Google+, the latest iteration on social networking from Google, is here.

There are bound to be many, many versions of this blog post as people from around the world start investigating the tool and sharing their impressions. As always, when it’s just the first trickling of people joining up, the way the tool is used, the depth of some functionality, and the technical issues are all a bit out of proportion. With all of that as a grain of salt to this post, I want to share a few reflections focused on security and control – the items touted ahead of launch as the elements positioning Google+ on the other side of Facebook.

Privacy

It may seem strange to users who are new to Google tools, but the Google+ privacy settings are tied in to all of your Google account privacy settings. (Check your settings now if you want!) In some ways, this could be confusing to people who’ve become accustomed to Facebook’s approach which has layers of settings and changes those layers, options, and controls all of the time. Now, your sharing and connecting settings apply to much more of the web than just your social networking profile.

When joining, the presence of ad-recommending data was very clear. Check out the invite screen shot below:

But for all the talk about “owning our data” that Facebook has really been instrumental in igniting, Google’s response is “data liberation.” Making the options for backing up and downloading your content and data explicit.

Privacy within the platform can be on a content by content basis. When you post a message, upload a photo or video, or share, you are given the option to select which of your “circles” are able to view it. Circles are how you organize your contacts. You can share with all of your circles, any specific one/s, or with the world, every time you post. You are also given the option to disable comments on something and/or disable the option for others to share/reshare what you post. This last bit of privacy/security flexibility will, I think, help people feel better about participating that were previously worried about sharing on Facebook for fear that people would push it across the network without them knowing.

Google+ links for my account and my notifications appear in any of my Google account windows. But, the notifications are terrific in their streamlined functionality. You can click through to the actions and content without changing the page you are on – just flipping through the popup notification window itself. Though, you’ll see in these images (just like on Facebook), that when you comment or interact with a friend’s post, you can then be interacting with people who aren’t in your circles. (Note: I am connected directly with Debra, but not with Andy)

My Google+ profile automatically includes a Google Buzz tab to see the stream from that space. Google integration across all of the Google-owned spaces is pretty seamless, naturally. But, the social media landscape has changed over the years and people expect more flexibility, allowing social profiles on the web to interact. For example, people are talking about viewing their Google+ circles in Tweetdeck or Hootsuite where they can already view Twitter and Facebook. There’s also the integration for multimedia like YouTube (though, that’s Google property so maybe more hopeful there), Flickr, and things like Twitter and Twitpic.

Google+ and Facebook in Early Days

Whether this dates me in a good or bad way, or not: I was in college when Facebook first appeared. We could only see people at our university. But it allowed for some really organic networking across the platform with functionality that Facebook later dissolved. For example, because it was already limited to your school, the course lists were populated each semester into the platform – this let you select which classes you were in and then see the other students in your class, even if you weren’t friends directly. You could then share messages, notes, talk about class, etc. You were also able to see a more general flow of data on the platform.

In the early days of Twitter, the public stream contributed dramatically to users finding each other and people of interest to follow or just to communicate with.

The “incoming” stream on Google+ is it’s version of this wider stream, allowing users to surf across the platform to people they may not know but that are sharing content or updates publicly. I think that it is an important part of the platform at this early stage, but I think there will need to be more add-on functionality once we are past Day 1 of the trial period and the numbers of users skyrocket; the content will be too difficult to follow with too much happening. A Google+ equivalent for hashtags or other metadata filtering could make a public timeline something useful even with a huge number of participants.

Personal vs Professional

Because your contacts and the sharing are based on your “circles” I can see how Google+ could allow for more streamlined integration of a personal and professional profile. You can have everyone connected to you, without trying to say “I only have real friends on this social network” and limit which content goes to which circle. But, at least right now, you can still only have that one profile.

My work email address is managed by Google as we use Google Apps. I tried setting up an account on Google+ with that email but I was given an error message that said they do not support the additional domains yet. I am sure this is something they are building out though – both for the professional users and so that it expands who can use the platform since it requires a Gmail email address right now.

