The power of online photos
14:46, 8 May 2009
.. Posted in Communication, Outreach and General Mngmt.. Link
In 2007, I uploaded several photos of a UNDP program in action, to show the results of efforts to help Afghans identify and respond to their own community needs. This proved oh-so-popular, with not only hundreds of views almost immediately, but also lots of fantastic feedback about the images themselves: Afghans abroad and in Afghanistan were proud to see their country portrayed in such a way, and non-Afghans loved the positive images.
I used Flickr for these photos, but I could have used anything out there. The point wasn't the platform I used (though I really do believe Flickr is the best one out there), but getting the photos up, getting good descriptions into the photos, linking to the photos from the initiative's web site, emailing various organizations and online communities directly to encourage people to have a look at the photos, etc. The point was getting lots and lots of people to look at the photos. It also made it easier for staff to get photos they needed for reports and presentations without having to come ask me for such (though I always loved people dropping by my office! It was some of the only socializing I experienced in Afghanistan).
Dana Oshiro has written an article on How to Use Social Media to Champion International Causes, and while it's a more rah-rah-social-media than I tend to be, it does offer further examples of how so-called "social media" can be used to generate support for activities happening in developing countries, and is very much worth your time to read.
Just remember that the nature of the Internet itself has always been networking, and that every tool on the Internet is about making connections to other people and promoting your ideas in some way. All of your online activities are important and should be used strategically, and there is no one tech tool that will reach everyone.
