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Thursday Sep 02, 2010
Fiona Dawe OBE, YouthNet Chief Executive, wins Charity Times 2010 Outstanding Individual Achievement Award
Last night at the Charity Times Awards, YouthNet's Chief Executive, Fiona Dawe, won the Outstanding Individual Achievement Award for her years of work in the voluntary sector.
Fiona was unable to receive the award in person, but she recorded this video of acceptance:
Fiona said of the award:
"It's a huge honour to receive this award, which is also an opportunity to celebrate the fantastic work done in the charity sector. There are many thousands of wonderful people who go unrecognised and I'm incredibly fortunate to have people who make a point of not only appreciating my efforts, but also championing YouthNet's work.
"If I have any talent, it's probably working with and through others. I wouldn't be where I am now without Martyn Lewis, our chairman and founder, the whole team at YouthNet - trustees, staff and volunteers, our partners and funders. Not to mention my supportive family! Success lies in team work, and I share this accolade with them and the countless others who have supported me over the years.
"It is, of course, extremely nice to be recognised for my work. But really, I feel very lucky to have had such an interesting and rewarding working life."
You can read more about Fiona on our Meet the SMT page.
For further media information please contact Gabriella Jozwiak, YouthNet Media & PR Officer, on 020 7250 5716 or out-of-hours on 07766 660 755. Email media-AT-youthnet.org
YouthNet is the UK's first exclusively online charity and was founded by Martyn Lewis CBE in 1995. It helps young people aged 16 to 25 make choices today for a brighter tomorrow by providing them with impartial information and support about anything and everything. YouthNet does this through three online services; the guide to life for 16 to 25 year-olds TheSite.org, the UK's leading volunteering service Do-it and the first port of call for work, study and training advice Lifetracks.com.
Posted by Gabriella Jozwiak ( 12:00 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Wednesday Jun 30, 2010
Developing Do-it: can you help us with our 'ordering' issue?
Do-it is a really easy website to explain. Type your postcode in and get back lots of opportunities local and relevant to you. You can refine the search by choosing particular causes or types of activity, or looking for specific keywords etc. And we know it works – every minute someone applies for a volunteering opportunity they found on Do-it.The beauty of Do-it is that we list things by proximity – so that opportunities closest to you are the ones that are listed first.
Except that not all opportunities are that simple. Some opportunities take place at a specific place (helping at an office or day centre, running a youth club in a community hall etc). We call those 'pinpoint' opportunities.
However many other opportunities don't have a specific location. They may be opportunities where you:
- are required to travel around a local area (eg doing home help, school talks),
- where you might be picked up from home and taken to a designated location (eg helping an environmental group preserve hedgerows)
- where the location is spread out over a wide area (eg marshalling a bike race)
- where there isn't a dedicated point (eg being the county representative for a charity which doesn't have any premises in the area)
- where you can take place at multiple locations (eg an initiative available in all the libraries in your county, or a fun run being organised in multiple parks)
- where the opportunity takes place at a specific location, but that it attracts volunteers from a far wider area (eg being a charity representative at Glastonbury festival)
- and virtual volunteering, where you are primarily based in your own home (or wherever you choose).
These opportunities become quite difficult to promote on our current search system, and whilst we've attempted to tackle them with a county-wide opportunities listing – we've never really cracked it. But over the last year, as we've been developing the new database that will allow us to offer a lot more functionality, we are determined to fix this properly.
So in the new system we have 'pinpoint' opportunities that happen in a specific location and 'boundary' opportunities that can happen within a specific area respectively. (Don't worry about the naming; this won't be how we present it to the end user). The boundary can be as small as a local authority area, but as wide as the whole UK. We'll be encouraging information providers to use the largest area for their opportunity to maximise the efficiency of the database (plus their time to maintain those opportunities).
We're now struggling with how to promote these opportunities fairly to potential volunteers. We don't have the ease of ordering by proximity – an opportunity that is UK-wide in every library could be a lot closer than an opportunity that is only within your local authority. We have to consider the following points:
- We know most people don't look beyond the first ten opportunities, so we need those to be the most relevant to the volunteer.
- We have to be fair to information providers: ensuring that all opportunities have an equal chance of being found. Therefore we couldn't list A-Z.
- We could list by the most recently updated/added opportunity – but we need to ensure that information providers don't misuse the system and bump their opportunities to the top of the list by frequently updating the opportunity.
- We also have to make sure that local opportunities are not swamped out by national organisations – fifteen large organisations with UK-wide opportunities that have been posted recently will knock an opportunity from a local organisation out of the crucial top ten list.
- We can't guarantee there will be opportunities at every level (local authority, county, regional, national and UK-wide).
- We want the list to be dynamic – one of the complaints of the proximity search is that a 'uninspiring' result that is close to you repeatedly appears at the top of the list and therefore makes people less likely to search further.
- We could randomise the search, but we also need to make sure that people can find an opportunity they saw previously. Random search results are difficult to explain.
- We could dream up a complicated formula that uses a mixture of the above
We're a bit stuck on this point, and would love to get some advice from people with relevant UX experience, particularly if you deal with location services or ordering search results. We're struggling to think of a similar search service that has the same sort of factors attached to it.
If you've got some thoughts or comments, then drop them in the response box below, or if you'd like to contact me direct and perhaps come in and chat, then email me olly~benson@youthnet~org (replace the tildes(~) with dots – this prevents me getting lots of spam!).
Thanks in anticipation,
Olly Posted by Olly Benson ( 10:06 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Friday Jun 18, 2010
Running the Brighton Marathon for YouthNet
It was the end of October when I decided to sign up to run the Brighton Marathon for YouthNet. I had just bought some new running trainers and I think that the new-running-shoes-bouncy feel was making running feel fast and easy. But I had been thinking about a marathon for ages so it was just a matter of finally deciding to bite the bullet and go for it. Soon after, my housemate and I cycled to Waltham Abbey - a 20 mile odd round trip - and all I could think was 'next April I've got to run this - and then six more miles'.
My flatmates and boyfriend really helped me out by using my birthday to kit me out with a ipod nano, 101 running songs cd and a fancy ipod piece of equipment which plugged into my nano and stuck to my trainer (using gaffa tape as I didn’t have the correct trainers). As someone who has always run without music, I felt a bit odd the first time I 'wired up' before setting off - and I got quite a shock when, after pounding along to Eye of the Tiger, wondering why I hadn't done this before, an american voice in my ear suddenly said 'one mile completed'!. But I soon started to look forward to his funny little voice telling me 'six miles to go', 'three miles to go' - and he definitely always sounded more excited when he was telling me '400 metres to go'.
Next thing to do was to navigate the massive amount of training suggestions I was given online and from friends and relatives. In the end I sort of went for a flexible, non definite style of training which involved doing too much too fast and then having a bit of a burn out, being taken down by every cold and virus going and then finally starting to be a little more sensible - so not exactly one that I'd recommend! At this point I started increasing the iron, vitamins and energy gels as well as the miles and being fed energy foods by a very patient boyfriend (when people start sending you energy food to your office, it probably means you've been complaining about tiredness too much)!
Another highlight of winter training was of course, more snow than we've had in years and incredibly icy roads and paths. Luckily, Cat, the YouthNet fundraiser in charge of the marathon, was on hand to send round helpful videos about how running on ice perfects your running style. However, despite this, I tended to stick to the tiny grass verges on each side of the path - which was fine until someone came the other way, also bobbing along a tiny verge. But I only had one spectacular fall and a few resultant bruises - and the crisp cold of the winter certainly got rid of cobwebs and made hot baths and open fires even more enjoyable to return to.
