Social Media Tips for Culture Change

by, Kavan Peterson, Editor, ChangingAging.org

As editor of ChangingAging.org, I’ve been helping Bill harness the power of social media and the web to spread the message that there are positive alternatives to the declinist, anti-aging paradigms that dominate our society.

Starting today, I’d like to share some of our social media techniques and strategies in a regular weekly blog post. And I’m going to try to target this advice particularly for those ChangingAging.org readers engaged in the front lines of the culture change movement to reshape eldercare and aging services, here in the U.S. and around the globe, because I know they are the largest part of our audience.

I think we’ve built an amazing community through ChangingAging.org and it’s been great to see friends, colleagues, students and strangers interact through the blog, Bill’s Facebook page, video channels and on Twitter.

What I’d like to do is get feedback from our community on what kinds of questions you have regarding social media. And to help generate that feedback, I’m going to offer a three-step plan on the best way to write a blog post that generates lots of comments!

Step one: Express a strong opinion! A good blog post is similar to a good newspaper editorial: it expresses a clear opinion or argument that inspires people to react based on their own personal feelings.

My opinion: Social media is proving to be a powerful driver of positive social change.

Step two: Make a claim and/or challenge — If you want to get people’s attention (and REACTION), don’t be afraid to tell them what you think about something, and challenge those who might disagree with you. It’s not about picking fights, but about expressing your best ideas and being open to hearing the best ideas of others.

My claim: It’s ESSENTIAL for organizations or people interested in engaging people through social media to use a blog as their central platform of communication.

Step three: Invite a response — Finish your blog post by inviting your readers to answer specific questions or share specific ideas.

I’ll wrap up with my invitation for a response: How are you or your organizations using social media tools? Which social media tools have worked well for you, and which ones baffle you? Feel free so share your own blogs, videos or other social media content.