My esteemed client, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), has turned a geeky social media joke into an opportunity to educate the Twitterati about abolishing nuclear weapons.
In order to get the joke, you need to know that Twitter is a free social media application that allows anyone to communicate in text messages of 140 characters or fewer. Some folks have many others following them; some folks are very prolific in sending and replying to Twitter messages. (The messages are known as "tweets.") The Follow Cost web site is a project by Luke Francl and Barry Hess that provides a whimsical rating of tweeters. You can input the Twitter account name of any individual or organization, and find out the average number of messages that he/she/they send in a typical day. The unit of measurement is the milliscoble, which is named after the prominent blogger and tweeter, Robert Scoble.
The highest rating - i.e., the one reserved for the most prolific tweeters - is nuclear follow cost. "Follow cost" rhymes with "holocaust." Get it?
As International Physicians for Nuclear War started to use Twitter as a tool to engage with potential allies, I kept an eye on its follow cost rating. Eventually, IPPNW had a nuclear follow cost.
This led to a series of conversations with Dan Karp, IPPNW's director of development. Was it right to have the an international medical organization dedicated to the abolition of nuclear weapons associated with nuclear holocaust on a web page that displayed a photo of a mushroom cloud? Was it funny, in the great tradition of grisly medical student humor? Could this macabre joke be turned into an opportunity for IPPNW to gain visibility with social media users, and offer them information about the campaign to abolish nuclear weapons?
And that's how we dreamed up the "anti-nuclear follow cost."
After some brainstorming, we went to Barry and Luke, and suggested that IPPNW be given a unique follow cost page, replacing the mushroom cloud with IPPNW's logo, and that they add a link to IPPNW's web site, along with the words, "Learn more about nuclear weapons."
Here's what Dan says about it:
For me, this seems interesting and important - but not because their Follow Cost tool offers a serious analysis of Twitter traffic. It really doesn't. As near as I can tell, they created it for two reasons that are very valid in the hacker universe: because they could, and because it was fun.
Barry and Luke's Follow Cost tool has managed to get traction among Twitter users, and IPPNW, as it became more sophisticated about social media, was willing to use it for outreach to a cohort that might not actively seek opportunities to support the movement for nuclear disarmament. It's refreshing to see IPPNW - that deadly serious, high-minded, Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization - is willing to deploy social media to engage with potential allies and friends in a manner that is lighthearted, informal, and perhaps a little edgy.
As readers of my blog know, my office is co-located with IPPNW's international headquarters. This means that my office mates are the aforementioned high-minded folks who get up every morning and do their best to prevent nuclear war and advocate for peace through health. On a day to day basis, they are also warm, funny, and much more astute than I will ever be about global politics. It's a quite a perk to chat with them informally. While not everyone can share office space with the central office's staff, social media in general and Twitter in particular makes it possible for people all over the world to engage in informal dialogue with these folks. Since they started tweeting in August 2008, IPPNW has attracted more than 1,300 followers, most of whom had no prior awareness of the organization, and who would not necessarily have been motivated to seek informal dialogue with a group of physicians who are concerned about war as a public health issue. But that's social media for you. The experience should be interactive, it should be educational, and it should be a good for a few laughs, even if the mission is very serious. The idea of "anti-nuclear follow cost" cracks me up, and if it helps other people connect with the nuclear disarmament movement, then I'm all for it.
"The Follow Cost team was enthusiastic about the partnership not least because they appreciated IPPNW's willingness to collaborate on a project with a coincidental connection to IPPNW's mission. All of our recomendations for Follow Cost were adopted with the condition that IPPNW mention the partnership on twitter, which is in IPPNW's interest anyway."
For me, this seems interesting and important - but not because their Follow Cost tool offers a serious analysis of Twitter traffic. It really doesn't. As near as I can tell, they created it for two reasons that are very valid in the hacker universe: because they could, and because it was fun.
Barry and Luke's Follow Cost tool has managed to get traction among Twitter users, and IPPNW, as it became more sophisticated about social media, was willing to use it for outreach to a cohort that might not actively seek opportunities to support the movement for nuclear disarmament. It's refreshing to see IPPNW - that deadly serious, high-minded, Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization - is willing to deploy social media to engage with potential allies and friends in a manner that is lighthearted, informal, and perhaps a little edgy.
As readers of my blog know, my office is co-located with IPPNW's international headquarters. This means that my office mates are the aforementioned high-minded folks who get up every morning and do their best to prevent nuclear war and advocate for peace through health. On a day to day basis, they are also warm, funny, and much more astute than I will ever be about global politics. It's a quite a perk to chat with them informally. While not everyone can share office space with the central office's staff, social media in general and Twitter in particular makes it possible for people all over the world to engage in informal dialogue with these folks. Since they started tweeting in August 2008, IPPNW has attracted more than 1,300 followers, most of whom had no prior awareness of the organization, and who would not necessarily have been motivated to seek informal dialogue with a group of physicians who are concerned about war as a public health issue. But that's social media for you. The experience should be interactive, it should be educational, and it should be a good for a few laughs, even if the mission is very serious. The idea of "anti-nuclear follow cost" cracks me up, and if it helps other people connect with the nuclear disarmament movement, then I'm all for it.
