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Social Media

What is Social Media? 

Broadly defined, social media are internet-based media outlets which allow for peer-to-peer interactions. These sites are some of the most heavily trafficked on the internet. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and the millions of blogs are all examples of social media.
Social media are ubiquitous in today’s society. From Smartphones to Ipads, to laptops and desktops, it seems like you are never more than a click away from the internet. Social media are some of the most effective ways of utilizing this connectivity to increase awareness of your organization, its ideals, and the good work you do.
While it is easy to start a Facebook page, YouTube channel, or Twitter feed, utilizing these applications to the fullest extent is a challenge.

Why Social Media?

As internet use grows, more people are turning to various social media outlets for information about issues and causes they care about. These issues can range from signing petitions and making online donations to seeking volunteer opportunities. Nonprofit organizations have responded to this demand by steadily increasing their presences on social media channels, invoking strategies such as launching an organizational blog or building a Facebook page or a Twitter profile.
For the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), social media presents a range of opportunities. Chief among them is to provide a stream of positive information about the WAP. Social media allows the network to drive multiple success stories of weatherization and deliver these directly to journalists, the public, and policymakers. Additionally, social media offers a cost effective way to market your organization, publicize events, raise funds, and generally spread the word about the benefits of weatherization.

The Hazards of Social Media: Work Smarter, not Harder

Despite its many benefits, utilizing social media can be a daunting undertaking. Blogs, website pages like Facebook and Twitter, and videos need constant monitoring and updating to remain relevant. It is easy to be overwhelmed by this task, particularly when using multiple social media sites.
The key to social media is to work smarter, not harder. Sites like Facebook and Twitter understand the difficulties social media can present and have introduced features on their sites to make things easier for the average user, primarily through the integration of features across platforms. This guide will demonstrate how to employ those new features successfully to make using social media easier and more accessible.

WAP Social Media Guides

To find out more about these modes of social media, visit each individual page by clicking on the above links, download our "Harnessing the Conversation: Raising Awareness of the Weatherization Assistance Program" guide that covers all of them, or download the PowerPoint Presentation on Social Media from the 2010 NASCSP Conference in Charleston, South Carolina.  
To learn how to use social media to its fullest extent, download our new Social Media 2.0 Guide.