Social Media & Social Equity

Social media has fundamentally changed the way we interact and connect with other people, and the technology will continue to be prevalent even after its beginning stages (such as Myspace and AIM) left the spotlight. The dominance of online communities like Facebook reveal a new social universe, but as a planner – I have to ask – can social media help create social equity?

Now, I’m  not referring to the newest definition of the term, which refers to the brand reputation of companies online, but rather the term in its planning sense. Can we use this new technology to further connect people and put everyone on the same playing field? Or is this only strengthening the economic – and now digital – divide between many parts of the world?

Of course, Twitter and Facebook campaigns like KONY2012 have shown us how social media can spotlight a global issue, but creating awareness is only the first step in creating equity. Furthermore, creating awareness of an issue not only puts that issue in cyberspace, it puts your organization out there as well. (KONY2012 was, and should be, questioned about where their doubled revenue is being spent.) So, we should be prepared to answer more than questions on the issue, but about our process.

And the catch with social media is: people can ask questions anytime, from anywhere. The engagement process is no longer restricted by a 9 – 5 window, which can help or hurt our goals depending on how it is used. While posting a tweet takes seconds, reading and responding to feedback takes much longer; those who want to be active in the online social sphere need to be constantly vigilant in order to limit the spread of misinformation.

That seems like a lot of work for a small advocacy group. Can we really rely on our social media campaigns to produce action?

The marketing world says, Yes. According to t2social.com, “Influence on social media translates into influence on decision making.” And focusing on specific online communities helps build targeted outreach and influence very quickly,. So, start smaller and work towards building a following, while remembering that “every tweet, every blog post, every Facebook response… and the subsequent following you receive… is a small investment into the future.”

So – circling back to my original point – we should be invested in using social media as a marketing and outreach tool. And, conceivable, our efforts will produce action and influence; be it one person at a time. The Planning Pool states that social media is “empowered participation” with varying levels: sharing, cooperation, and collective action. The article also argues that social media has fundamentally changed the way commons – either physical or digital (ie a park or data) – are managed; we, as the public, have much more power over the commons than we had before.

At the end of the day, true social equity is only going to result from physical action, but I believe that planners can use social media technology in innovative ways to strengthen commitment to equity issues, and to reach audiences beyond our normal capability.