Options for Nonprofits

I haven’t found any organizations using Google+ yet with an organizational profile. And as I said above, the professional vs personal differentiation is yet to be defined by the platform. Without knowing just where Google is planning to go with these kinds of options or profiles, I can see a few options just built into the functionality:

Using “circles” for volunteers, donors, general supporters, etc. to more directly target content, asks, and engagement efforts

Having nonprofit organizations manage a Spark (the interest area aggregators):

Use the “hangouts” functionality, which allows for up to 10 users to group chat with video, for building trust and relationships with your community members. Imagine having a daily hangout with your organization’s leadership shared publicly through the network so anyone could join in, ask a question, etc – especially during a campaign or election cycle!

Resources

Here are a few resource links I’ve found helpful so far in the Google+ exploration process:

• How to import your Facebook friends to Google+
• Facebook friend export extension for Chrome
• Google+ Review on TechCrunch
• Google+ on Android

Have more resource links or blog posts to share? What are your concerns or reflections with Google+? Looking forward to hearing how your experience goes!

—– UPDATE

I’ve come across an organizational profile on Google+ now, my friends at BullyingUK – they are always on the edge of early adoption and I’m interested to see what they think of the new platform. So, far, it doesn’t show any posts from them but you can see how their profile looks and that their Buzz feed comes into the profile.

Functionality

Persistence

So far, trying to navigate the site to browse or set up a profile has about a 50/50 chance of hitting either a 504 or 500 error page. It’s been quite a frustrating process, especially when inputting 33 different countries one by one in the “where we work” section just to have the “save” not work. Complaining about the errors on Twitter along with @Kanter, @pgjones00 was Mark Mann:

It is in beta, let’s not forget! So, patience and persistence are the keys to success. I’m always the first to admit I’m not patient, but I persistence this morning has gotten me pretty deep into the site – so keep refreshing your browser and you’ll get through!

Facebook Requirements

It seems that you have to have an organizational presence on facebook in order for the project page on Jumo to work/look right – I put in my facebook ID, thinking it was verifying my association as the admin on the organizational account, but instead it put my photo and info as the organization’s! I’m not sure that organizations will want to maintain, or create, a profile on facebook just as a ticket to using Jumo. Is this experience correct – have others found this to be true?

Transparency

Here’s the screen shot for the TechSoup Global page on Jumo. I am following the organization and am an administrator on the page – doesn’t appear to show either of those facts!

I’m also not finding any way to customize the URL so that users could more easily find, and I could more easily share/promote the page.

Messaging

I’ve had quite a string of issues with the messaging in Jumo. Here are some of the posts I’ve shared this morning with members of a social media for nonprofits group in facebook:

• when I try posting on people’s pages, it doesn’t appear to go through, but then they say they get 4 emails telling them about it (this is what one contact reported after I posted on his wall); when I tried posting an update on my own page it went through twice! Just checked back and Jumo deleted the second/double post but the diction is very strange! “Amy Sample Ward wrote on her/her profile:”
• I just posted on Beth’s wall on jumo and left the “post to facebook” box checked to see if it would post on her or my facebook wall as well, but it doesn’t seem to have done so.
• Also interesting, that it let me post on Beth’s wall (if the Jumo terms use “wall”) even though we weren’t following each other. Could mean that users don’t have a way to manage the amount of posts (read: spam) that could get through to them…
• I got an error that said only letters, spaces and punctuation were allowed… no numbers?!

Avi Kaplan shared some feedback on my facebook wall this morning, as well:

I really agree with Avi – there doesn’t seem to be a way to comment on someone’s post to reply, or to reply to the news items. Isn’t that the point? Not just to broadcast, but to have a conversation, share ideas, and provide context.

Building a Network

As Debra Askanse posted in a facebook group discussing Jumo this morning, how do follow people, and not just organizations?

The reason a site for finding and following causes you care about has social features is because it isn’t just the organizations we care about that we like to follow, but also the people we care about. If a friend or family member donates to an organization, starts or shepherds a campaign, or shares an appeal for support, data has shown that we are more likely to listen and even take action – we trust our friends and family and listen to what they say more than just ads or mass-messages. So, finding and following the people we want to listen to should certainly be easier in Jumo!

