Inaugurating Change Through Social Media
by Sarah on January 20th, 2009
Inauguration Day 2009 brings more than just a new president. It brings a turning point in the way our society approaches community development.
Most political scientists agree that President Obama’s outside-of-the-box campaign strategy incorporating social media elements was one of the things that forged his path to the presidency. As ShoreBank Online Channel Manager, I felt honored that a blogger recently compared Obama’s nontraditional strategy to that of ShoreBank’s. She blogged that Obama should create a committee of cutting edge practitioners, including “someone from ShoreBank in Chicago,” in order to realize his promise of change.
Ironically, it was ShoreBank’s commitment to providing customers with “good, old-fashioned banking” that inspired us to enter the social media space. In Friday’s blog entry, my colleague Karen recently discussed how online banking’s ability to broaden the way we at ShoreBank can connect with people does create a community. It is through the community of social media that you can help to positively impact your online and offline community.
I believe that one of social media’s core functionalities is to connect users to determine the importance of topics. Commenting on a blog, Digging an article, linking to a website, and joining a Facebook Group or Fan Page promulgates the causes you think are important across the web as it stimulates reactions. This ongoing electronic conversation can make a serious impact in the real world.
Online networks can help find people emergency housing, enable microdonations to causes, bring real-time awareness to international human rights violations, or elect a president. Creating internet connection and communication between those who share your beliefs can galvanize you to move from online communities to coordinating offline change.
President Obama changed the face of American presidential campaigning with his historic use of social media (a Facebook Page, multiple MySpace Pages, mobile text updates). However, he used these new technologies to advance traditional American political themes of optimism, service, and the need for change. ShoreBank’s social media (a Facebook page, blog, websites, and more) likewise aims to use new technologies to connect our customers to what our cofounder Ron Grzywinski calls “good, old-fashioned banking -” a tradition that builds communities, allows families to create wealth, and creates neighborhoods where people choose to live, work, and play.
Now it’s your turn. Tell us: how can ShoreBank better use social media to help you to generate change?
Tags: community development, green banking, microdonations, ShoreBank Direct, social media, triple bottom line
