Social Media and Civil Society Organizations (CSOS)

2015 ◽  
pp. 237-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari Steen-Johnsen ◽  
Bernard Enjolras
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Amnesty International ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Lateral Communication ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Social Media Strategy

This qualitative case study describes and analyzes the use of social media by Amnesty International Norway (AIN), a medium-sized human rights organization. Specifically, the case looks at how and to what extent AIN fulfilled its aims of enhancing information, public debate, and mobilization for campaigns through the use of Facebook and the organization's own website blog. While AIN saw great potentials in using social media, a core question was whether opening up for more lateral communication would lead to a loss of trustworthiness and organizational identity. Although AIN experienced an initial lack of success in using social media to generate response and mobilization in 2011, it was able to develop a powerful social media strategy resulting in high degrees of activity and exchange in 2014. Findings indicated that this change seemed to rely both on the ability of AIN to reflect upon its own governance structures and on the organization's ability to learn from experience.

scholarly journals Social Media Strategies for Health Promotion by Nonprofit Organizations: Multiple Case Study Design

10.2196/15586 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. e15586
Author(s):  
Isabelle Vedel ◽  
Jui Ramaprasad ◽  
Liette Lapointe
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Social Media Strategy

Background Nonprofit organizations have always played an important role in health promotion. Social media is widely used in health promotion efforts. However, there is a lack of evidence on how decisions regarding the use of social media are undertaken by nonprofit organizations that want to increase their impact in terms of health promotion. Objective The aim of this study was to understand why and how nonprofit health care organizations put forth social media strategies to achieve health promotion goals. Methods A multiple case study design, using in-depth interviews and a content analysis of each social media strategy, was employed to analyze the use of social media tools by six North American nonprofit organizations dedicated to cancer prevention and management. Results The resulting process model demonstrates how social media strategies are enacted by nonprofit organizations to achieve health promotion goals. They put forth three types of social media strategies relative to their use of existing information and communication technologies (ICT)—replicate, transform, or innovate—each affecting the content, format, and delivery of the message differently. Organizations make sense of the social media innovation in complementarity with existing ICT. Conclusions For nonprofit organizations, implementing a social media strategy can help achieve health promotion goals. The process of social media strategy implementation could benefit from understanding the rationale, the opportunities, the challenges, and the potentially complementary role of existing ICT strategies.

scholarly journals Social Media for Enhancing Civil Society and Disaster Relief: Usage by Local Municipalities in Japan

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Muneo Kaigo ◽  
Leslie Tkach-Kawasaki
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Municipal Governments ◽  
Social Networking Services ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Local Municipalities ◽  
Local Municipality

This main focus of this article is a case study that analyzes social media usage by a local municipality in Japan, and on the possibilities and problems of complementary communication channels such as social networking services for promoting civil society activities and linking civil society organizations. We examine how in the past, Japanese municipalities have been using social media and social networking services for enhancing civil society and how social networking services are a potential tool that can provide vital information and connect citizens, municipal governments and civil society. This article focuses on the first phase of the Tsukuba Civic Activities Cyber-Square [Tsukuba Shimin Katsudō no Hiroba] on Facebook Experiment in 2012 and how it functioned during and after the May 6, 2012 Tsukuba city tornado disaster for the subsequent relief and support activities during May 2012.

WPS and Civil Society

2018 ◽  
pp. 427-438
Author(s):  
Annika Björkdahl ◽  
Johanna Mannergren Selimovic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Local Ownership ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Just Peace

Civil society is often understood as a normative vehicle for the promotion of human rights and democracy, as it plays a central role in ensuring gender equality and advocating for local ownership in the decision-making processes of states. Civil society agents and organizations have been instrumental in promoting and advancing the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda. In this chapter, we examine the experiences of Bosnian Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and their activities to advance a gender-just peace. Drawing on examples from the Bosnian case study, we argue that women civil society organizations are key actors, as they not only set the agenda when it comes to WPS, they also play a key role in ensuring that the WPS principles are institutionalized and operationalized in policy. Moreover, we observe that women CSOs are particularly successful in advocating for the needs of victims of conflict-related sexual-based violence.

scholarly journals Social Media Strategies for Health Promotion by Nonprofit Organizations: Multiple Case Study Design (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Vedel ◽  
Jui Ramaprasad ◽  
Liette Lapointe
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Social Media Strategy

BACKGROUND Nonprofit organizations have always played an important role in health promotion. Social media is widely used in health promotion efforts. However, there is a lack of evidence on how decisions regarding the use of social media are undertaken by nonprofit organizations that want to increase their impact in terms of health promotion. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to understand why and how nonprofit health care organizations put forth social media strategies to achieve health promotion goals. METHODS A multiple case study design, using in-depth interviews and a content analysis of each social media strategy, was employed to analyze the use of social media tools by six North American nonprofit organizations dedicated to cancer prevention and management. RESULTS The resulting process model demonstrates how social media strategies are enacted by nonprofit organizations to achieve health promotion goals. They put forth three types of social media strategies relative to their use of existing information and communication technologies (ICT)—replicate, transform, or innovate—each affecting the content, format, and delivery of the message differently. Organizations make sense of the social media innovation in complementarity with existing ICT. CONCLUSIONS For nonprofit organizations, implementing a social media strategy can help achieve health promotion goals. The process of social media strategy implementation could benefit from understanding the rationale, the opportunities, the challenges, and the potentially complementary role of existing ICT strategies.

‘Independence 2.0’: Digital activism, social media and the Catalan independence movement

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Transnational Networks ◽  
Digital Activism ◽  
Independence Movement ◽  
Highly Effective ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media

This article examines the role and use of social media in the ongoing movement for Catalan independence by focusing on two pro-independence civil society organizations, Feministes per la Independència (FxI) and Òmnium Cultural (OC). Drawing upon elite interview data with representatives from both organizations and Catalan parliamentarians, it posits that social media platforms serve as crucial vehicles for these civil society organizations, particularly in terms of empowerment, mobilization, organization, participation and resistance. The increasing salience of digital activism in Catalonia is such that social media platforms have become fundamental pillars of the independence movement, helping to overcome state-imposed institutional obstacles as well as internationalize the issue across transnational networks. The analysis, however, also reveals a darker side to engagement with social media including the proliferation of biased narratives, dissemination of misinformation and trolling. On the basis of these reflections, the article concludes that while engagement with social media entails risks, hitherto such platforms have proved to be highly effective and will continue to be pivotal in promoting and generating support for the independence cause.

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