GOOD

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#Tweet4Rights: An Evening of Rights Media

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So it's the hot topic that everyone seems to be talking about these days: social media. It is completely transforming, if not fundamentally challenging the media landscape of today and it only makes sense for Journalists for Human Rights to be active participants in this ongoing dialogue. It seems that more and more, ordinary citizens all around the world are using social media tools like blogs, YouTube, and Twitter to reach out to a global audience to report on and expose the rampant human rights violations that are occurring every single day. There are tons of examples that have recently been capturing the headlines. Just think Iran, think China.

But it is all too easy for us to be swept away by this new frontier, overly confident of what it is capable of. This is not to say, of course, that we should not embrace its potential benefits or the wide range of possibilities that it has to offer. The complete opposite actually. But we must proceed with caution and with a conscious mind. As panelists Andrew Coyne and Shirley Brady of last week's "Traditional Media Meets Social Media" session at Toronto's Social Media Week agreed, the rush to be the first to break a story on Twitter (or any other social media site for that matter) is often at the expense of accuracy, context, and relevance. That's why we at Journalists for Human Rights are hosting #tweet4rights - A Night of Rights Media on February 26 from 6-10PM, where we are hoping to educate and inform our online followers of how to effectively and, more importantly, responsibly tweet, blog, or whatever the case may be, about issues dealing with human rights in a way that will encourage an ongoing dialogue.

We're at the cusp of something really great and there's nothing more we would love than for you to join us on this journey. For more information and to register for the event, click here - http://tweet4rights.eventbrite.com

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Online Outreach on a Budget

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This month IssueLab hosted the Non-profit Blog Carnival, compiling a great collection of resources on how nonprofits can effectively reach out to their existing and potential supporters on a budget. It includes some insightful pieces from a wide and diverse range of nonprofit communicators. And I'm just thrilled that my piece made it on to that list! There's still lots to learn and this compilation is truly contributing to the complex conversation that seems to be taking place more and more these days...

Check out the list here Online Outreach on a Budget: January Non-profit Blog Carnival.

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Guest Blogging Stint over at Ben's Blog - Social Media for Non-Profits

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The potential of social media couldn't be any greater and more valuable than for the non-profit sector, where resources are often scarce and funding is hard to come by. So the question that plagues the minds of thought leaders in the field is “how can we tap into and harness the power of this so-called ’social media’ to help create a real, meaningful, and lasting difference”? It’s a formula that no one has quite yet perfected and one that will undoubtedly take much time to figure out.

Working at Journalists for Human Rights for a few months now, I really feel like we've made real inroads in developing a multifaceted and always evolving social media strategy. Read about the lessons I've learned while treading the unsteady waters of this new phenomenon here on Ben Peterson's non-profit management blog.