by ,  HandsOn Network

Remember the Service Nerd Fantasy Panel discussion that took place at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service this summer?

I’ve been reviewing the Q&A footage from the session and pulling out the juiciest nuggets.

In the clip below, and discuss ways that social media could – or should- be used to mobilize people to take action.

As the he New Media Director of President Obama’s 2008 campaign, Joe Rospars learned a lot about how to engage people in the digital space.

Jack Dorsey, one of the founders of Twitter, talks about strategies for engagement that don’t sound all that different from what we already know about engaging people – the same things that work off line also work online.

Give it a look…

Thinking about this commentary in the context of mobilizing volunteers, I’m taking away a few key points.

Joe Rospars reminds me that I’ll be more successful engaging and mobilizing people if I involve them in planning and shaping the project itself.  (This has always been true, right?  Now to make it true in our online social spaces!)

He also reminded me of the way that volunteers have to be eased into a commitment.  We’re all more likely to sign up for something simple first.  His remarks make me think about how to create levels of engagement online – from light and easy to increasingly committed.

Jack Dorsey’s comments reminded me that all of us like to feel part of something larger than ourselves.  Letting people know what kind of progress is being made, how their efforts fit into the larger impact is a great way to do this.

Finally, it was interesting to hear him say that Twitter’s biggest successes have been those that bring people who met online together, face-to-face.

All of us want to be more connected.

Let’s make sure we create offline opportunities for our online communities to come together.

Related Posts:

• Joe Rospars on Effective Organizing
• Mobilizing Volunteers with Social Media
• Finding the ROI in Social Media