TakingITGlobal

ActivatingOnlineCommunitiestoMaximizeImpact 10 Awareness Awarenesswasthemostcommonlyusedwordduringtheactivity. 'Awareness',recognizedas themostfundamentalandbasicofoutcomesforcommunityengagement,wassegmentedbetween onlineandofflineforms,furthersub dividedbetweenawarenessof'opportu nities'or'issues'.These additionallayersaddcontexttothewaysinwhichtechnologyplatformsorexistingmediacanbe employedtosupportadiversityofactions.Conversions,actionstakenbeyond'casualbrowsing'canbe assessedagainsttheseadditi onaldimensionstosupportamoreeffectiveapproachtomonitoring, trackingandultimatelycalculatingtheefficacyofoutreachactivationsacrosschannels. Thethemeof unpackingthelanguageoftraditionalmodelstoreflectdiversificationinthechanne lwascommon throughoutthediscussion. Engagement Whileorganizationsentertaindifferingdefinitionsandtheoriesof'engagement', thetrendwas towardstheintroductionofadditionalvocabularyto createamorerefinedconceptofwhattheterm entails acrossthesector. Acommonthemeacrossseveralmodelswastheimportanceofdefiningroles, orestablishingclearprocessesbywhichtoarriveatacleardefinition. Withadditionalclarity,multiple 'types'ofopportunities,differentiatedbylevelsof 'activeleadership' and contrastedwithmore'passive opportunities' werementioned,spanning bothlocalandglobal,urbanandruralcontexts . The prospectivebenefitofmultipleandclearlydefinedpathwaystoactionisthatadiverserangeof individuals can'seethemselves' ,'moredeeplyengage'and readilyunderstandthecumulativeresultsof activitiesundertaken.Thisfocusonindividualprogressandcumulativeeffortrelatesbothtoon and offlinecontexts,highlightingtoolslike optimize.ly orGoogleAnalyticsexperiments, aswaystoassess 'engagement'acrossarangeofactionstakenonline. Mobilization Acrossthemodels,atransitionfrom'consumption'behaviourslikereading,casualbrowsing etc.,we redifferentiatedfrom'contribution'behaviours. Actionsofthelattertypeinvolvegreaterlevels ofintegrationandfluencywiththesite,focusingtheintentionsofusersaroundparticularactivities, actionsortasksbeyond'informationgathering'.Wh iletheparticularsofwhatthelineconsistsinvary acrossorganizationalcontexts,modelsreflectedakeydifferentiationbetweenbothon andoffline mobilizationopportunities. Theprevalenceofthis'hybrid'modelisindicativeofanexistingtrend towardstechnology enableddiversificationamongopportunities,butfurtheremphasizesthe importanceoftrackingandexperimentingwithonlineformsofengagementasakeycomponentof effectiveandefficient'mobilization'. Pathwaysto'Leadership' Ina llcases,thehighestlevelofengagementinvolvesthetransitionfroman'activeuser'toa 'leader'withinaparticularorganizationalcontext.Inthemajorityofinstances,'leadership'involves promotionandrecruitmentbehavior,fosteringasustainabl eecosysteminwhichthosewhohave participatedinthepastbecomethe vanguardhighlighting'whatispossible'tothosethatarenewtothe space.Understandingthedimensionsofleadershipwithintheorganizationalandsectoralcontextwill beincreasin glyimportantasdifferentexpressionsofleadershipbehavioursmayalignbettertosome technologicalchannelsthanothers.LeveragingTwittertoconductoutreachtoinfluencersis,asan example,onewaytoleveragesocialcapitalto'TweetAt'thosein apositiontosubstantivelyincrease baseawareness.Whetherornotthat'casualtweet'constitutesarobustexampleof'leadership' remainsanopenquestion. Theideaof Campbell'slaw isequally iteratedhere – ifmetricsbecomethe objective,thentherealobject ivebecomesgamingthemetrics.

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