What’s the best thing that’s happened to you since sliced bread? For me? Social media! It’s like the air we breathe now; our thoughts, rants, joys, tears, ideas, news, everything is shared in a heartbeat, thanks to this community facilitated by technology.

Everyone wants to be a part of it, whether they are using it right or not. Social/commercial enterprises, religious/educational institutions, governments, politicians too.

From Obama’s epic 2008 election win, to the 2011 Arab Spring and Nigeria’s April general elections, why shouldn’t politicians ‘go online’? That’s where everyone is, or at least seems to be headed!

Coming closer home, 2011 was the year Nigerian politicians jumped on the bandwagon the most. Whether it was to create a following amongst young people (the largest demographic and subscribers to social media), to dispel rumours/respond to allegations levelled against them via traditional media, or simply canvass for votes, politicians are flocking in droves to this community, and they are here to stay.

Welcome my case in point; Olisa Metuh who’s the National Vice Chairman for the South East of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Apart from his personal website (www.olisametuh.com), Mr Metuh is connecting via Facebook and Twitter, joining and creating his own circles via Google Plus, and sharing information via Digg!

How long will he be here for? How active will he be? Take a minute, connect with him, let’s just wait and see

Start from the very definition of social media: a platform for building online communities of people who share the same interests or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. That’s easy. Via platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, StumbleUpon, we connect with already existing friends or make new ones based on common interests, mutual friends, or similar thought patterns.

Social media is a never ending conversation between people facilitated by technology. Note that I did not define social media as Facebook, or Twitter. They are means to an end (communication) but not the end in itself. Meaning that your business could be subscribed to all the media that exist and still not be getting any results (yes, it is possible).

It's more about the people than the tools

Why do you need social media for your business?

Just in case you’re not convinced your business needs social media, consider the following:

1. It is a conversation that more people are joining every day. Take Nigeria for instance; the rate of growth of social media and social media users has more than tripled in the last two years. In August 2011, Nigeria ranked the 15th fastest growing country on Facebook globally. This latest statistics puts Nigeria in the #35 position in the world ranking on countries on Facebook.
2. Public perception has moved from being influenced by traditional media to being more personal. Therefore, people tend to care more about what their friends and family tell them about a product/place/personality rather than what traditional media would tell them. Using Nigeria again as an example, where is everyone these days?

Thing now is, how do you exploit that definition to suit your business? The following simple tips cut across any platform your company decides to employ.

• Establish your brand voice: your page should SCREAM your business, all the time. That’s what you got the page for isn’t it?

• Separate the person from the brand: except you’re starting out with a name like Richard Branson, separate the business from your personal affairs. So, no personal pictures of your family on vacation on the page, or hanging out with your old school friends. No. No. No.

• Be transparent; let your goal be known from the get go: if you’re a social enterprise, commercial outfit, political organization, let your audience know from the start. There’s nothing worse than your first few clients feeling deceived. Their fury will make that of a woman scorned look like child’s play!

• Imagery is powerful: text is boring, especially when it’s a lot. Especially with blogging;  try to break up the text with pictures, a video, info-graph, whatever.

• Allow comments and respond to them: it is not communication if there is no feedback, how are you sure your audience understood what you put  out? How do you know if they had any trouble using your service? How do you receive praise or criticism?

• Link and link often: not only does it enrich your website/post, you could use it to barter sometimes. Have a conversation with website owners before you link to their site, see if they’ll return the favor. If they only agree half the time, that’s still more FREE publicity for you!

That’s it for today; the next parts in this series will dwell on best practices for using Twitter, blogs, and Facebook, in that order. Leave a comment if you’ve got a question, query, contribution, or if you just want to say hello!

Hey!!!! It’s a few says to when the 30 who will be moving on from the initial 575 in the World Pulse Voices of Our Future challenge will be announced, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t put up the answer to the question for week four! Weeks one, two, and three are hyperlinked so you can see the previous questions and answers.

The Question:

Write a 700 word article that describes:

• What is your personal vision for your life, your community and/or the world?
• Why do you want to be a Voices of Our Correspondent and how will this help you
  achieve your vision?