In January it was also time to get my JustGiving page up. A lot of my friends and family don't know exactly what it is that YouthNet do, so I wrote as much as I could explaining why I thought we were worth supporting. I was amazed and touched by the amount of incredibly generous people who sponsored me - helping me to beat my target and then some! Like the american mile man in my ear, it gave me an excited boost each time I saw a Justgiving email in my inbox.
Before long runs were getting longer. Six miles along the Lea Valley and you get to a couple of miles of industrial, black canals, floating plastic bags and bus depots where high-vis jacketed men smoke and watch you pass. Apart from that, the marshes, and the canal were great places to run. I even got in a couple in the fells when I went back up north. I started working from home on a Wednesday so I could get a run in while it was light - and, living in a four storey house, ended up doing a lot of limping up and down stairs during post run afternoons. It got quite exciting when every longer run became the longest I'd ever done - and, past about 14 miles, everything leaves your head apart from the beat of the music and the feel of your body moving - it's an incredibly peaceful feeling.
The week before the run I was supposed to be doing a half marathon I had enthusiastically signed up to with friends some time ago. As the day of the half marathon approached I didnt know whether to do it or not - but i admit my final decision came down to 'Oh well if Eddie Izzard can do 43 marathons in 51 days then I can do this' - he's got a lot to answer for when it comes to people attempting feats they probably shouldn't. Perhaps my body was just exhausted, or maybe there were more hills than I was used to but I found this one really hard! I also realised that my ipod nano wasn't quite accurate and my training had been slightly shorter than it should have been. Plus my knee was seizing up!
During the final week (or few weeks really) before the real thing you are supposed to 'taper down' - stopping the distances and building up your bodies energy supplies. When you're used to running regularly it's very weird to be both sitting still and eating lots. Added to this was my newest concern that I was in the wrong category. They ask you at the very start, when you first sign up, how fast you are. I doubled my half marathon time and added half an hour or so and ended up in the blue category for starting - 3 hours 45 until 4 hours 15. In the final week - and after realising that I might not have even been training as long as I thought, I decided this was lunacy and had visions of me being left behind in the wake of incredibly speedy people in running pants - all laughing at the fact I had even considered I could be a 'blue' runner.
Having said this, I was excited as well as nervous about the weekend. We had decided to treat ourselves to a hotel and went down on the Saturday so we had a bit of time in Brighton first. On Saturday night we went out to dinner with Tash and Matt, a colleague and her husband who had come down to watch. They gave me a card from YouthNet - absolutely everyone had signed it and I was really touched. All that evening and the next morning I got good luck text messages and emails from friends and family – all sounding so impressed I started to wonder if they knew more about marathons than I did, and I was actually attempting something impossible.
Sunday the 18th finally arrived bright and sunny. I dressed in my YouthNet t shirt, pinned on my number, stuffed all the things I wanted to carry with me in the tiny pocket on my shorts, rubbed Vaseline on all the recommended places and sucked down a couple of sticky, sugary energy gels. The field at the start was full of people, all dressed in different charity tops and outfits. While the Brighton Marathon is really new so there were not so many mad costumes and record breaking attempts, the atmosphere was great. Finally, after a slightly delayed start (a car parked on the course), we were off! There were people cheering all the way along the course, with shopkeepers on the steps as we passed and scouts offering water and energy blocks. A lot of the race was ran along the sea front - which meant the view was beautiful and the air was clear and fresh even in the warmth. YouthNet had found a great place to cheer and there was a whole group of them down to support the YouthNet runners. It was amazing to be finally running the race I'd been preparing for all this time, and to watch the mile markers slowly slowly pass. The water and energy drinks available en route meant that I didn't feel too exhausted throughout and ended up completing it in 3hours 50 (chip time!) after which I wobbled back to the hotel for a bath and to bathe in the exhausted, achey but wonderful glow of having done it - and having raised £1395 for YouthNet in the process!
Posted on behalf of Clare Foster, marathon runner extraordinaire.
Posted by Catherine Skakle ( 3:02 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]ERYICA's 21st General Assembly - Jonathan's story
Since Feb 2010, I have been volunteering for YouthNet across a number of departments, including the Government Development team (working on securing funding from Europe), Marketing (generating awareness of the services we provide to young people) and in the Advice and Guidance team as a Peer Advisor.
I was given the opportunity to volunteer in the UK for six months, through a grant scheme provided by the European Commission, part of their Lifelong Learning Programme – 'The Leonardo da Vinci project'. I chose YouthNet due to my past experience in ERYICA (the European Youth Information and Counselling Agency) based in Luxembourg, for which YouthNet is the UK affiliated organisation.
At the beginning of the month ERYICA held its 21st General Assembly during the 3 - 6 June in Helsinki, Finland. YouthNet decided to have someone represent them and the UK at the event, and guess what, I was offered this great opportunity! The event was also an excellent opportunity to raise YouthNet's profile in Europe; helping to strengthen current and new partnerships, increase our networks, gather project ideas, hear project proposals and present YouthNet's work at a European level.
Activities took two forms:
- Workshops and discussions on the theme of ERYICA's present workplan for 2010, and looking at future work over 2011-2013
- Networking activities and project fairs where we presented our own organisation's work, at all levels - both national and European.
From my side, I introduced participants to YouthNet's work at a national level, outlining our service as an online guide to life for young people, and pointing out our ambitions to develop European-wide projects. Throughout the event people showed a very positive interest in our work.
YouthNet was also allocated a stand at the event. I had placed quite a bit of YouthNet related introductory papers, leaflets and business cards on them, which was just as well because it was very busy and people took away lots of our materials (Thanks to Alicia and Jessamy who had given me a good bunch of materials to display)!
One of my biggest moments at the event was when I spoke with ERYICA's President, Marc Boes (who was also representing The Netherlands), who suggested that we organise a study visit to the YouthNet offices in October to discuss and look at how YouthNet and ERYICA can share best practice and knowledge, for example around European Fundraising strategies.
These events may be hard work, especially for the brilliant organisers, but they are also a lot of fun things that come out of them like the socialising, sharing meals and also participating in a cultural programme. We enjoyed mouth-watering dinners at local restaurants, a party organised at Allianssi house (a national youth organisation) and a guided tour of a nearby island which happened to have a fort commanded by Swedes and Russians in the past. It was actually in these informal moments where we got the most out of networking!
We are now working to follow-up with many of the ERYICA members from across Europe, who I made contact with at the General Assembly. As a result of the contacts I made we hope there will be many new partnership opportunities in the near future!
By Jonathan Perez
Posted by Ollie Drackford ( 12:00 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Monday Jun 14, 2010
And the winner is...!
After four months, ninety three entries and a lot of blood, sweat and pencil shavings, we finally announced the results of YouthNet's LifeSupport: Change through art competition, at a swanky event at London's Design Museum on 25 May. The overall winner was Chris Vickers with his film 'Times of change', which depicts his personal interpretation of how people's relationship with money changed during the recession.
His bronze coin sculpture cleverly spelt out the film's title by using five-hundred two pence coins, studio lights and the resulting shadows. The amazing artwork took him over 11 hours to build, capture and then destroy. Twenty-one year-old Chris won £1,000 for his efforts (presented to him in a beautiful golden piggy bank), which he plans to spend on a brand new Macbook Pro to help him with his graphic design course (we're so jealous!).