Donations

As Marie Deatherage pointed out, “Did you see that 15% of donation goes to jumo, about 5% to network4good? That’s the default.” As an administrator on an organization’s page, I find it interesting that it doesn’t share these details with you during the set up process. You would need to seek out the details to find out what the donation details are even though the option for people to donate through the profile is there immediately!

Purpose

As Tom Watson posted in a facebook group this morning, what’s the point?

Jumo vs Change.org – is that the question?

Change.org describes itself as:

Change.org is the world’s fastest growing social action platform, empowering people to make a difference across a variety of important causes. Our team of writers and editors provides daily coverage of breaking social action campaigns, connecting people to opportunities to get involved. We also provide free tools that allow anyone to run their own campaigns. Our tools are used by thousands of grassroots activists and organizations around the globe. We count many of the world’s leading nonprofits as partners, including Amnesty International, Sierra Club, Human Rights Campaign, and the United Nations Foundation.

So, does the nuance between the two platforms come down to “action” or something else? Organizations that I am or could follow are on both platforms, so what is the deciding factor influencing their strategy for engagement on the platform and the deciding factor for which platform I use to connect with them?

Beyond a Platform

Beyond this platform or that one, why do you, as an individual who is passionate about a cause, want to connect directly with a nonprofit organization online? Is it to take action – online? or off?  Is it to know what they are doing and how they use the funds you may have given them? Is it to see if they are worth your donations or volunteer hours? How does your purpose for engagement influence your choice of platform?

I’m really interested to hear what you all think! What are your experiences, thoughts, reactions or conjectures? What are you most curious about or hopeful for?

—–

Lately, I’m thinking about the topic of cross-platform community building. I’ve written about it, submitted a session proposal with colleague Debra Askanase to the 2011 NTC, and recently had the opportunity to start a conversation on the topic of engaging your community across platforms in a GroupVine message (more information about my use of the tool at the bottom of this post).  One idea that has emerged for me through this way of exploring the topic is that of temporary versus permanent networks.

Temporary versus Permanent Networks

Whether you are working on a campaign, a program or a service; whether it is online or offline (though I would argue it should probably touch both!); whether you are a small team or a huge office, your work requires engagement. And engagement requires people.

People are networked.

It goes without saying then that no matter what our work or our sector or our cause, we need to get better at recognizing the power in networks and become the nodes that connect networks, conversations, and people. Connecting conversations and people means cross-pollinating or jumping across platforms to share messages or actions from one to the next. In this back and forth, we encounter both temporary and permanent networks – and identifying each from the other can make a huge difference!

Individuals define networks.

The tricky part about identifying a network as either temporary or permanent is that each individual defines his or her participation/contribution as temporary or permanent, and that definition mainly impacts only him or her.  So, because one user wants to visit your forum and leave a comment only one time, creating only a temporary connection, that doesn’t mean that other users do not visit it and get/give value to that forum in a long-term way.

Individuals influence networks.

Network definitions and participation are also influenced by the user’s desire to create professional or personal connections. These kinds of preferences by users can dramatically influence a network and community. My level of activity will certainly impact the network, but so does how I act when I connect. Engagement acts as a ripple effect so if a few people present responses or communications using their organizational profile, for example, it can set the precedent for others to follow profesionally.  And likewise with a personal side.  The personal and professional sides can influence temporary and permanent network status as well – as often it is easier to maintain connections to a network that you are personally invested in, opposed to professionally (especially if the connection is via an organizational presence).

Feet drive permanence.

As I mentioned in an aside above, I have yet to come across an example of programs, services, campaigns, or other efforts that don’t benefit from being accessible online and off.  I also have a ton of experiential proof that joining people together offline, at the same time – whether it’s for an fun event, a conference, or anything else – can dramatically increase the uptake in online community engagement and the permanence of that network.

We need them both.

I really do not believe that permanent networks are “better” or more valuable than temporary networks. Look at the power of temporary collaboration, for example, in times of crisis response or large scale crowdsourcing. But, that doesn’t mean recognizing how people are treating and engaging with various networks is not important. You can more strategically engage, communication and inspire actions from one network to the next, as you operate as the node connecting one group with another, when you know why people are there and how they see that space. The more aligned our actions and messages are with the other members of the network means we are truly another member – and not an admin, or manager, or eavesdropper.