My Answer

From when I was very little, I’ve always loved talking, writing, and ‘fighting for others’, as my mother would put it. Till this day my father calls me his ‘lioness’; he says he’s seen that I cannot be deterred or thrown off when I set my heart or hands at something I believe in.

After failing to score the grades required to study to become a medical doctor (I wonder why I ever thought I could get past science subjects I never did well in), I thought about law. A visit to my fathers’ lawyer friend changed; there were too many gigantic, ancient looking books, and his office was a mess because he was trying to find a case. I stumbled on Mass Communication which I am eternally grateful to God for because with benefit of hindsight, I don’t think I could done better in any other field!

Mass communication has broadened my horizons, and opened doors for me to pursue my childhood passions which are writing, talking, and ‘fighting for people’. It fed and honed my personal vision of being a renowned voice for anyone who didn’t have one. Naïve and a little unrealistic at first, I have modified and made it more feasible as I have grown. For starters, I will accomplish little and wear myself out sooner if I decide to ‘take on the world’, regardless of how noble my intentions are.

My vision for myself is centred on the dissemination of information to people who would normally not have access to that information, and also to tell others about these people whose voices would hitherto have not been heard. To that effect, my 10 year plan is to first have a syndicated radio and television programme where stories of the lives of ordinary Nigerians are told. The second part is to have run an organization called TBAM (Two Books a Month) which is dedicated to running a book club for disadvantaged children. Full information about TBAM can be found here http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/two-books-a-month-tbam/.

Why do I want to be a Voices Of The Future correspondent? I desperately want the empowerment and the publicity that the platform will give on the one hand, and then more importantly, the mentorship, training, and the close interaction with the learned tutors we’ll have. Over the years, I’ve learnt that classroom knowledge is one thing, but knowledge garnered via experience is invaluable.

Still on the mentors, I believe that I am closer to achieving my visions than ever before, and it would be helpful to drop those dreams and the models I have drawn up for them in the laps of experienced personnel for them to nurture, correct, and help me readjust keeping feasibility, funding, and maximum reach in mind.

Finally, I think I need to be curtailed and have someone ‘keep me in check’ so I don’t run amok with the many ideas that run through my head. Over the years I have found that it is somewhat easy for me to abandon one idea for another. The TBAM and radio/TV ideas have been with me for about nine years now, and that’s how I know they have come to stay.
However, with recent happenings in my country, issues around women (especially violence) are at the top of my mind now and I believe that working with and constantly reporting to a mentor will help me stay on track, but more importantly, incorporate my new drives with the existing, and still be as efficient/successful.

Also, studying Social Media has shown me that power belongs with the people, rather with leaders and influential/wealthy people. The little time I have spent on World Pulse has exposed me to different cultures, people, experiences etc., and it is an opportunity for me to do what I’ve always loved to do, tell stories.

Please take me one step up the ladder of fulfilling my dream, pick me as one of the 2011 Voices of Our Future correspondents!

pick me!

Related articles

• Amplifying My Voice (chiomachuka.com)
• How to Start a Social Media Consulting Business in 6 Steps (windmillnetworking.com)

Week Three of the Voices of Our Future application process, and I’m learning a lot!! We’ve got one more week and then our number is whittled down to 30, wish me luck!!! This week’s learning materials dealt with collaboration, and the function of networks and platforms, including World Pulse. On to the question quickly…”

Write a 500 word or less article that describes:

• What are your challenges and barriers to creating change in your community?
• What are some of your present solutions to overcoming these challenges and barriers?
• How do you currently use, or see the possibility of using, PulseWire and other online communities to overcome these challenges?”

What’s my community? Nuclear would be Abuja, the city I lived in before resuming at Birmingham City University, and the extended is my beloved country Nigeria. Abuja is the Federal Capital Territory and seat of government for my nation. It is where ‘everything’ happens, where major, life-changing contracts are given, where young people are referred to as ‘upwardly mobile’, an overused cliché (in my opinion).