We asked Chris to recreate a smaller version of the shadow sculpture at the event, and he willingly obliged. We also asked him to help smash a piggy-bank piñata with the ceremony's host, Chloe Madeley. I think this was probably harder than making the film itself, because the piñata clung on for dear life, unwilling to be broken. Eventually (and with a bit of behind-the-scenes battery), the pig exploded, sending showers of gold chocolate coins and fake bank notes about the room. Great for stress relief!
On the night, we also awarded £300 runner-up cheques to Brigitte Sutherland, 23, for her illustration, 'Seven Months'; Connor Matheson, 17, for his haunting photo montage 'Ghost Town'; and Andrea Bowie, 23, for her short film 'The Fightback Starts Here'.
Chloe Madeley was joined as host by our Chairman and Founder, Martyn Lewis, along with the judges (including Charlie McDonnell, artist Matthew Stone and animator Nigel Davies). They presented awards in each category, while DJ Nonames from renowned British hip-hop crew The Foreign Beggars provided the musical backdrop. The walls of the room displayed all the shortlisted entrants' work, and a money tree was provided for people to write reflective thoughts about the recession on bank-note leaves, and hang them on its branches. Check out the video below for a taster of the evening.
Pictures of the whole event can also be found on our facebook page.
We would also like to say a huge well done and thank you to all the shortlisted entrants. We hope you enjoyed the evening. We certainly had a lot of fun hosting the event and meeting you all. The quality of your work was amazing, and we're sure that your talent will take you far!
By Oliver Drackford
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Thursday May 13, 2010
Signing off: an interview with Hannah Jolliffe
This week sees the sad departure of our long-standing editorial manager, Hannah. During her seven 
years with YouthNet, Hannah has written, edited and managed a massive amount of content and development across TheSite.org and Do-it; helped launch our new work & study website, Lifetracks and chaired countless editorial meetings. Through all this she's helped to deliver some of the best advice and guidance available on the web.
We asked her to reminisce about her reign ...
What's your first memory of YouthNet?
It was in the Islington office. Jim had just joined a few weeks before, so I was glad someone was nearly as new as me. Claire was working on the plans for askTheSite (which shows how long ago it was) and it was during the summer of 'bad Brits abroad', so the first article I wrote was about behaving yourself on holiday!
YouthNet must have changed a great deal since you first started. How do you feel it has transformed during your time here?
It's way bigger; it's roughly doubled in size in terms of staff. Loads of exciting changes and developments have taken place during my time here, far too many to list. Some of the biggies are launching askTheSite, redesigning TheSite.org, adding audio and video content to TheSite.org and launching Lifetracks.
For me, though, it's great that YouthNet's now a respected and recognised charity. We're often mentioned in the press, involved in important events, asked to contribute to reports and policies, which is down to a great team here and much better, more professional, content and services.
What's been the best thing that's happened at YouthNet since you've been here?
Probably launching askTheSite. It's such an excellent service for young people to get a free, expert answer to their question and it complements the content and discussion boards really well. Internally, it's been great for developing lasting partnerships with other advice-giving organisations and with young volunteers.
And the worst/most frustrating?
Having so many good ideas but not having the time, people or resources to do them all.
Of everything you've worked on across our websites, what are you most proud of?
A good personal achievement was introducing audio and video content to TheSite as I had no prior experience of multimedia production. The quality of the content wasn't the best back then, but with the people and resources we had, it was a real achievement. It also enabled us to fundraise to get multimedia staff and it's great that now we've got two full-time members of staff devoted to it.
What do you think will be the biggest challenge facing YouthNet in the next few years?
Fundraising will be difficult as the recession is just hitting the third sector, plus we've got so much bigger so we need more funds to keep going. There are constantly new and exciting online services emerging, so ensuring our offering is unique and useful is always a challenge. Young people find and consume information in so many different ways now, and this is only going to get more varied, so ensuring we're reaching the people who need us most will be an ever-changing challenge.
If you could interview anyone for a final article, who would it be and why?
David Cameron officially became Prime Minister recently, so I'd love to interview Nick Clegg and David Cameron and ask them what they'll be doing to improve the lives of young people Generally, though, the most interesting people I've interviewed during my time here have been young people. Their stories and experiences are what make our sites interesting. So, a young person who regrets how they voted might be good this week!
What was your most embarrassing moment during your time here?
Do I have to tell this story again? Oh, ok then... Having never worked online before I came here, the uploading process was all new to me when I first started. Back in those days we didn't even have a proper content management system, so it was all a bit random. Anyhow, we decided that our sexual health content would benefit from graphic images of STIs. I was uploading a small, extremely graphic, image to an article about chlamydia. Unfortunately, a very large version of it got published to a department homepage of TheSite.org! So there I was, a few weeks in to a new job, staring at a full-screen picture of a rather nasty-looking vagina! I was completely embarrassed at my mistake, not to mention highly traumatised by the experience. Luckily, Jim came to the rescue and got it removed as quickly as possible. We never did publish the images to the STI articles after that!
What's been the most important thing you've learnt from your time at YouthNet?
To give things a go and learn from what could have gone better. If you sit around waiting for the right time you'll miss the boat.
Our editorial meetings allow us to discuss the issues facing young people, but what has been your favourite issue/discussion?
There have been so many; I'm really going to miss our editorial meetings as we really have free reign to talk about anything. We recently had a really good discussion about whether we should be creating content especially for niche audiences, such as ex-offenders, on Lifetracks. But banning the word 'wicksters' (sorry Katy) has to be my favourite moment of recent times.
What are you doing next?
I'm going to Which? as Digital Debate Editor on a new project to get more people engaged in online conversations and debates about consumer-related issues. It's very exciting, but as it's a new service, it's also quite a mystery to me at the moment. I'll keep you posted!
If you could sum up your time at YouthNet in three words, what would they be?
Challenging. Varied. Enjoyable.
Best of luck in your new role, Hannah!
Posted by Chris Chapman ( 9:06 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Wednesday Apr 14, 2010
Why doesn't the media celebrate young people's achievements?
Last night I watched the first documentary in a series of three called Olympic Dreams on BBC One. The programme followed the stories of young 'Olympic hopefuls' and was one of the most inspiring programmes I've watched all year - but raised some important questions about how we recognise achievements of young people in the UK.
It started off brilliantly as I heard how 24-year-old Jessica Ennis went from being the best pentathlete in the UK to having the "worst year of her life" because of a fractured right foot. But despite her injury, she recovered, re-trained to long jump from her opposite leg- and went on to win gold at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, held in Doha last month.
The show also described how, at 14, Tom Daley had to overcome bullying in school, and how judo champion Ashley McKenzie battled to compete in an aggressive sport, whilst controlling his ADHD-related temper without medication.
Perhaps the story which was most moving (and made me cry - I can't help it, I'm a blubber) was Shaunna Thompson. At 17, Shaunna is one of the fastest young women in the UK over 100 metres, but we watched as she modestly talked about her asthma, a pelvic injury that caused her to double over in pain after running, and of her full-time study to become a nurse - none of which stops her from focussing on her athletics.
So you might think that since I work for a youth charity, I'm blogging about this to remind people of the fantastic talent that young people in this country have. Well, kind of. Mainly I'm blogging because I'm angry. After I'd stopped snotting tears over my boyfriend, who was looking a bit watery-eyed himself, I realised that we were watching this programme at midnight on a Tuesday night.
