Resistance (to Social Media) Is Futile

If you’re a Trekkie, you’ll remember those words from the best episodes of the best version of Trek: The Borg on TNG. The folks at NTEN are doing a terrific job with a great new wiki called We Are Media, a hub of discussion on ways to use social media for social change. Last week the topic was how to overcome organizational resistance to using social media, a dilemma often faced by tech-savvy younger staff swimming upstream in organizations led by older folks who are wary of new tech.

Elliot on the NTEN Techsoup blog has a great summary of the discussion that ensued about ways to overcome organizational resistance to using social media. And here’s a great nugget from Erin:

Some boards and EDs only understand numbers; they want to see something that is effective and has some kind of return on investment. So – educate yourself on the numbers. Look at case studies, and talk to other nonprofits who are using social media effectively to find out how it worked for them. When you can show examples and facts with numbers attached, it ups your game quite a bit. Also, remember that social marketing is not about having a good MySpace page (argh). Get away from saying things like “we should be on MySpace” to start a conversation, and instead approach it strategically, with something like, “Social media is a powerful tool, and if we think strategically about it, we can leverage that tool to build relationships with people who will give more money and take more action on our behalf.”

There’s lots more there to click around and learn about how other folks are inching their organizations forward.