Social Media for Social Good

As you readers all know I am writing my thesis on how nonprofits are using social media. This week, for an assignment in the class Writing for New Media, I had to write an interactive text. The humane Society has a big presence on social media networks an have run very successful campaigns using social media.I chose to write my interactive test on the Humane Society's use of social media. For my thesis I am conducting a case study on the Humane Society's use of social media. This interactive text assignment has helped me get a head start on researching how the Humane Society is using social media.

And Now for your reading pleasure, a blurb from the interactive text assignment for my blog, The Adventures of Thesis Writing.


Social Media For Social Good
July 19, 2010

One of the most successful social media marketing campaigns to date is run by the Humane Society of America. The Humane Societies main goal as an organization is Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty. Their mission, as nation's largest and most effective animal protection organization is to “work to reduce suffering and to create meaningful social change for animals by advocating for sensible public policies, investigating cruelty and working to enforce existing laws, educating the public about animal issues, joining with corporations on behalf of animal-friendly policies, and conducting hands-on programs that make ours a more humane world.” Two of the biggest campaigns the Humane Society supports are End Animal Cruelty and Fighting, and Adopt a Shelter Pet.

The main webpage of the Humane Society is filled with links to their causes, videos, issues, news, animals, and more information about the organization. There is also a link to their very popular Humane Society Facebook page. The Humane Society has 305,843online followers that are a “fan” of the Humane Society Facebook page. Something is posted on the Humane Society Facebook page five days a week (every business day) sometimes twice a day. Also on their Facebook page is a list of the Humane Society’s Favorite pages, included under the Humane Society’s favorite are The Shelter Pet Project, the Humane Society International, The Animal Rescue Site, and The Humane Domain.

Another link on the Humane Society’s main webpage is the blog titled: A Humane Nation written by Wayne Parcelle the President and CEO of The Humane Society. Parcelle writes about everything having to do with the causes the Humane Society supports from “Through the Eyes of Our Animal Rescue Team” to “Editorializing for Animal Protection, Agricultural Progress.” The Humane Society also has a Twitter account, where they tweet about upcoming events, their blog A Humane Nation and their magazine All Animals.

YouTube has also been a very successful social media tool for the Humane Society. In 2007 NFL quarter back Michael Vick was accused of fighting pit bull terriers for sport. The Humane Society’s director of emerging media, Carie Lewis, used all forms of social media to comment on the story of Vick and the abused dogs. The Humane Society and animal lovers alike began posting videos denouncing dog fighting. As a result of the wide support on YouTube, the Humane Society began the “Knock Out Animal Fighting YouTube Contest.” The winning video was viewed over 115,000 times. The Humane Society encouraged activists and supporters of the cause to advocate for anti-dogfighting legislation at the state level. For the Humane Society the ultimate success of this YouTube contest was the level of support and advocacy for their efforts.

For the Humane Society of America social media marketing offers free advertising to their supporters and target markets. More so than that, social media offers a platform for two-way communication with their audiences. Today’s nonprofits are realizing that to connect with the young activists of tomorrow they have to be more fluent with social media today. Social media has completely redefined the idea of grass-roots campaign, reaching greater numbers for less money. The major success of social media campaigns for nonprofits is connecting with supporters on a deeper level. Social media allows nonprofits to communicate directly with activists. For the Humane Society, connecting with their supporters on this deeper level has created stories of great collaborations and successful social media marketing campaigns.