Midnight.On a Tuesday. Why is it that the stories of some of the UK's most inspirational young people are being squashed into such late-night slots? I couldn't help but compare it to the talent contests that dominate the channels at weekends and evenings, pushing out the message that as long as you've got a shiny smile, hair extensions and a bit of a voice then you can 'make it'. Surely a programme which could inspire other young people to have meaningful aspirations and encourage them to take a chance should be on at a time when they are likely to be watching it?
And what about all the stories about broken society, yobs and hoodies that make the front pages of newspapers and primetime tv too often, encouraging adults to believe that the majority of young people in the UK are too busy terrorising neighbourhoods to commit themselves to anything productive?
YouthNet supports a group of young people who run the 'Respect? Campaign' which aims to change the way young people are portrayed in media and politics.
Last week we met with ten newly-recruited members and I was bowled over by the talent and enthusiasm there was in the room, and also shocked at the prejudices many of them had faced in their own communities. One 16-year-old member explained how, after leaving a restaurant with five of her friends, she was told that in order for them to stay within the shopping complex they would need to split into two groups - as apparently the sight of six young women together is intimidating for other shoppers.
I'm excited to see how our campaign will progress, and whether the new members will choose to target television programme-makers and schedulers as people to influence. And, whilst I am angrily tapping away at my keyboard about this, I am also hopeful that the Olympic Games, and the enormous talent it will bring to the forefront of people's attention, will go someway to helping combat the unfair portrayal of young people in media, and redress the balance.
If the 'intimidated' British public were given more opportunity to hear about the real experiences, views and achievements of teenagers in the UK, I'm certain there would be much less prejudice and far more pride in the people we have living here.
By Sarah Wilson
Posted by Gabriella Jozwiak ( 11:00 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Thursday Mar 25, 2010
My first Swish
Last night I attended my first ever Swish.
"What's a Swish?" I hear you ask? Well, despite sounding like some sort of annual Superhero convention, a Swish is in fact another word for a clothes swap. It's an ecologically friendly, recession busting, guilt-free way of updating your wardrobe without breaking the bank whilst having a great time with a bunch of friends or, in my case last night, strangers.
"The Art of Swishing involves getting your friends together to swap gorgeous clothes and party at the same time. Every lady must bring at least one good quality, clean item of clothing, or an accessory, that she'd feel proud to hand on." (from www.swishing.org)
Last night's Swish was organised by Charlotte Hayes who is running the Brighton Marathon and raising money for YouthNet at the same time. Charlotte kicked off proceedings by welcoming everybody and explaining the rules. We then had a very diplomatic vote on whether we should have a half hour browsing session or just get stuck in (getting stuck in won) and the Swish was declared open.
After a few seconds of people falling over each other to get to items that had caught their eye, the party quickly settled into an amicable hour of people trying things on, suggesting items for each other and at one point, puzzling over a "piece" which had been donated by a fashion-forward Swisher and appeared to defy convention by having the arm, head and body holes in illogical places! I was surprised at how happy I felt to see my long-unworn donations being claimed by others to be taken home and loved again and every now and then could hear others saying the same to their fellow swappers.
Despite not knowing anyone there, I immediately felt like one of the group and we all seemed to bond through the joy of money-free "shopping" (as women are wont to do). One woman, towards the end of the swap, turned to me with a gleeful expression and exclaimed "I've been looking for a pair of gloves like these for months and here they are! Look! For free!".
Well, not exactly for free. This Swish was to raise funds for YouthNet's LifeSupport Appeal and Charlotte was asking for a suggested donation of £5 per person to join in. I can safely say that nobody minded donating and I for one came out with a sparkly Topshop dress, a gold, disco-tastic Accessorize bag and a new scarf, all for a fiver. Now that's what I call a bargain.
Thank you Charlotte!
You can see a selection of Swish-pics below.
Monday Mar 22, 2010
A voice for young people
On 18th March 2010 we held our latest breakfast seminar. The seminar presented key findings from recent research carried out by YouthNet to identify young people’s online information, advice and guidance needs: ‘A Voice for Young People’, funded by Youth In Action.
The research involved eight focus groups with young people from diverse backgrounds, whose interests and needs will go on to directly shape a major redevelopment of www.TheSite.org.
The seminar also covered insights from research conducted by Youth Access to evaluate and explore key areas of support for young people accessing information and support.
A wide variety of charities, service providers and funding organisations attended. Our Chief Executive, Fiona Dawe OBE hosted the event, with presentations given by James Kenrick (Advice Services Development Manager) from Youth Access, Sarah McCoy (YouthNet’s Research Manager) and Julie Reynolds (YouthNet’s Head of Appeal Development).
You can see the presentation slides below, but do let us know if you want more information or would be interested in meeting up to get some more context.
Friday Mar 19, 2010
Diary of a YouthNet volunteer
It's amazing what volunteering can do for you. About this time last year, I was seriously worrying about my career. I'd graduated from uni and I was still working in the same job I had held during my studies back at home in Devon. And now? Well now I'm about to start a new job in communications, and I've managed to move to London. It's all because of my involvement with YouthNet, which started in April 2009...
I was searching Do-it, YouthNet's national volunteering website, as I really wanted to try something different. I came across an advert for an online volunteering position for Lifetracks. Lifetracks.com is the latest website to be developed by YouthNet - it focuses on learning, training and work for young people. As a volunteer, I joined the online community and posted my opinions and ideas to help the web development team decide what information would be useful and what young people like to find on websites. YouthNet is keen to consult young people on all the work they do.
From this experience, I ended up leaving the countryside for a day at YouthNet HQ (their office in East London, but it sounds more James Bond this way) to meet the humans behind the virtual community. During my first visit, I piped up to say I wanted to work in PR and thanks to Laura, Volunteer Manager at YouthNet, I went on to spend a week of work experience with the PR and Media team in September. In turn, this led to submitting an application to the Vodafone World of Difference programme to gain funding support for two months to work as a communications assistant with the team.
So, this is where you currently find me. I started the position in January and am (sadly) due to finish this week. It's been a brilliant experience and I have learnt a huge amount about working in PR and for a charity. I have been keeping a blog on the Vodafone World of Difference website, but this is a shortened version to try and summarise everything I have learnt during my two months.
Working in the Marketing and Communications team has involved many tasks. The team is responsible for promoting YouthNet in the media and creating as much positive coverage as possible, so that people are encouraged to use their services. Achieving this often requires writing press releases about new developments, such as offering a spokesperson (I had to offer agony uncle and askTheSite relationship advisor Matt Whyman for Valentine's Day) or events held by the charity, for example, a breakfast seminar to highlight a new piece of research, or an awards ceremony following a competition.
Unfortunately, producing a press release doesn't mean the media automatically runs the story - PR doesn't have a deal with magic - so this means time has to be spent 'selling-in' the stories the good ol' fashioned way, over the dog and bone (some London slang I've obviously not used during my time in the big smoke). Sometimes selling-in is hard - people don't want to talk to you because they're not interested/don't have time/are rude/or a combination of all three. Other times, it's a breeze and the ears of the person you are talking to prick up, and they say the lovely words: "Yes, we could use that - could you tell me some more about it?"
An example of a pitch that went successfully was with a local radio station in Humberside. They interviewed one of YouthNet's young campaigners, Liam Pearce of the Respect? campaign. But I also had many not-so-good results. It can be a little hard at times and you just need to carry on. Luckily I'm not normally fazed by rejection - I just need a few biscuits and a good cup of tea.
