Global Social Networking: A Guide to Strengthening Civil Society Through Social Media

This guide offers an overview of best practices in using social media for advocacy and is intended as a reference for civil society organisations (CSOs) to integrate and use technology to promote democracy, human rights, and governance, as well as utilise social media to support greater citizen participation and transparent political processes. Realising the ever-changing landscape of social media, the guide was designed to avoid specifics and rather offers organisations ideas on how to approach social media as a whole and how to reach their intended programmatic goals using the medium. Created by the Civil Society and Media Team at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), "the guide is intended as a local capacity building tool to strengthen the ability of entire organizations, their staff and members to deliver greater impact."

The guide offers the following:

• An overview of the major global platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus; with tips on how NGOs can best use these platforms to reach their advocacy goals.
• A section highlighting social platforms that are popular regionally where USAID has missions.
• An introduction on how to use analytics to measure the impact of social media in programming, plus an overview of what key performance indicators to analyse.
• Close to 90 terms, and in the Flipbook version of the guide, users can link back and forth from the term to the page it is referenced on.
• A comprehensive list of online tools and resources which can help NGOs effectively use social media and stay engaged with the social good community around the world.
• Six case studies at the back of the guide highlight different tools used by NGOs to achieve a particular goal. The case studies are also referenced throughout the guide, when applicable.
• Highlighted sections and links which feature helpful tips and tools for users seeking even more information about a certain topic.

The guide also includes interactive features such as links to multimedia content, websites, and workouts to help civil society organisations engage and share information.