Once again, I guess the lesson is to keep being human!

—–

Notes on GroupVine:

GroupVine is a new application for interactive email. They have gathered a good-sized list of people working in nonprofit technology, communications, and engagement, and, well, gotten us engaged! It is a test group, essentially, but with the kinds of people who may help make the tool better and/or use it in their work. It was just the group I wanted to share questions and ideas with as far as cross-platform community building.

GroupVine is a clearly a work-in-progress, and it’s fun getting to be on the “inside” of development at this stage. But, it would still have been much preferred to have a few bits of functionality in place to position a conversation like the one I was after for success, including;

• Multiple responses per field – so that users could really comment back and forth
• Randomizing responses – so that I see the responses of many different users instead of only the person who responded directly before me
• Including media – when talking about examples, tools and case studies it would be helpful to be able to include a picture/screen shot, embed a video, or more easily share links

Thanks again to the GroupVine team for giving me the opportunity to explore the tool!

Want to join in? Sign the pledge, add your post to the list, and get connected: http://findingada.com

My Ada Lovelace Day Story

For as long as I can remember, my mom was the one to step up first to any technology problem or opportunity in our house growing up.  Whether it was changing computers, cameras, cd players, or anything else, she was there with an attitude of, “let’s make this work!” She was the one that took me to the overnight events at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) where I had my first go at building robots.  She never sat me down or said anything overtly; but it was her consistent behavior and example that got me started down this path.

In school, and still to this day, when I think I’ve been stumped by the very tool I’m using I think of her, and think that she wouldn’t accept losing like that!  I know I can figure it out, one way or another!

A huge, heartfelt thanks to you, mom, for always taking the stance that with enough trying and thinking, technology is mine for the mastering!

How to Connect with Women In Technolgy

Want to connect with other women in technology – learn and share, network and build friendships? Here are a couple great ways to join the community:

1. Women Who Tech Telesummit – “brings together talented and renowned women breaking new ground in technology who use their tech savvy skills to transform the world and inspire change. We provide a supportive network for the vibrant and thriving community of women in technology professions by giving women an open platform to share their talents, experiences, and insights.”
2. She’s Geeky – “he brainchild of Kaliya Hamlin, She’s Geeky gives women in technology an opportunity to get together and discuss the unique issues they face in their respective fields.  Hosting unConferences across the United States, She’s Geeky aims to inspire women technologists in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, provide a space for women geeks to create enduring communities, and foster collaboration and innovation among peers.”

What do you think?

What is your Ada Lovelace story? How have you connected with other women in technology or science to learn or collaborate or build community?

Visit my Alltop page here!

I’ve combined some of my favorite RSS feeds from the NPTech community, Social Entrepreneurship sector, and Philanthropy news.  Obviously there are many more blogs and news sources that could be included, but I didn’t want to overwhelm anyone right away.

I’d love to hear the blogs you recommend get added to the Alltop page, so it can function as the ultimate blogroll for this community.  Just leave a comment with your recommendations and I’ll add it!

Why am I using Alltop?  I think it’s a great way to poll together the most recent posts from blogs and new sources around the web in a customizeable and shareable way.  It’s an experiment and I hope you’ll join me!

Visit the Alltop page and let me know your recommendations!

Many organizations have been saying the same thing about using the Internet for many years now, “we need someone to make us a Web site!” No, you really don’t. At least, you don’t need to think of your online “presence” as being a stand-alone website. Let’s dissect a networked approach to an online presence and see what the core dynamics are.

we20

“Our leaders, face a huge task this year. The G20 is a group of 20 leaders including Obama, Brown, Lula and Sarkozy. The G20 are tasked with reforming our failed economies and mapping out our future.

These G20 leaders meet in London on 2 April. 20 world leaders. 20 people together making plans that will affect our future.

we20 is your opportunity to have your own G20 meeting. 20 people together creating plans for your future.”

we20 wants to inspire people, online, to get together, offline, to talk about ideas to improve our lives and our world. They don’t have a website, yet. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be spreading their message and mobilizing people into action both on and offline.