There are other ways to grab the media's attention. Quite often charities need some celebrity endorsement to gain column inches. I was successful in securing Amir Khan to sign a Respect? campaign letter to editors, which was printed in local newspapers across the country. Another of my jobs has been to contact British soaps (Eastenders to Hollyoaks via River City and Holby) to ask if they would display TheSite.org's self-harm posters on set in support of Self-Injury Awareness Day on March 1.
Aside from daily jobs, there are also ongoing projects for upcoming events. I started at a time when the next big one was the Student Journalists Seminar - an idea dreamed up and brought to fruition by Media and PR Officer, Gabriella. In my former life as a student, I was a contributor to my university's newspaper, so I was pleased to be able to work on something about which I have some background experience.
It was a brilliant event. The speakers Gaby had lined up were journalists from The Times, The Independent, Head of Interactive at the BBC, former Political Editor of The Mirror and the editor of the National Student, PLUS YouthNet's very own chairman and ex-broadcaster Martyn Lewis hosted (talk about a full programme!). They were certainly worth the effort of every student who attended, trekking the length or breadth of Great Britain, as they received the opportunity to ask questions and gain advice from the esteemed panel. The seminar also provided the opportunity to learn about YouthNet's TheSite.org through a presentation and brainstorming session, to encourage the student journalists to use the resource to write accurate and fresh articles.
Although the event went without a major hitch, it hadn't always been plain sailing. We had a strict budget and when the going got tough, it meant cutting the food in order to offer students travel bursaries. No one at YouthNet is afraid of a bit of a challenge though, so it just meant changing our plan of attack: I started 'scrounging' sourcing free food from generous companies. These included Pret A Manger, Dominos Pizza, Yazoo milkshakes, Panda Licorice, Nairns Oatcakes, Eat Natural cereal bars and flapjacks from The Fabulous Bakin' Boys. Quite a spread! It's amazing what you can get when you really need it.
So, my time is nearly up. I will spending the last few days with the team doing things that I've saved up - the annual coverage review (boo!) and adding essential numbers to the press phone (talk about glamorous). I will leave you with this...
For your viewing pleasure, here is a video that I was asked to do by Volunteering England a couple of weeks ago - it aims to show the importance of volunteering for job-seekers. It's obviously not an Oscar-worthy performance, I'm no Sandra Bullock, but it is a glowing recommendation of how significant working with YouthNet has been to me.
By Kate Walker
Posted by Gabriella Jozwiak ( 3:59 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Wednesday Mar 10, 2010
Student journalism: what is going to happen next?
So what is it that student journalists want to know? How to freelance? How to carve a niche? These and other areas of journalism were covered at last week's Student Journalists Seminar, held by YouthNet at BBC Broadcasting House. But the day's discussions could be summed up with one question, which isn't particular to just student journalists. What's going to happen next?
The day was attended by about 50 university students from England, Scotland and Wales who were keen to hear how to convert the skills they were already using into a career in the mainstream media. YouthNet lined up a panel of national journalists to address some of the topic's most pressing areas, and the event was hosted by our Chairman and Founder Martyn Lewis CBE.
Tom Whipple from the Times features desk opened the day, describing how by consistently pitching engaging freelance ideas he eventually built a catalogue of commissions. He was followed by Amol Rajan, Assistant Comment Editor at the Independent, who explained how he made a name for himself by taking chances and never turning down an offer – be it to act as mic man on the Wright Stuff or to interview Tony Blair. And James Thornhill, editor of the National Student, addressed the audience with his experiences of setting up his own independent publication – certainly a way to forge a career if no one is opening any doors for you.
But again and again, the discussions turned to the internet and what would come next? The situation was clearly illustrated by Ben Gallop, Head of Interactive and Formula 1 at the BBC, in his talk about how the internet has revolutionised reporting. Currently, he said, the media is staffed by 'digital migrants' who have to change the way they think and work. They are anxious about a generation of 'digital natives' entering the market who are fearless of digital progress. Ben pointed out that while Twitter is currently the latest and biggest platform to have hit journalism – it's a format no one anticipated a couple of years ago. But for a man who is planning how the BBC is going to report the 2012 London Olympics, he'd also like to know what is next. What media will journalists be using in two year's time?
David Seymour, former Political Editor of the Daily Mirror, told the students he had been forecasting the death of newspapers for years – that is, the death of news on paper. Why, he asked, have we not all started downloading the news onto Kindles and other reading devices? What about monetisation – will that take off, as Rupert Murdoch would have, or will the internet remain a free space? How will that affect the future employment opportunities for up-and-coming writers, and what skills will they need to be successful?
Part of the seminar involved a workshop with members of TheSite.org's editorial team, Hannah Jolliffe and Chris Denhom, who showed the young journalists how to use YouthNet's guide to life website to write accurate and relevant stories for their student readers. In the short term, student journalists still need to collect as many bylines as possible, so tips on how to source stories and think of fresh angles were gratefully received.
The students certainly left the event with much to think about – both for their own careers and their publications. But what happens next is something they'll have to keep looking out for.
I really enjoyed the day, and as its organiser, was satisfied to see so many young people who want to write and haven't been put off by the industry's recent doom and gloom. There's so much to look forward to in the future – it is an exciting time for journalists. I also enjoyed the day because it was great to achieve so much with so little. We owe a big thanks to the BBC for giving us the venue, and also to all the generous donations of food which kept the students fed and watered throughout the afternoon. Thanks to Dominos Pizza, Pret A Manger, Yazoo Milkshakes, Eat Natural, Panda Licorice, Fabulous Bakin Boys, Nairns Oatcakes and Divine Chocolate for their support.
So...now to plan next year's event!
Posted by Gabriella Jozwiak ( 11:56 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Friday Mar 05, 2010
YouthNet.org: Where to from here?
Over the last couple of weeks, I've been visiting YouthNet.org quite frequestly. If I'm honest, 'quite frequently' is quite a bit more frequently than my usual pattern of visiting this particular site. It's probably inevitable with all that's going on with our service websites, TheSite.org, Do-it and Lifetracks.com, the campaigns and competitions, for focus to be drawn away from this corporate site.
However, just as any charity needs to fundraise for 'core' as well as new projects, we need to also pay attention to the site which functions as our shop window as well as, to extend the shopping metaphor, the products inside. After all, YouthNet.org is where a lot of people find out about YouthNet: journalists, funders, people applying for jobs, people wanting to partner with us and so on. Perhaps, for some people, reading this blog is their first introduction to our organisation (if that's the case, then welcome!).
I went along to NFPTweetup last night with all this in mind. As always, there were lots of great presentations and conversations. But, given the thinking my colleagues and I have been doing recently, the one that hit home was from the team at UNICEF about the press and social media work they did around Charlie Simpson's fundraising efforts for Haiti. For those unfamiliar with the story, Charlie's a seven year old who decided to ride around his local park to raise money for children in Haiti – and ended up bringing in over £200,000. What I took away from that presentation: you may never know which campaign is going to go viral or what story will truly capture the public imagination, but as an organisation, you can be ready when one does. UNICEF had their own twitter streams, onsite donations, the ability to set up homepages and people ready support this activity.
Due to the nature of our work, I guess YouthNet's approach to fundraising is always going to be different from a Haiti-scale emergency appeal. However, we are getting bigger; better known. We've recently launched the LifeSupport Appeal to raise the money needed to rebuild TheSite.org. We also need to be ready. This week, my colleagues from across YouthNet have been sending me suggestions for improvements for YouthNet.org. Now, I'm asking you – our website visitors – if you could do the same.
