Social media raises important governance issues for not-for-profit organisations
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Created: 06:06 PM, Friday 08 October, 2010
Comments: At the end of this post is a list of links to organisations with social media policies.
As a technophobe, I love to tell people that the best way to overcome fears or ambivalence about social media is simply to jump in and participate – as Nike says; "just do it!" I say this, as much as anything, because social media is a reality that is revolutionising the internet and becoming an integral part of our lives, whether we participate directly or not.
So we're better to understand it and be involved than stand in ignorance on the sidelines.
The real challenge for boards of not-for-profit organisations is firstly about seizing the opportunities that the new found freedoms offer and, secondly, the degree to which these freedoms pose as risk.
Any board that elects to ignore social media is both missing the opportunities and allowing it to become a threat. I suspect that there are still many boards and management teams, turning a blind eye to social media on the basis that it doesn't exist if we can't see it.
So let's assume that a board has decided to face social media as a reality and consider it as part of its governance and strategic processes. It may be tempted to concern itself with the risks, perhaps because when viewed from a position of ignorance, the fears seem to multiply.
But let's take a more enlightened, open and optimistic view. I believe that every board is now obligated to understand the internet and social media so that its benefits and opportunities are properly appreciated. And because social media is becoming more ubiquitous, every board member should have at least a basic knowledge of it.
Social media, almost by definition is about "freedom" rather than "power and control" as the older media models tend to be. That means that no single organisation can control it absolutely. What an organisation can control is how it participates and how it responds to situations. As was shown in the case of the American Red Cross with Hurricane Katrina, the ability of an organisation to respond appropriately and quickly was the best mitigation against risk, rather than a straightjacket policy set that assumes that slow and considered responses will suffice.
Risk is often the biggest concern of those who do not understand its dimensions – rather like a room becoming scarier when the lights are off. But as with anything new that promises to change the world for the better, the biggest risks come from a lack of engagement and knowledge.
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About the author facebook.com/frasercarson2 www.fresco.co.nz
Fraser Carson is a respected communications and social media consultant, and commentator. He has particular experience and interest in community building, the not-for-profit sector and business development.
