In the last half of the 20th century in Canada it was mostly assumed that as an adult you had a driver’s licence and that you most likely owned or had access to a car. I know, I didn’t get my licence until I was 26 and that made me a very rare specimen indeed. Our cities and especially our rural areas are designed for motor vehicles. Malls are still being built that do not have any designated pedestrian or bicycle lanes. It’s assumed that everyone moves around by automobile.
Well it’s now the end of the first decade of the 21st century and the Web is over 15 years old and e-mail much older than that. However, my generation (the boomers) are living much of their lives as if the Internet is an interesting thing to have around or “surf” but not really essential, like a car is. However, things are changing and ever quicker as we see most younger people own a mobile device and manage several networks on the Web – Facebook, YouTube, StumbleUpon, Digg, etc. For them, a car may be optional but a mobile Web device is essential.
Look at this from the perspective of a not for profit organization trying to get its message across. Sure, money can be spent on a marketing campaign or a training program, but is anybody going to pay attention? A recent video by Canada’s Sons of Maxwell shows how a message can go viral on YouTube, much to the chagrin of United Airlines:
This video has got the attention of over 2.5 million people in less than a week. That is also the kind of message that we are competing with. On the Net, people are only one click away from leaving. This MHCC video is very informative and professionally done, but will it attract 2.5 million visits or go viral?
On the Net, everyone is competing for attention, so we either need to talk to people on their terms or make our media exceptionally appealing, like the Sons of Maxwell video. Communicating with people on the Internet means engaging in meaningful conversations, usually one at a time. As the Cluetrain Manifesto informed us 10 years ago:
- Markets are conversations.
- Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.
- Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.
- Whether delivering information, opinions, perspectives, dissenting arguments or humorous asides, the human voice is typically open, natural, uncontrived.
- People recognize each other as such from the sound of this voice.
- The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media.
- Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy.
- In both internetworked markets and among intranetworked employees, people are speaking to each other in a powerful new way.
- These networked conversations are enabling powerful new forms of social organization and knowledge exchange to emerge.
This website has been set up to connect with others who share some of our interest around mental health in the workplace, particularly in Canada, but the Net doesn’t really understand geographical limitations anyway. So far, we’ve found out some interesting things and bookmarked them (on right). We’ve also started to connect with some Canadians who use Twitter (on left) and discuss related issues, such as:
Madalyn Marcus (@MadPsych) Mental Health Advocate, PhD Candidate, Researcher, Clinician
K. Kalia (@NurseKama) Psych/Mental Health Nurse, finishing a Masters degree at University of Western Ontario
Isabella Mori (@moritherapy) the blogging psychotherapist
CMHA Vancouver/Burnaby (@CMHA_VB) Dedicated to promoting mental health, encouraging resilience and recovery, and beating stigma
This list will change over time as finding interesting people is easy with Twitter’s search function.
Understanding the Web today is like driving a car 20 years ago. You need it to get around, work and be social. It’s as important for non-profits as it is for corporations. A Web strategy cannot be left to a few specialists to “do that Web thing”. We all need to get involved and learn by doing. You can’t become a driver without practice and the same goes for the Web. I would suggest that anyone who doesn’t have a learner’s Web permit had better get one soon. That’s especially true for my fellow baby boomers. Perhaps a comment from mental health professionals on this blog will show that there is a community willing to carry on a conversation or two online? Maybe even engage some of these interesting and knowledgeable folks on Twitter?
Filed under: General
