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Community capacity-building through social media surgeries

Outcomes

In a survey of the participants of the Birmingham social media surgeries, two thirds of respondents indicated that participating in the social media surgeries had helped them to do their jobs better and another two thirds reported that what they had learnt in the surgery had helped their organisation to improve its communications.  All participants agreed that they would recommend that anyone in a community organisation should take part in a social media surgery.
Social media surgeries also result in a number of wider outcomes. First and foremost they help to build community capacity by gearing up citizens and community organisations to use social media. Social media also allow individuals to spread more information locally than can be achieved by traditional means – enabling communities to organise themselves more effectively. They surgeries have helped people to launch low cost local websites which have helped communities to keep in touch with each other and to communicate with local authorities and service providers more effectively, using less time and energy.

The Birmingham social media surgeries helped the social enterprise The Crossway, which provides support on issues such as debt and pregnancy, and more general support for the elderly and the general community (click here). The Crossway now understands the benefits of using social media and the internet to promote the services it provides. Similar improved outcomes  have been achieved by other new websites which the social media surgeries helped to develop.

In some cases the participants have created surgeries in their own neighbourhoods. John Popham, a social media expert, who came from Yorkshire to help run the first few surgeries in Birmingham has started running his own social media surgeries in Sheffield.

   

About this case study

Frankie Hine-Hughes wrote this case study on 17 October 2012 in collaboration with Nick Booth.

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