How are we doing in adapting to the changes technology brings?

I think it’s worth mentioning here that We Share Stuff is currently working on an event that will look into what could be described as the mostly unregulated and largely voluntary area of social media practice tutoring / mentoring. As we see more and more training events and ‘masterclasses’ in social media cropping up, the ethics of the social web is arguably quite relevant right now. Watch this space for more.

So yes, i’m looking at joining the dots here. I feel social enterprises should do all they can to make the most of the social web. And by that I don’t mean it in terms of sales.

It could be argued that Facebook provides a useful introduction to the web (in a digital inclusion sense), providing file sharing, location updates, events etc. The flipside of which could lead to a lack of exploration and confidence to try other things outside of the service. Amongst this mix should we also think about the relevance and importance of choice? A wider selection of services, information and applications obviously exists outside Facebook. (but it’s all still pretty much down to the developers and programmers who provide these ‘choices’ which is a debate in itself) but are users overwhelmed by these external choices? Does Facebook’s limitations add to a culture of consuming rather than creating? Are we content with Facebook?

Should we actively encourage people to explore outside Facebook? Can we provide enough valid reasons for them to do so? I think we should. I’m in the throws of knocking up a resource that could help the debate along a little (watch this space). While Facebook seems like the one stop shop for everything social, it’s a very controlled environment that limits what users can actually do. I’m all for encouraging people to experiment and venture outside their comfort zones so therefore, while I’m not ‘anti-facebook’ (I use it myself on both a personal and work level), I want to promote the social web as something much more than Facebook could ever be.

So if Facebook is your ‘home’. How about stepping outside and having a little wander around? you might meet a few new people, visit a few new places… Who knows you may even fly the nest and settle down elsewhere.

If you’ll forgive the indulgence we are rather proud to tell people that We Share Stuff Birmingham Ltd this week became We Share Stuff Birmingham C.I.C.

We’ve been working on this for a while, and are pleased to have cemented our social enterprise aims into the organisation. It won’t make any difference to the way that we operate.: put simply, we knew that we were working to make our community a better place but this makes it official.

“Community interest companies (CIC) are a new type of limited company designed specifically for those wishing to operate for the benefit of the community rather than for the benefit of the owners of the company. This means that a CIC cannot be formed or used solely for the personal gain of a particular person, or group of people.”

Thanks to iSE who gave us a lot of support during the process.

In association with the  Neighbourhood Manager for Soho Finger & Gib Heath and the Chamberlain Forum’s Resident University we’re happy to be supplying two free Understanding Social Media courses. One is a short drop-in session for those who would like to know more, and the second is an OCN Accredited 10-hour course, both are free to residents, call Colin on 0121 675 2683 if you’d like to attend.

You can listen to the podcast here (and even make your own notes on the Soundcloud page) or download.

The Social Gas: No. 2 Google Docs by We Share Stuff

If you use iTunes you can subscribe here to receive updates automatically.

If you’ve got any questions about how Google Docs could work for your non-profit, ask them in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer them. Next time we’re going to take a look at Linked:IN and how you might use the most work-focused of social networks.

You see, this is a legal process and we have to submit a number of fairly complicated documents. Helpfully, or so you’d think, The CIC Regulator has model documents on its website for interested companies to use. But they’re in Microsoft Word format and we only have macs or linux machines, and use open source software for both principle and cost reasons wherever we can.

Opening them in Open Office, Google Docs, (even Apple’s Pages which I happen to have) and other programs that usually do okay with that format can’t cope with the complex numbering—and render them pretty useless as getting them right is very important and a mistake could be legally costly. Even downloading a trial version of Office for mac didn’t work—it wouldn’t have been a permanent solution, but it would have put the problem off—there are differences in formatting and again the forms are reduced to gibberish. So we asked for help, thinking that as there’s no reason they couldn’t be saved in an open format (RTF, for example) the Regulator could convert, check, and make them available to non-Windows users.

But no. They said:

“It is not possible for the documents to be made available in any other format than that already placed on the website. We are pleased to say that the majority of users find the application process a relatively straightforward experience and indeed praise the website for its clear and precise information. Hopefully you will be able to access the forms at a convenient time”

We’re lucky enough to have friends that will help out here—and they will have to do so again if we need to make more changes—but it’s not helpful and comes about through ignorance of how people use computers.

Just because something is widely used doesn’t make it a standard, and standards are important. Standards make sure everyone can access information. The rise of the low cost netbook, and other types of computing (especially mobile) mean that you have no idea of the set-up of people who you are trying to reach, but stick to standards and you’ll be fine.

This episode talks about Facebook, we look at questions like:

• Why has Facebook become the biggest social network ever?
• Is everyone on Facebook?
• Why should a Social enterprise have a presence on Facebook and what should that presence be?
• What’s the difference between groups and fan pages?
• What are Facebook ads? are they worth it? how much do they cost?
• What reasons would you give for avoiding Facebook?
• Who do we get keep it updated?

The Social Gas: No. 1  Facebook by We Share Stuff

If you’ve got any questions about how Facebook could work for your non-profit, ask them in the comments and we’ll do our best to answer them. Next time we’re going to take a look at Google Docs and how you can use them to save time, money and aid collaboration.

The Soho Finger Neighbourhood Forum team, who are in the process of developing an online space, seem to be the link between services / information and residents. They are residents too and so have a more vested interest in what is said and wanted by local people. We showed them some of the more direct tools available online such as the range of services available from My Society.

A few issues regarding the community were raised during the introductions so I attempted some hands on examples of how technology could be used for such matters. I recorded a quick interview with local resident, Reg Everall, who was concerned about the growing problem of bird droppings.

He felt this is on the increase due to the lack of awareness of the consequences of feeding the birds scraps of food. If the community was made aware that the not only was it causing an increase of bird droppings but also not good for them, the problem could be eradicated. Reg suggested leaflets in a few languages (Soho has a diverse ethnic community mix) which could be locally distributed. I suggested that maybe having the same leaflet available online along with some audio version might increase awareness as well as provide a resource for other neighbourhoods to use.

So I was using technology for a number of things here. Initially, to record concerns by local residents, which I uploaded and shared with others at the event in a matter of seconds. I also embedded this into a page I created on the day, quickly and easily, using free tools (There are many simple tools to enable residents to express themselves online). I then suggested how technology could be used to help solve the problem. A leaflet could be produced, with a simple sentence in the main 3 or 4 languages of the neighbourhood. “Please! Do not feed the birds”. I found a leaflet used by Stroud MBC for this very purpose (pdf). With the right links, a few other language versions could be reproduced and also replicated online. The message could also be recorded by local residents in other languages and feature prominently on a Soho related website. All this could be produced very quickly, easily and cost effectively.

Here’s the page I created on the day to quickly take a snapshot of what was happening at the time: http://bit.ly/sohocomm

The tools I used on the day were: wrrtn.me for a place to put the content I created, audioboo.fm where I uploaded the interview, recorded on my phone, bambuser.com where I streamed some live video from the event.