Pinterest doing wonders for Charity

With the popularity of Pinterest surging at present, the adaptability of the site has really been highlighted by the increased variety of users signing up. In particular, there have been growing numbers of charities joining the site and utilising it in quite imaginative ways.

The photo-sharing site, which recently became open to all, is being realised as potentially becoming ‘a great source of donations’. This is due to the site being dominated by females (70%) mostly between the ages of 25-44, a demographic which is often hard to target. Campaigns on Pinterest could subsequently bring increased success for the charities tapping into this and also help to further their message and support base.

Some have suggested however, that Pinterest can only lend itself to certain charities due to the visual nature of the site. However, as is being shown, numerous charities are making use of it and finding a variety of original ways to portray themselves. Recently, the Blurt Foundation has made use of the site to try and remove the stigma surrounding depression. Whilst the subject can be difficult to convey, co-founder Jayne Hardy believes that “images can be more powerful than words”. The decision to turn to Pinterest was an obvious one for the charity and has really helped to raise awareness.  Through their use of the site the foundation were featured on the Total Politics blog for their depression in politics series.

Numerous other UK charities are now utilising Pinterest as it becomes an essential part of social media campaigns. Jordan Harling (Reason Digital) has noted that the goal for charities is to ‘use Pinterest to connect people and communities based on their social interests and motivation to do good’. By being creative, charities can gain attention and stand out from the crowd. The network can also be beneficial through linking up with other social media platforms and blogs for instance. So by grabbing the attention of the user on Pinterest, they could then be directed to the charity site and even make a donation. Even if a donation were not to happen, the charity has successfully disseminated its message and may gain support through this in the long run.

Some notable charities using Pinterest include water, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Their boards contain images from field trips, fundraising campaigns and photos of the day, which prominently feature water. The WWF are another significant group to have taken to the site. Understandably they use a lot of images of animals but they also include boards devoted to supporters and ‘tips to go green’.

Consequently, despite it being relatively new and unfamiliar, Pinterest is fast becoming a key avenue for charities. As well as helping to generate donations, the site is allowing charities to broaden their message and potential audience. In terms of visuals, these charities are also doing a great job in pinning creative, interesting content. This is sure to develop in the future as the site advances and understanding increases. 

Reality Television and Facebook?

Reality TV on Facebook

A Chance to Dance is a new American reality show that will become the first show to air both on a cable channel and Facebook.

The move taken by the show’s producers, Nigel and Simon Lythgoe, highlights their ambitions to generate more of a buzz and subsequently capitalise on this with improved audience ratings. It has been recognised, particularly from the recent Olympics, that viewers are often online whilst they watch, contributing to various social media sites. This is something that television companies could really look to harness and reality TV seems a perfect start.

Although there have been increasing steps to combine social media with reality TV in recent times, this move is the ultimate step and may see the show really prosper. In similar shows, Twitter has been utilised to involve the audience, creating hashtags to spark conversation and debate. In A Chance to Dance, Facebook viewers will be able to post comments and chat about the show, answer trivia questions, get access to exclusive footage and witness interviews with the producers. Clearly, the combination of the two will immerse viewers even more than before and will hopefully help build a bigger audience.

By targeting fans of the previous shows American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, the producers hope to see a large proportion of Facebook viewers during the shows air. These viewers will be required to pay $1.99 per show or $11.99 for seven episodes. The network company Ovation will not be using the Facebook credit service and will instead opt to use credit card or Paypal transactions.

Facebook credits

The decision not to utilise this service signifies part of a growing trend which recognises the relative inoperability of the service. Reality show Big Brother has experienced a great amount of difficulty with the service and recently had to completely suspend it for one eviction. Facebook themselves have begun to move away from the service, choosing to use actual money in their Bingo and Slots Friendzy games. The Financial Times has reported that Facebook are likely to discontinue the service ‘at the end of the year after hearing from merchants that the 30 per cent cut it took on transactions was unpalatable’.

