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Social media fun at the fair

8th September 2009 by nickygetgood

On Saturday me and Mike were lucky enough to enjoy a day in the sunshine in the name of work, giving something of a mini social media surgery under a tent in a field.  We spent the day introducing people enjoying Fulham Fest to the new community website for the London W14 & SW6 neighbourhoods, a ning site which manager Annette Albert has built up into a fantastic local resource that covers local events, news, groups and information.

We got a fair few signed up to the site and many got cracking with adding to it straight away by poll voting, posting events, starting discussions and joining groups.  What was most rewarding was inducting people who initially had reservations, either because of a fear of the technology or because they could not see how it might be used.  It was just a few simple steps to show people how easy the site is to navigate and discuss issues important to them that the site could help with.

Getting people there who were at first quite reticent enthusiastic about the site really highlighted the benefits of holding a social media surgery as part of a larger, community event.  Many of the people I met on Saturday wouldn’t have come to something solely about social media or using a community website, but by being part of a fun and informal family day we were able to teach in a relaxed, ‘non-training’ atmosphere and get past preconceptions they may have had.

So now I’m all for a social media tent becoming a staple part of local fetes and fairs.  Next time you’re organising a community festival or gathering, think about making space for a couple of laptops next to the face-painters.  It’s a great way of raising awareness of a new hyperlocal site and you’d be helping people discover something new, get involved with local activity and carry on communicating long after the party’s over.

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nickygetgood
Latest posts by nickygetgood (see all)
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Filed Under: hyperlocal, Writing and Content Ideas Tagged With: annete albert, fulham fest, mike rawlins, Social Media Surgeries, W14 & SW6

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ella Taylor-Smith says

    11th September 2009 at 10:26 am

    Hi
    on Monday, we held a workshop at an eDemocracy Conference in Vienna on using Social Networking Tools in eParticipation. Some of you may find the slides and materials interested and here they are: http://itc.napier.ac.uk/huwy/snsworkshop.asp

    By the way, I’m using eParticipation to mean using technology (especially the Internet) to broaden and deepen political participation by helping citizens to connect with one another and with their elected representatives and governments.

    -Ella

Trackbacks

  1. Spawning Social Media Surgeries. | Podnosh says:
    11th November 2009 at 12:52 pm

    […] Talk About Local uses the technique and has now spawned the wonderful idea of a social media tent for fetes and fairs. […]

  2. Ten Questions: Annette Albert of W14 & SW6 London - Talk About Local says:
    12th July 2011 at 2:39 pm

    […] since it started in July 2009 and now has 469 members – a number of whom joined during a highly unusual training session in a field as part of community funday Fulham Fest in September […]

  3. Digital Inclusion & Participation | Talk About LocalTalk About Local says:
    2nd March 2014 at 7:02 pm

    […] and amplify their cause. We have done things like showing people the benefits of being on-line in a park in Fulham or in a McDonalds in Chelmsley Wood. Once they have the desire and see how relatively easy being […]

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