#PUBLICPOLICY: Online Privacy Becomes Concern For Service Providers
Perhaps the most famous statement of internet privacy from 'The New Yorker' (1993)
Online privacy has been a notable concern for many citizens almost since the inception of the internet, and certainly we have often discussed the issue on our blog over the years. A decade ago, the question of privacy largely was answered with calm warnings to use common sense and with explanations of the averages working against anyone being able to assemble any meaningful aggregate of the real you.
But now not only do companies exist precisely to aggregate your online behavior, millions of us willingly offer our own aggregations via our social-network platforms of choice. Those who strive to ensure some privacy of individuals have been lobbying the federal government to block certain aggregations and pressuring companies to offer ever more powerful privacy controls to customers and members. What seems to be the state of the discussion now?
| Category Audio Interview, Blogs, Civics, Communications, Community, Facebook, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Media Review, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Nonprofit, Permission Marketing, Politics, Public Relations, Site Administration, Social Media, Strategic Marketing, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#PHILANTHROPY: What Might Inspire People To Give To Your Charity?
The year’s fundraising drives are laid out before you and your colleagues. The sting of the Great Recession still hurst most Americans, even if the stinger is gone. The prospects can look intimidating. Even though your charity or nonprofit does good work and has the track record to prove it, this moment might be a good moment to look at a hard fact of fundraising: what will entice more donations, micro or macro, NOW?
| Category Audio Interview, Blogs, Campaigns, Cause Marketing, Community, Crowdfunding, Development, Fundraising, Grants and Funding, How-to, Marketing, Marketing Skills, Nonprofit, Public Relations, Sponsorship | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#ProAging: Study Shows Americans Optimistic and Unprepared For Heath In Retirement (Part 2 of 2)
Last Thursday we shared a report conducted by National Public Radio (NPR), who has been presenting the findings of their in-depth survey concerning how recent retirees and soon-to-be retirees (those over 50) view retirement. The report was conducted by NPR, the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. The takeaway of the survey shows that those close to retirement are strikingly optimistic about what their retirements will entail in terms of economic and social stability (which we discussed last week), as well as about their good health and longevity (to which we turn today). Retirement for those already well into it has lost much of its romantic sheen – a distinction between the two demographics stressed in the report.
| Category Aging, Audio Interview, Boomers, Community, Diet, Fitness, Health, Healthcare, Independent Living, Internet, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Politics, Report, Seniors Life, Wellness | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#ProAging: Study Shows Americans Optimistic and Unprepared For Retirement (Part 1 of 2)
Click to enlarge
Over the last few days, National Public Radio (NPR) has been presenting the findings of an in-depth survey and study of how recent retirees and soon-to-be retirees (those over 50) view retirement. The report was conducted by NPR, the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.
The findings show a general optimism about retirement, though that general optimism is dampened by the credit crisis of the last three years. Yet that optimism is strongest among those who have not yet actually retired. Among the retirees themselves, optimism has been checked by the harsh realities of decimated IRAs, a credit crunch, and unexpected health issues.
What seems to be the state of retirement in the new millennium? The issue may be not that the state of retirement is so bad, but that expectations are strikingly high.
| Category Aging, Audio Interview, Communications, Community, Health, Healthcare, Independent Living, News and Current Affairs, Public Media, Report, Resource, Retirement Living, Seniors Life, Wellness | | 1 Comments
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
#SocialNetworks: Is Google+ Ready For Nonprofit Big Time? (Part 2)
Let us begin by respectfully noting the tenth anniversary of the attacks in New York City, on the Pentagon, and on the thwarted attack in Shanksville PA on September 11th. We hope those directly touched by the terrorists’ attacks have been able to find some modicum of peace over the decade. And we hope all Americans engage the next decade not with fear but with hope and honesty.
Get invited!
Last week we discussed some of the responses nonprofits and other social-media experts to Google+, which has exploded out of the gate of the social-media-platform race, but which might only be the latest shiny object to catch our attention (however briefly).
The overwhelming trend among early adopters in these fields is (a) definitely adopt, or at least keep an eye on Google+, and (2) don’t invest in Google+ to the detriment of all the good work and great contacts you have developed via other social media. Click on the following link for an informative exchange between Beth Kanter and Allison Fine of The Chronicle of Philanthropy that highlights the cautious optimism for the nonprofit world: Beth Kanter and Allison Fine discuss Google+.
What can Google+ offer that makes cautious adoption the recommended route? What can’t Google+ offer that makes cautious adoption the recommended route?
| Category Audio Interview, Blogs, Communications, Community, Facebook, Facebook, Interview, Marketing, Media Review, Nonprofit, Opinion, Public Media, Public Relations, Resource, Reviews, Social Media, Technology, Twitter, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Enviro: Towsontown Spring Festival Rocks This Weekend
We continue our periodic series on upcoming festivals by directing you to the forty-fourth annual Towsontown Spring Festival, which runs this Saturday and Sunday (April 30-May 1) on the Towsontown Square north of Baltimore city. The festival began as an arts festival, but has branched into opportunities for local businesses, community associations, and charities to reach some 250,000 people who pass through the festival over the weekend.
We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Nancy Hafford, who as been the organizer of the festival for a number of years, and we asked her about the ways the festival staff have sought to grow the attendance and participation. She stressed the many ways people can get involved not only in the festival, but with events and philanthropic projects throughout the year. Not surprisingly, social media has played an important role in spreading the word. Nevertheless, they faced some unexpected challenges.
| Category Audio Interview, Campaigns, Communications, Community, Donor Acquisition, Event, Events, Fundraising, Interview, Nonprofit, Twitter, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Why Egypt’s Government Shut Down Social Media, Not Land Lines
Image by Mama Qarat
We make no claims whatsoever to bringing any political, religious, economic, or aesthetic insight on the momentous events unfolding in Tunisia, Egypt, and now (perhaps) Yemen. We encourage our readers to go to a few respected news sources to get a better sense of what is going on there, and how these rebellions (the names given to revolutions until the rebels win) might have an impact on the US.
A sub-story is emerging, though, that relates to the ongoing debate about the impact of social media to bring social change – a topic we have often touched upon here. The events in Egypt may or may not be of immediate concern to our readership, but the sub-story might prove to be a micro-experiment in the interplay of social media and traditional media to motivate larger audiences to important causes.
| Category Audio Interview, Campaigns, Communications, Geo-Location, iDevice, iPhone Apps, National/International, News and Current Affairs, Politics, Public Relations, Social Media, Technology, Twitter, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD
Resolved: Social Media Produces Social Good (Part 1: Arguments For The Affirmative)
Image via CrunchBase
As a buildup to our upcoming Perspectives interview with Kristen Cambell, Director of Programs and New Media the National Conference on Citizenship, that will be published this Thanksgiving week, we wanted to point our loyal readers to a brewing debate about social media as a change-agent for good – that social media have the capabilities of influencing meaningful behavioral changes among people and help institute (at least ‘organize’) systemic/institutional change. John Locke wrote hundreds of pages about the family, not the king, as the bedrock of a free political society – and it still took a half-century for the American colonists to revolt. How can a bunch of 140-character tweets instigate such change? Many believe it already has…
(more…)
| Category Audio Interview, Communications, Community, Marketing, Nonprofit, Social Media, Technology, Twitter, Video Interview, Web and Print | | Comments Off
Written by: Christopher Gardner, PhD