What would you improve about this website? What information is missing? How would you like to interact with us as a charity? Feel free to leave a comment below, or send an email through to marketing-AT-youthnet.org. Of course, budgets and priorities mean that we won't be able to implement every suggestion. Of course, changes take time. That said, we welcome your honest ideas and feedback, and we look forward to welcoming you back to YouthNet.org more often in times to come.
Posted by Natasha Judd ( 2:47 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Thursday Mar 04, 2010
Using the web to provide information and mental health support
This was presented at the 'Risks and Opportunities: The Internet and Mental Health' conference organised by the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health (25th Feb 2010).
We've all seen the headlines: many exaggerate and distort how we can use the web. Imagine for a sec that we learnt how to fly thanks to some amazing piece of technology. How would the newspapers cover the story? How would the media cover the emergence as the uptake grew of wholly new piece of technology?
Substitute the word 'flying' where the papers talk about the web and you get the picture. Not much would probably change. This emphasises the point that much of issues are to do with the fact that the web is new. The behaviours associated with the technology and how the new possibilities influence our social relationships transpire later.
The serious point here is that we are living through a period of profound social change, not just technological change. We're all looking for answers. To find those answers we need to introduce a modicum of balance into the debate. Take the example of technology that has become mundane. Learning to ride a bike was terrifying when we fell off for the first time, terrific when we were let to go solo. It was amazing when we learnt to play games and be with our peers, shocking if you consider cycling accident statistics! Revolutionary when we realised the significance of being able to go off our own away from our parents, and mystifying when tried to mend our first puncture. Balance comes inevitably from experience, we need to give it time. However, web technology moves so fast we need to get this balanced perspective by carefully considering the issues.
Is there too much information?
Before looking at the web's potential for changing how we can build new information and support services, it's worth asking the fundamental question: is access to more and more information always a good thing? We're living through a Googlefication of our culture. There's a belief that the web's mission is to make more information readily accessible. Google's seventh point in it's explicitly stated philosophy is: "There's always more information out there."
The right approach for a technology company, but is this the right approach if we're concerned with the human value of information? Information can be empowering, but it can also be overwhelming and even anxiety provoking. Perhaps the real challenge is not technological. Information is a human issue, not a technical problem after all. Mark Charmer made the analogy between Twitter and the invention of radar during the first half of the Twentieth century at the Media140 conference.
Social media, like Twitter, is a new more powerful way of making the previously invisible life around us, visible. Just as radar did in its day. In fact, it's an analogy that works for social media in general and the web. Radar's battle is with 'clutter' things like rain and sandstorm that sometimes get picked up. Some of this peripheral vision information captured in social media can be useful, but plenty can lead to false alarms and worry. Let's look at three new capabilities that the web's given. Although there are many others.
Anonymity
Anonymity is not new – writing – helplines – fax – but the web has opened up new opportunities for practitioners to make particularly early interventions that were either not practical before or did not offer a very complete form of anonymity. When we look at the issue of how we ensure the security of the identity of users crucial for the effectiveness of information and support services, it's striking how much of a shift is taking place.
The rise of anonymity is significant because it empowers the service user. Unlike with confidentiality, anonymity is within the service user's sphere of influence. It's also subject to very personal drivers like feelings (such as embarrassment), rather than formal drivers such as the laws and organisational policies, as with confidentiality. Ruthie Henshall, the singer and actress, said recently, "We're constantly judging our insides on everyone else's outsides". She was describing how she coped with her own mental health difficulties.
As a celebrity, the difference between how she felt on the inside and how people perceived her on the inside was perhaps even more pronounced. Anonymity gives you the opportunity to share what they are feeling on the inside, with others on the outside (it needs to be a safe environment to be able to facilitate this).
The strengths of friends as advisors are that they are emotionally supportive, acknowledge feelings and are non-judgmental and trusted. All things that it is difficult to feel about a trained advisor who you may typically only approach at moments of crisis. Trained advisors and professionals strength is in how they understand the options, provides accurate information and offer an external perspective on your situation. Friends are crucial for relationships issues- when mental health problems involve relationships- users are less likely to reach out to mental health service providers. Health concerns are less likely to be discussed with friends, kept private and not shared.
Choice
Is there too much choice or can personalisation overcome the overwhelming threat of too much information? Young people are used today to using a whole range of online tools. It's important to understand how these differ and compare if we want to offer a range of options to service users.
Up to now, online information and support has previously often be about developing 'oceans' that can be accessed wherever and whenever the service user needs them. These vast oceans of information and support exist online where space is no longer a storage issue and communication can be asynchronous.
At the same time, and increasing as technology improves, the web provides information as a stream. It's allowing much more synchronous information and support services to take place such as voice-based technologies, web cam and chat as user uptake grows and they become more cost effective. The web is also allowing more broadcasting or live streaming of events or conferences that can provides information and support.
Given the choice that now exists both for service users and providers, the challenge is to offer a balance of services or to understand better what you specialise in so that you can build partnerships with organisations that complement your work/services.
"Online is good if you want to remain anonymous and don't feel comfortable talking to someone face to face, or if there is no services to help you in your area." - Participant, Self Harm project talking about the discussion boards on TheSite.org.
Participation
Finally, participation is a significant new capability offered by the web because of how it is shifting the relationship between service users and providers.
"Young people are creators not consumers of the services." - Sally Carr, Leader in Charge, Lesbian & Gay Youth Manchester
"It's great as it allows you to get advice from people that have been through the same thing and makes you feel good when you can relate and give advice to others." - Participant, Self Harm project talking about the discussion boards on TheSite.org.
Services are no longer just about the delivery, they are also now about enabling users to feedback and be part of the continual improvement of the services themselves. Three examples demonstrates three different ways in which participation can work. This models can broadly be distinguished by what the aims of the participation are. Namely: Improving public services
Patient Opinion is a great example of this work to rethink the way the knowledge and experience of service users can help transform public services if it is understood and recognised by service providers. Mapping of all services, both public and community
The Aliss Project is a great example of this drive to use the web to better map what services are available both in the public sector and the voluntary sector, so that sufferers of long term conditions can more easily access services available. Developing communities for social change
Mind Apples is a great example of how the web can bring together communities of individual inspired by a call to action. In this case, helping to reframe mental health as the pursuit of health, rather than the overcoming of illness. In this campaign, Mind Apples calls on people to share what five things can contribute to a healthy mind.
Challenges
- How can we use new technology to offer early intervention?
- How can we use new technology to widen access to our services?
- How can we use new technology to change the relationship between service users and service providers?
Posted by Patrick Daniels ( 9:40 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Wednesday Feb 17, 2010
Is the web changing the way we give?
I've summarised my thoughts so far on thinking about how the concept of the gift economy can help us understand giving activities, such as volunteering and participation, in the context of the social web. I've done this ahead of the Volunteering Counts Conference March 1st-2nd in Manchester organised by the Institute of Volunteering Research where I'll be presenting.Abstract
The rise of social media and digital networks is contributing to the return to prominence of the gift economy. As the web has enabled social networks and online communities to grow, so values such as sharing, openness and collaboration associated with the gift economy, are increasingly influencing the relationships and connections between us. From business strategies through to public policy, giving relationships are seen as offering credible and valuable contributions.This revolution in values offers volunteerism and other forms of giving such as participation, civic engagement and professional-amateurism, an opportunity to play an even greater role in a ever more networked Britain.
This article attempts to unpick the increasing number of connections between these different modes of giving, rendered both possible and visible by a more networked Britain and world beyond. Focusing our attention on how these different giving activities are interconnected, rather than separated, opens up a new way of understanding participation, professional-amateurism, civic engagement and volunteering.