That established, there are two challenges: First is people thinking that social media advocacy exists only online, promptly forgetting the real world, offline interactions that actually drive these projects. Second is that in my community, there are still too few people using social media platforms to actually constitute a sizable enough force, at least numerically. (Having said that though, a lone voice may often achieve more than a mob!)

I have been a blogger for about four years now and because I have a decent following, it has become my voice, the strongest tool for pushing/publishing causes I believe in. For example, in January a few friends put together a ‘bowling for boobs’ event to raise money to run subsidized breast and cervical cancer tests in Abuja. I had recently lost a colleague to breast cancer so I wrote about it and used it to publicise the event. There have been several other instances before and since then but most notable for me was the incident with the April 2011 elections in my country. There was this horrible outbreak of violence in the Northern part of the country, and most people were quick to say it was a Christian/Muslim ‘war’. I was in Birmingham at the time but I had read that it wasn’t a religious issue so I got in touch with a native from one of the troubled areas and interviewed him for my blog. It was a totally different perspective, with a historical bent and coming from a native, was a lot more plausible. By tweeting the link and putting it up on Facebook, LinkedIn etc., not only did we start a knowledge based discussion on the blog, but we disabused people’s minds from the religious angle to the crisis. Again, I got the highest number of visits to the blog on that day.

The way I see it, the more ‘relevant’ online communities I belong to, the stronger my voice is, call it amplified even. Rhonda’s story is enlightening but it was Sheila’s account of breast ironing in Cameron getting picked up by CNN, that not only inspired but encouraged me to keep campaigning the way I do now, not forgetting of course the place of offline collaboration as well.

Statistics show that of the 150 million people in my country, 70% are within the 16-40 bracket, and that is the same demographic of the online community. With World Pulse, my voice is amplified and believe me, I’ve got a lot of causes to shout about!

P:S - The links to the posts in the week three assignment are

The post on breast cancer awareness - http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/for-ngozi-anywanwu/

The post election crisis - http://fairygodsister.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/an-hour-with-elnathan/

Related articles

• Why I Came (chiomachuka.com)

“Tell your personal story. Describe the journey that led you to our online community and inspired you to apply for Voices of Our Future. How does this journey fit into your personal vision?”

This was my answer.

Related articles

• What to Do With Social Media? (chiomachuka.com)

 

The Issue: URASTAR wasn’t using social media properly! With a target demographic of 14 – 30, not having a strong presence on social networks was not doing them any good. Matter of fact, it was tantamount to selling themselves short.

The Solution: creation of a WordPress Blog, Facebook group, and strategies for creating conversations, networking with potential sponsors, and making their services more attractive to their audience.

Follow @URA_STAR on Twitter, you are a star!

Related articles

• Lessons in Blogging: Lordbanks (chiomachuka.com)

On the 6^th of September, I had the privilege of being a guest on the popular Abuja Radio show, ‘Lifestyle with Nike’. Presented by Nike Coker, the magazine programme prides itself on dealing with a plethora of issues, including health, fashion, and finances.

That day, along with media consultant (and best friend) Debie Mangut, we discussed Social Media and how it is affecting the way we do everyday things like keep in touch with friends and family, stay abreast of news (local and international), and cater to everyday needs like shopping, etc.

After defining social media and what networks refer to, we also discussed the annoying trend of religious broadcasts on BlackBerry that threaten some form of punishment from God if they are not rebroadcast. Amongst other things, we restated that it is not true!

I talked about LinkedIn as a great professional tool with loads of functionalities e.g. WordPress Apps, RSS feeds on a profile page, etc. I also talked about the proper way to use Twitter, especially as a tool for having conversations and creating new networks of friends, whether personal or professional.

We discussed the level of openness on social media these days, and went back and forth on what was acceptable and what was not. We ended up agreeing that different people have different reasons for using whatever platforms they use, and for putting out whatever information they do. Final word on that was for people to use their discretion, and not put out information that could be potentially dangerous, e.g.  revealing their full addresses on FourSquare, etc.

It was a wonderful 30 minutes discussion, and I look forward to other opportunities to teach acceptable practises of social media usage. (Yes, I am selling myself).

At home with social media (being the creator of a network himself), Mr Chuta answered questions in an audio interview which I have converted to a slide show so that everyone (including people with special needs) can access both the questions and the answers.

