· my interview with Squiggle ·
Have you subscribed to Hootville's Lowdown (email newsletter) yet? If not, go do it now ... today you missed a great interview that I had with Squiggle (pictured below), Australia's leading canine communications commentator:
Squiggle: Let’s start with a blatant plug – who is ANTaR and what do you do?
Priscilla: ANTaR campaigns for the rights of Indigenous Australians. We give people the facts, and encourage people to take action.
I'll ignore the absence of advocacy for canine Australians. I believe you run both a MySpace and a Facebook profile?
Yes we do! On MySpace we're ANT4R (because somebody beat us to ANTaR) and on Facebook our group is Sea of Hands, and we're also very active on Close the Gap – Indigenous Health equality in 25 years.
Indulge me a little, with answers and back rubs, why both? Aren't they the same thing?
No, they're quite different. They are both online social networking tools, but allow people to speak their mind in different ways. Facebook groups tend to focus on specific issues and ideas, whereas MySpace profiles tend to focus on organisations and their activities.
Well, ideally I'd like both. Which one’s easier?
It's technically easier to set up a Facebook group than a MySpace profile. To set up a Facebook profile, you simply need to click a few boxes and you’re done, which means all Facebook groups look very similar. To set up a MySpace profile, you can choose to hack the code so your profile looks just the way you like it. As a result, some of the profiles are fairly psychedelic, but that's part of the charm :)
Oh, I know what you mean about MySpace. I've never been gladder that I can't see in colour.
So, who do you reach with these fancy profiles? Just the young pups or are old dogs learning some new tricks and logging on?
It depends who you ask – every survey shows a different answer. Generally, the majority of users in Australia for both Facebook and MySpace are in their 20's and 30's (that’s ages 3 to 7 in dog years). So it's not just for the young pups – besides, they're all hanging out on Bebo and Xanga.
Bebo? Xanga? They sound like names you'd give a Siamese. Anyhoo, of the two sites, which one would you give best in show to?
We would award Best in Show to MySpace. It is easier to build a personal relationship with supporters there, and it's easier to engage people that you have a personal relationship with.
Now, colleagues of mine have joined an ANTaR "group" on Facebook that you run. What’s involved in that?
That's great, your colleagues must like what ANTaR does. Because they're in our group, their friends can see that they like us and support Indigenous issues. It also means they are among the first to know when we’re holding Sea of Hands events. Give your colleagues a friendly tail-wag for us, please!
Done! Now, I'm an old-fashioned dog and sometimes find it a bit difficult to learn new technology tricks. What's the best advice you can give me on using Facebook and MySpace for my NGO – Dachshunds Without Leashes?
On Facebook, join all the groups that might have something in common with you – maybe you could start with a general interest group like Doggy Style.
Once you're in the group, you can join the conversation on The Wall. Next time Dachshunds Without Leashes runs a campaign, post a link to your action or media release on the Posted Items section – it's a great way of telling other group members about what you're doing.
On MySpace the best way of keeping friends up to date is by updating your organisation's Friend Status.
Next time you're feeling a bit peckish, you can write something like "Dachshunds Without Leashes is desperate for some chicken necks" - it's the first thing people will read when they log in. If your friends have some chicken necks to give away, they'll be in contact with you.
You can also add the text from your campaign or media release on a Bulletin or a Blog just to make sure the message gets through.
Then visit all your top friends and leave a message on their profile begging for treats – your best friends will be most likely to help you in times of desperate need.
Now with Facebook you can actually add little bits, called applications, to you profile to make it more interactive. When I still had my profile I had a Wall, a Super Wall, a Fun Wall and a Omnimegahyper Wall Deluxe.
One that I’ve noticed since then is an application called "Causes" which allows you to nominate causes you support and even have your pack donate to them. Your thoughts?
Organistions set up a Causes page in the hope that people will tell their friends about the organisation and raise money for them. Unfortunately, only non-profit organisations based in America or Canada can raise money on Causes at the moment.
For Australian non-profits there's not much difference between setting up a Causes page or a group. A group page allows you to add events and videos, which you can’t do on Causes. However a Causes page allows you can see which friends are referring the most people to your organisation (so you can thank them).
Finally, Priscilla, on a scale of one to ten, how outraged are you that Facebook deleted my profile on the grounds that I'm not human?
I am totally outraged. You were one of my best friends. Who can I feed my bag of doggy treats to, now?
All chicken necks can be couriered directly to Hootville. My staff will put them on ice for me.
Thursday January 31, 2008
Categories: General
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