The connecting thread between these activities played out on the social web, are the twin components of positive personal freedom and beneficial social impact. Understanding giving activities in terms of the intention behind the giving and extent to which they are driven by personal freedom and social impact, provides the basis for a new framework to understand how the web is changing the way we give today.
Two patterns of how these different giving activities are connected should be noted:
First, social media has meant giving activities can take place on a much bigger scale than before the digital revolution. There are a growing number of examples that point to how different modes of giving can scale. Added to this is the new visibility of giving activities increasingly mediated by the web, as more users take up social media. As givers share what they are doing with others, so it becomes increasingly possible to assess the range of giving activities taking place. This new sense of range and scale is what offers us a new opportunity to establish a framework that makes sense of how we give today.
Second, as giving activities are reconfigured across brand new networks of people and groups, the role of the state, institutions, corporations and organisations in promoting, sponsoring and facilitating giving activities is changing. Whether givers are participating, volunteering, engaging or “Pro-Am'ing” the increased scale and visibility of giving opportunities means more and more are taking place out of the direct control of the state, institutions, corporations and organisations, bodies that shaped the giving activities of the last century.
Full article
Posted by Patrick Daniels ( 8:10 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Thursday Feb 04, 2010
Respect? wants to get bigger and even better!
On the day that the Government publishes its response to the Youth Citizenship Commission, it's fitting that YouthNet and the British Youth Council are jointly launching a recruitment drive for their award-winning Respect? campaign.
The Respect? campaign was launched in 2006 with the support of Dawn Butler MP, the recently appointed Minister for Young Citizens and Youth Engagement, who is now at the helm of this initiative to get more young people engaged in campaigning, volunteering and influencing decisions that affect them. Today, she called for young people to "use their voice to tell us what they want", which is exactly what Respect? is all about.
Led by a group of 16 to 25-year-olds, the Respect? campaign encourages young people to speak up when they feel they are unfairly represented in the media, because if we all shout together and loud enough, we can challenge negative stereotyping of young people. Respect? research tells us that 98% of young people feel the media always, often or sometimes represents them as anti-social - which definitely isn't a true reflection of the UK's young population!
Directgov has launched new 'Join in' youth citizenship portal today, which is a great way to help young people access the information they need to get started and get involved. Respect? has done the same on TheSite.org/respect, where there are articles about how to contact the media and how to give a successful interview. Respect? believes that young people have an unprecedented advantage with the internet, and that by using new media tools we can really make a difference.
Having got this far with Respect?, we're now looking for new members to join the Respect? Young People's Advisory Group and push the campaign further. We want to make sure young people from across the UK are represented, so if you've got big ideas, and you're interested in getting involved in a campaign that's really making a difference, visit the Respect? campaign pages and download an application form. Join us!
I wasn't at YouthNet four years ago when Dawn first met the group, but I find it incredibly exciting that the campaign has gone from strength to strength since that day, and that that we're still working together to achieve our aims - it's truly inspiring.
Gabriella Jozwiak
Posted by Catherine Skakle ( 4:45 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Wednesday Feb 03, 2010
YouthNet launches new creative competition
Statistics released last week say that the UK's out of the recession – because in the fourth quarter of 2009, the economy grew by 0.1%. I'm no financial expert, but that doesn't sound a huge amount to me, barely more than a margin of error. In one of the daily polls on TheSite.org, 45% of the respondents to the question 'Do you think we're out of the recession?' picked the answer 'No, things are still really hard'. Another 22% said 'No, I'm broke and jobless'. It seems that the recession – and its impact – is still a reality for the UK's young people.
Student debt, youth unemployment, and an uncertain financial future mean that young people are among the hardest hit by the 'credit crunch'. It seems fitting then, that TheSite.org, with support from Citi Foundation, has launched a creative competition to allow UK's 16 to 25 year-olds to tell their own stories.
We're asking young people to submit photos, films and comic strips which illustrate how the recession has affected them or the lessons which they feel should be learned. Entrants have the chance to be have their work critiqued by a great panel of judges, have their work exhibited at the awards ceremony and win up to £1000 to invest in their artistic futures.
So if you're a creative young person – or know people who are – please check out the competition website or follow the updates on Twitter. If you'd like some postcards or printable posters to display at your college, university or organisation to help spread the word, please email us on marketing-AT-youthnet-DOT-org.
Can't wait to see the entries start coming in!
Friday Jan 15, 2010
Running for YouthNet
Hi everyone, my name's Cat and I'm YouthNet's Corporate Development Officer, in charge of gently cajoling people into running marathons, competing in triathlons and jumping out of planes, all for the "greater good" which is YouthNet.
Nine months into my new role I thought it was time to get blogging and to start sharing with you some of our fantastic supporters' stories and successes. I'll post some of these over the coming weeks but first, let's turn back the clock a few months to last April.
One week into my role I thought it would be a good idea to immerse myself completely in the spirit of things and with the full-on enthusiasm of the "new staff member", signed myself up to take part in the British 10K London Run. Ten weeks of dragging my recalcitrant legs out of bed for early morning training runs, one shiny new pair of trainers, one fundraising pub quiz and an uncountable number of peanut butter sandwiches (protein's good for the muscles, you know) later, I was toned, fit and had raised £350 in sponsorship. I'd never taken part in a public run before and the atmosphere on the day absolutely blew me away. "I'll definitely keep this up" I thought to myself, high on the endorphins and the cheers of my adoring fans (read: my lovely friends and colleagues at YouthNet who stood for hours on the sidelines to cheer me on).
Fast forward to the present day. The effects of the 10K training have well and truly worn off (it appears you can't store up exercise points and have to keep up the running – who knew?) and with a whole new events programme lined up for YouthNet in 2010, my thoughts have turned once again to fundraising and fitness. So it's with great pleasure that I announce that I will be taking part in the Mazda London Triathlon next August and once again, raising money for YouthNet.
There, I've said it. On a public forum. No backing out now....
I'll keep you updated on my progress when my training starts but in the meantime, stay tuned for tales of other, far greater YouthNet supporters and what they've been putting themselves through in the name of YouthNet and all the young people we support.
Posted by Catherine Skakle ( 3:16 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Tuesday Dec 01, 2009
Self-Harm: Recovery, Advice and Support
On 1 December 2009 we held our latest breakfast seminar. This was a joint event run by YouthNet, Depaul UK and 42nd Street to share our experiences of working together to provide an online service for young people: www.TheSite.org/selfharm.The seminar also covered insights from a programme of research we conducted to evaluate the service and explore key areas of concern for young people affected by self-harm.
A wide variety of charities, service providers and funding organisations attended. Our Founder and Chairman Martyn Lewis CBE hosted the event, with presentations given by Catherine McLoughlin CBE (Chair of the National Inquiry panel), Sarah McCoy (YouthNet’s Research Manager) and Paul Marriott (Chief Executive of Depaul UK).
You can see the presentation slides below, and please do contact us if you would like any more information about the self-harm project or the event.
Friday Oct 23, 2009
YouthNet launches LifeSupport Appeal
On WednesdayOctober 14, YouthNet launched its biggest ever fundraising and awareness-raising campaign, the LifeSupport Appeal.
The aim of the LifeSupport Appeal is to completely redevelop TheSite.org, allowing it to reach more young people with even better advice. We have big ambitions for the Appeal and want to raise £5mllion over three years to completely revolutionise our online support for young people.