Questions Uche responded to include:

* What’s your name and what do you do?
* What social media platforms do you use personally?
* Tell us about Naija Ryders
* What has been the greatest success with Naija Ryders for you?
* You’re saying your earliest interaction with social media wasn’t circa 2007/2008 like everyone else?
* What stats do you have around Naija Ryders?
* What negative/positive stories do you have around your usage of social media?
* What specific role did you fill as Head of Technology for the Neighbour to Neighbour campaign?
* What are your thoughts on the emerging middle class (Nigerians aged 18 – 40) who are both digitally enabled and politically aware?
* Do you think the elections of 2011 were as free and fair as the media have said? Why?
* Professionally now, what negative stories did your office have with its usage of social media and interaction with the public?
* There are 6 gubernatorial elections holding in July 2012; what are your predictions as far as social media is concerned?
* What lessons did you learn personally and as a professional from using social media tools and platforms in the elections?
* Going forward, what is the future of social media in Nigeria vis a vis the challenge literacy poses for engaging with social media?

Uche agreed to do a short video at the end of the interview on his understanding of social media. Enjoy. Please note that the full audio for this interview will be available soon

Ekiti State is one of the fairly new states in Nigeria, created on the 1st of October 1996. With a population slightly above 2.5million and a technocrat for Governor, Ekiti is a state where feedback from the citizens matters to the government.

Ekiti has a toll free number (0800EkitiState) that members of the public can call and leave messages and then the governor listens to it and acts on it, either giving directives or constituting panels to investigate. The messages are recorded as bytes and are sent to his mailbox.

There is also a phone in programme at the end of the month on TV that the governor sits on and people ask questions on policies and issues. Depending on the public official to be featured on the programme, text messages are sent out to the people immediately affected, e.g. if the chairman of a certain local government was to be on the programme, text messages would first go out to all the members of that local government area.

After a three year battle in the courts to reclaim his stolen mandate, Dr Kayode Fayemi was sworn in as Governor of Ekiti state in October 2010. Almost as soon as he resumed work in his new role, he announced that he would personally handle his social media accounts, especially Twitter.

Despite my efforts, unfortunately I was unable to meet with the Governor and till date he has been unable to reply the interview questions I sent in the mail.

My thoughts on this interview revolve around the state’s use of text messaging to communicate with her people, utilizing both web and mobile phone enabled software. My question however is, what interventions are underway for people who are digitally excluded because of illiteracy?

P:S – full audio for this interview will be available soon.

Enough is Enough (EiE) is a membership organization that has metamorphosed over the years as issues have arisen. My earliest interaction with EiE was in February of 2010; I was at my desk at the BBC World Service Trust in Abuja when I got an email from a very good friend and founder of EiE Chude Jideonwo titled, ‘where is the outrage’. at the time, the President (now late), had been away in Saudi Arabia for over 60 days for medical treatment without handing over to the Vice President. Not only was the country without a leader(with the attending chaos), there was no information on the health state of the President; even the Vice President didn’t have access to him.

In that email, not only did he decry the alarming state of corruption in the country, Chude asked us if, as part of the 70% that make up the population we were comfortable with the state of the nation, and warned that posterity would judge us if we sat back and did nothing.

He proposed a rally in that letter, a march to the National Assembly to demand three things, and I quote

• “we want to know exactly what is happening in the Presidency and to keep Goodluck Jonathan on his toes,
• we want an end to the fuel crisis,
• we want them to keep their promises on electricity”

1. engaging over 2000 youths in 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory on their place as drivers of good governance through campus and townhall meetings
2. Partnering and providing manpower for INEC’s social media presence, especially during the just concluded elections
3. utilizing traditional media to broadcast 15 public service announcements on different governance related issues recorded by celebrities. These messages were aired on television, radio, and in cinemas,

Related articles

• Imagine #IfNaijaVotes: Collective Effort for Change Challenges Nigerian Youth on January 11, 2011 (prweb.com)
• The Birth of the Social Media Tracking Center (SMTC) (chiomachuka.com)