The Key Elements:

• Spreading the word online: this doesn’t require a website when there are countless social technologies to leverage.
• Mobilizing people to get together offline: we are social creatures, but we don’t always know the people we want to get together with; but thanks to social technologies it is much easier to find and make these new connections.
• Don’t wait for a website: often organizations wait between 3 – 18 months to get a website live; a project like we20 doesn’t have that kind of time and you shouldn’t assume you do either.

we20 has a time-sensitive campaign (though, who’s isn’t?), with people who are excited and energized to do something right after hearing about the idea. It would be a big mistake to let all those supporters trail off, their energy wain, and have the only action provided be to wait for that website to go up with more information…later. Instead, take advantage of tools you and others who could be interested in the campaign are already using. Put your message out there right away and let the momentum build.

The Networked Approach:
The networked approach to online campaigns is really a cycle, like most other strategies you’ll come across. You move from step one, through all four, and the fourth leads right back to the first. Here are the four steps to creating a networked approach to a campaign, using we20 as our example.

• Make your group of friends public: When starting something like we20, it’s really just a group of friends and colleagues that start talking about an idea and get enthusiastic about it. You want it to take off and believe it really will. Those early conversations about how, where, what, and all the other gooey details should be made public if possible. In this case, we20 started a Facebook group to keep everyone together and communicate with each other. But, by making it a public group like this, they also enabled others to find and join them, as well as to help shape the answers to those gooey but important questions.
• Make your message moveable: Be sure to put solid content out there for people new to the campaign. Even though there are still many aspects of we20 still to be configured, when you visit the Facebook group, for example, you are still able to find clear, direct messaging about what the group is focused on. This doesn’t just let people understand and join, but it also allows them to copy and paste – the greatest messaging option individuals have! By putting clear, concise messages out there, you enable supporters to move the message around the web for you.
• Make your movement actionable: Sharing your message isn’t action enough for many people who really want to jump in.  Even if it was, the message should have an actionable opportunity for those who receive the message further down the line but want to do more than pass it on.  we20 has done an excellent job of presenting an actionable movement. It isn’t simply about raising awareness, or causing a stir; we20 is asking people to have their own we20 meetings and share their ideas. The action (the individual meetings/gatherings) is simple and clear to understand, but also flexible enough that anyone could bend it to their specific situations: some friends in a bar, a lunch club using it as a theme, and so on.
• Make your actions public: If you’ve inspired people to join you and invite others to join, and to take action, providing a way for those same people to share their actions publicly will take you back to the first step, in making the group public. As more actions become visible, more people will join the movement and subsequently share their actions as well. It’s always a cycle. In the case of we20, they have put their introduction video up on YouTube, defining a very obvious place for others to put up videos either as a response or a report from their own we20 meeting and the ideas that came out of it. Though, people could participate in other ways as well since we20 has a networked presence, meaning Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. This means that new participants can close the loop for learning about the movement to actually sharing ideas via the platform or process they prefer.

Though, there will be a we20 website, eventually. For now, that networked approach is letting them start and build and move forward anyway. The we20 group sums this up quite nicely, “We are expecting to launch http://www.we20.org soon but please don’t let us slow you down. Please start organising your meetings now.” Exactly: don’t let the lack of a traditional website hinder the movement; use the tools we are all already using to learn about and spread the movement, organize with your friends and colleagues, and share your ideas back to the movement.

What do you think? Has your organization or your group of friends used a networked approach to start a campaign? Have you relied on a main website instead? What have been the best examples of networked approaches to campaigns that you’ve seen?

Visit the SSIR blog to add to this conversation!

Many individuals and organizations are testing and exploring new ways to collaborate on projects and connect work virtually.  LinkedIn, an online network of more than 30 million experienced professionals from around the world, serves as a networking space for business professionals and the job posting service is seeing more and more activity.  Today is the launch of LinkedIn Applications and Huddle is a featured app!

What are LinkedIn Applications

Much like adding applications to your profile on other social networking sites, like Facebook, LinkedIn Applications let you pull in content you are creating across the web —blog posts, presentations, and even travel plans—and display it on your LinkedIn profile to share with your network.