Social media and other shows

Having Facebook stream live shows does make a lot of sense in the reality TV world but if this were to branch into other areas it could have detrimental effects. With reality TV, arguably the shows don’t require a great amount of concentration and social media lends itself to the format as viewers can voice their opinions and feel part of the programme. Conversely, if a new drama were to be aired on Facebook, viewers are likely to not pay it their full attention, possibly missing significant information and superior camera work. Whilst social media can be beneficial in generating the hype, perhaps keep these shows to television. In spite of this, viewers could be online anyway during watching a show. Either way, it is difficult to see credible shows turning to social media as another way to stream their shows.

It will be intriguing though, to see whether this move will be mirrored by other shows in the future. Were it to prove a success with A Chance to Dance, then it is likely to be seen again. Hopefully, were this to be the case, the shows would be given the same attention as if it were shown on television.

What do you see as the future for television and social media?

Out of this World Live Tweeting

Whilst the world was still catching its breath after the spectacular Olympics weekend, reports today confirm NASA has successfully landed their Curiosity Rover on Mars.

In a mission which is expected to last 98 weeks, the Curiosity Rover will explore the Gale Crater- an area believed to have been filled with water billions of years ago. Heightening interest in the Curiosity Rover, NASA have once again involved Twitter to help document the mission, posting updates and photos. Whilst this idea has been used for both previous Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) neither appeared to generate the interest quite like Curiosity has done. With the Curiosity account already showing nearly 500,000 followers, not to mention the numerous retweets, NASA finally seem to have cracked the social media game.

So what has changed for NASA this time around? The first obvious reason is the significant rise in people using Twitter. Since the last two Rover missions Twitter has exploded in popularity. Due to this surge the general understanding and interest in the site has also grown. With this, I would also suggest that NASA has gained a greater insight into how to use the site. Their live-tweets documenting the landing of Curiosity really do generate a level of excitement. Following the successful landing, Curiosity then went on to post three consecutive pictures including the line ‘it was one small step… now it’s six big wheels’. Partly down to the live landing hype was Flight Director Bobak Ferdowsi, who witnessed a drastic rise in his follower count from 200 to 11,000 during the pre-landing stages. Ferdowsi helped give an insight into NASA by instagramming his view of the control room.

In a mission reported to have cost around $2.5 billion ($7 for every American), there has certainly been more hype this time around. NASA seems to have harnessed this through the Curiosity Twitter account and the live-tweeting during the landing process. Those that did follow the landing arguably felt more a part of the event and could witness clear evidence, both with the photos and UStream feed.

Live-tweeting has undoubtedly seen a major rise in the last year or so. The Twitter site promotes this activity as a way to ‘turbocharge your engagement’ and posits numerous success stories. For example, Lea Michele (@msleamichele) used live-tweeting whilst at the Emmys in September in 2011 resulting in a 3.5X increase in daily mentions and a 2X increase in daily followers, and The Rock (@TheRock) participated in a live Q&A using the hashtag #RockTalk which saw a 13X increase in daily mentions and a 3X increase in daily followers. The results from these live-tweet campaigns are impressive and NASA seems to have reflected this with the Curiosity landing.

The beauty of live-tweeting is not only the buzz which is generates but also the fact that it has the ability to be applied to anything. In recent times we have seen live-tweet feeds from such events as a brain surgery, the Leveson inquiry, amongst other court cases, and, perhaps most strangely, a public break-up documented by comedienne Janey Godley. The former of these boasted an audience of 14 million people and was the hospital’s second journey into the live-tweeting realm. These range of events highlight that live-tweets can be both educational and for entertainment purposes. Not only does it promote a person, place or an event, it truly engages the audience who can have their voice heard.

You have to wonder though whether live-tweeting can detract from the event itself. With people so keen to voice their opinions are they fully concentrating on the event at hand? Whatever the case, live-tweeting is certain to be seen more and more in forthcoming events.