people simply to contribute more to nonprofits (whether by social media or other methods), but by changing the mass behavior in our society.
Fortunately, the internet, social media and other technologies have fostered more transparency that is putting pressure on corporations to slowly change. Hopefully, people can continue to use technology to access options that express their values.
Hi Howard: Great insight (is what we say matched by out actions?). But I think the accessibility of social media “can” have an impact on making the world a better place. At one time in the not too distant past, mainstream media controlled our ability co communicate, now we can exchange ideas without a filter. The ability to communicate make change possible. Best, Len.