LinkedIn Applications enable you to enrich your profile, share and collaborate with your network, and get the key insights that help you be more effective.

You can determine who can view your application content and even contribute content via the application in LinkedIn without visiting the other site, like with the SlideShare app. Check it out!

What is Huddle

Huddle is an online collaboration tool providing secure online workspaces with powerful project and collaboration tools.  Connecting your online workspace with your business contacts can be a powerful combination for your work or business.

The Huddle Workspaces application for LinkedIn includes all key functionality of Huddle.net and you can easily sync it with your existing Huddle account. Simply log into LinkedIn and you can immediately set up workspaces to use with as many of your LinkedIn connections as you like.

You can try out Huddle for free; learn more.

Check out the LinkedIn Application directory to add applications to your profile, or learn more about using LinkedIn as a social networking tool.

Change.org has just relaunched its website – an online hub and media network for social issues and collective action.

The new version of the site focuses on the question: what can I do? “If I want to end homelessness, what can I do? If I support gay rights, what can I do?”

The Answer

In Josh Levy’s words (Josh is the new Managing Editor):

To make the answer to this urgent question clearer than ever, we’ve left behind the social networking model of engagement and headed straight for the land of the blogs. Our idea was simple: while the old version of the site was good at helping people connect to each other, it didn’t do enough to help them get meaningfully involved in the issues they cared about. The experience was too fleeting, and too shallow.

How Change Works

There are over a dozen different issue portals ranging from homelessness to genocide to global warming. Each portal has its own issue-focused blog prividing editorial and news content around the issue or issues you care most about. That news is coming from the portal’s dedicated editor who is blogging “throughout the day, reacting to the news, profiling people and organizations, and highlighting concrete actions you can take.”

If you’ve used Change.org in the past, you are probably wondering how things are different and where all the actions have gone. Not to worry! They are all still there, just organized into the portals they relate to. Actions are now connected to the related issue area; you can see all cause areas here.

Nonprofit organizations are still a major part of Change.org, too. Like actions, nonprofits are now affilitated with the cause area that reflects their focus and mission. This will help individuals find nonprofits to support and connect nonprofits to actions and stories in the same cause. You can see all nonprofits here.

And, they’re hiring!

In order to continue expanding the cause portals for the site, Change.org is hiring dedicated editors to manage the issue blog and activity. To learn more about the causes of focus and how to apply, click here.

Welcome New Net2 Community Builder Amy Sample Ward!

I’m thrilled to announce that Amy Sample Ward is the new NetSquared Community Builder! You can contact her at award@techsoup.org.

Many of you are familiar with Amy’s great work through her NetSquared Blog, her personal blog, Amy Sample Ward’s Version of NPTech, and as the Organizer of the Portland, OR Net Tuesday. Amy recently moved to the UK, where she will be starting a Net Tuesday London.

Here’s a little more about the fabulous Amy:

Amy Sample Ward is dedicated to supporting and educating nonprofits and the progressive social change sector about evolving technologies that cultivate and engage communities. Her passion is in connecting nonprofits with new media technologies, watching the field of nptech evolve, and having conversations about where we can go next while still getting everyone on board with what we have already.

She has worked both in private philanthropy and advocacy nonprofit
organizations, with job responsibilities that include communications,
technology, information, organizational learning, and more—Amy has
felt firsthand the weight of too many hats on staff in small
nonprofits and is excited to help organizations leverage the social
web to make reaching goals and attaining visions more efficient.

After three years as NetSquared’s Community Builder, I’m thrilled to be passing the reins into Amy’s capable hands. I’ll be moving on to other projects, but will still be blogging once in a while for NetSquared. You can stay in touch in a number of ways:

britt@brittbravo.com
@Bbravo
Big Vision Consulting
Have Fun * Do Good
Big Vision Podcast
Changeblogger Network

Thanks for a life-changing 3 years!

I’m thrilled to be taking on this new role and excited for the learning opportunities, conversations, and connections I can both be a part of and help facilitate within the nptech community.  Let me know if you have any ideas, questions, requests or other comments!