Ideas: Connecting with “Communities of Difference (Series Index)
On Friday, Dec. 7, I’m presenting a two-hour workshop entitled “Strategies for Connecting with Communities of Difference in a ‘Me’ World.”
The more I researched this topic, the more I realized that “meatspace” is far more important than “cyberspace” when it comes to communities that currently aren’t well served by (or tuned into) mainstream news. That’s because communities are comprised of people…
If a community has a poor, spotty, or nonexistant relationship with your news org, you’ll almost certainly have to do more than reach out to them via media channels (online and otherwise) in order to connect with them and build a constructive relationship. You’ll actually have to go where they are and learn from them.
That’s why in this session I’ll focus on some ideas for connecting with typically underserved communities via online, print, broadcast, and real-world means. The point is people, not technology.
Here’s what I’ll cover in the session (time permitting, depending on discussion and tangents):
- Which communities are “different?”
- Mobile publishing
- Blogs
- Audio: radio, net radio, and podcasting
- Tagging content for targeted feeds
- Customized print editions
- Other geeky but cool options
- General tips & context for approaching communities
- Civic orgs
- Simplified stories for ESL and literacy programs
- Highlight community contributions
Tech-focused options:
People-focused options:
Caveat: My aim is to present ideas and examples. I am not claiming that any or all of these is “the answer.” In fact, I’m certain some of them are pretty bad ideas for your news org. My point is merely to draw the seminar group into a process of exploration—because you’ll never get anywhere if you don’t start moving.
Note that this series of posts is basically a first draft of a module that Adam Glenn and I are developing for the Knight Digital Media Center. What happens in this seminar will shape that module.
Want to influence this module? Speak up in the comments to the relevant posts! Thanks!
Comments
It might help to define tools vs type vs purpose vs values
Tools - synchronous (chat) vs asynchronous (email), one-to-many (blogs), few-to-few (Facebook), many-to-many (forums).
Type: depth of content (myspace), filtering (facebook), communication (Twitter)
Purpose: usually goal oriented (check Maslow’s hierarchy of needs appropos social networks)
Values: differing values in one community create swarms or subgroups. And flame wars. 
When delivering community strategies, suggest using at least these four approaches to create relationships relevant to that individual within that group.
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