Underpinning the Appeal is a fantastic piece of research commissioned by YouthNet and carried out by Professor Michael Hulme of Lancaster University. The report, Life Support: Young people's needs in a digital age, shows that young people now more than ever, lead hybrid lives and that the need help and advice online will be even greater for tomorrow's young people.
The Appeal got off to a great start at the House of Commons, where Right Hon. Tim Loughton MP, hosted an event for Professor Hulme to share his findings. This was then followed by a panel discussion with Professor Hulme, vlogger Charlie McDonnell and agony uncle Matt Whyman. The report and Charlie's description of how he interacts with the online world, sparked some interesting debate within the panel and the audience.
We then had a less formal event in the evening which was held at London's Living Room, which is above Boris' office in City Hall! As the room filled up, despite a few technical hitches, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. After Prof. Hulme's presentation, Hannah a 17 year-old TheSite.org user spoke incredibly movingly about how TheSite.org had helped her during some very troubled times in her life.
It seemed to sum up the reason why TheSite.org is so special when she said:
"If I hadn't used the internet when I was being bullied and had depression, I'm not sure I would have got through. I was too scared to speak to a parent or teacher because that would have meant repercussions, and I was worried about how they would react. Online nothing else can happen, you're making the first step."
The evening ended on a high note, when one of YouthNet's biggest supporters and founder member of our Development Group, John Donaldson, urged people to get involved.
To round off a fantastic day, the Media and PR team got some fantastic coverage of Professor Hulme's report and the Appeal in a range of media, such as BBC Online and Sky News.
Added to this, one of our key supporters, Yahoo! Answers, have not only given us a month's sponsorship package free of charge to raise the profile of the Appeal but Martin Clark, Community Manager has blogged about us on Yahoo Answers!
Find out more about the appeal.
Posted by Julie Reynolds ( 12:07 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Saturday Oct 17, 2009
Providing support out of context
Over the years there's been a progressive trend towards valuing content over context in how we communicate as a society.
Ever since writing took over from our rich oral tradition, contextualised communication has been increasingly sidelined by the content of what we communicate.
The history of Christianity in Western society is a case in point where historically after the Reformation, debate turned on whether the content or the context of scripture was the right path to spiritual understanding.
Today, the focus on content is really a battle over how we communicate as a society. Is it better to keep our communication clear and singular in meaning? Or is it more accurate to accept that what we communicate is always multi-layered, nuanced and requires reading between the lines?
One way to understand the Enlightenment is as a movement that argued passionately for the former, while the fightback with the Romantics a century or so later, was a passionate defence of the latter.
Social web: where content is king
Many have remarked that the social web is simply a step on from broadcast or mass media, which was in turn a step on from the printing press. Each technological advance has added weight to the 'content camp', and detracted from the 'context camp' approach to understanding and successfully communicating together as a society.
With the dominance of content, the lack of context in communication is problematic to say the least. Again, a popular observation about the social web is that a key characteristic is the cross-cutting context in which much of the communication on it takes place. For example, a blog post can be written in a particular time, reacting to a particular stimulus and shaped by the author's particular mood of the moment. However, that blog post can be found by readers later on in very different times, places (thanks to searchability and durability of the web) and replicated within very different contexts. Web content loses it's context even quicker than other forms of modern communication.
Online support and advice where content is king, on the face of it, is even more problematic than just simply communicating a message.
Online support services: out of context
How do we understand content without the context of body language, vocal intonation, personal connection or understanding of the author's past history, personality and behaviour? Albert Mehrabian's much misunderstood observation on content and context is a great example. Mehrabian understood just how context (verbal and non-verbal cues) can be critical to understanding the content of our communication when we're expressing thoughts laden heavy with emotion and feeling. Surely this tendency of the social web to emphasise content over context, poses an enormous challenge to any online advice service seeking to support users emotional, as well as information needs.
For this reason online advice services must play to their strengths. Through our work on askTheSite on TheSite.org responding to questions posted by users in confidence online, it is clear that putting content before context can have its benefits.
Context can act as a barrier or cloud to understanding the content or heart of the matter. The style of delivery and the packaging of the message can distract, mislead or detract from an advisor's understanding of what the author of the content might intend to mean. Presented with just the content of the issues, with the context of the user's personal history, personality and rapport very definitely in the background, an advisor is in a better position to be able to respond to the user's issues and concerns at hand.
Secondly, enabling service users to concentrate on communicating content anonymously, can liberate them from the embarrassment and anxiety of the context they're in, that may have prevented them from talking in the round about the issues they face. Online support can offer the user the safety of anonymity and confidentiality that may help persuade users to speak up about issues affecting them that they may not have been able to share with anyone else. This makes online advice a vital plank in any strategy to improve the early intervention and support we can offer young people.
Interestingly, stripping out the context, removes most incentives for service users to 'test' the support service, posting joke, blank (silent) or hoax questions. The issue of test callers is a non-trivial matter for many telephone support services, where test callers can place a huge burden on scarce resource and capacity.
Contextual communication: making a comeback
Perhaps as the social web matures, so contextually-based communication is just starting to make a comeback. What to many is Twitter's banality, is misunderstood phatic communication putting the context before the content. Foursquare, on the other hand, is a reminder of the power of communication that comes with a built-in geolocational context.
For all these advances, it is worth noting how utterly dismal current software is at processing contextual information. Content is still king. You only have to look at how it's possible to build a multi-billion dollar business on keyword search of content to understand that. Given this current landscape, it's important that online advice and support services play to their strengths and understand their weaknesses in this content vs context battle going on around them.
Image courtesy of Weidmaier on Flickr
Wednesday Oct 14, 2009
Partnerships Team Volunteering
Culpeper farm – I thought we'd be feeding some pigs or goats or petting a nice donkey, but there was no way Dave, our chief organiser, was going to let us off that easily. We were in for a bit of a work out!
Just behind the massive Sainsbury's in Islington is a lovely little haven, away from the busy roads of London. Stuffed to the brim with rows of allotments, archways covered in greenery and even a little pond, Culpeper farm is a thriving community garden.
As Culpeper Farm is completely run by volunteers, it was the perfect place for the Partnerships Team to volunteer and do some team building too! We had no idea what to expect. Kate, the Volunteer Coordinator at the gardens instructed us to 'wear something that you wouldn't mind getting dirty' and for some reason I had images of us knee deep in mud! We were given the task of tidying the entrance to the garden which had been neglected for some time. Brambles and ivy had over taken the area, but fear not, we were here to help (after being given various sharp tool and saws!).
Under the guidance of our resident gardening expert Fiona, we filled about 6 bags of dead and over grown bushes - all sent to be recycled of course. Dave even got to show off his strength by ripping out a whole bush and re-locating it. Working as a team we managed to transform the whole front entrance. But the best bit was planting the bulbs in the freshly cleared ground. Hopefully by next spring when the flowers blossom we'll be able to see the results of what we did in just one afternoon.
Everyone loved the chance to be out of doors and it was great to feel like you had accomplished something together in just one afternoon. We want to say a huge thank you to Kate and Culpeper farm for a wonderful afternoon, and the much needed tea and cakes when we finished! If you don't do team volunteering at your work already – you're missing out! Click here to find out more about employee volunteering. Check out the amazing pictures on Flickr.
What's wrong with face-to-face?
So, YouthNet's launched a new report today: a study by Professor Michael Hulme into how young people communicate, interact and seek information online. It's a really interesting read, encompassing the results of quantitative online research undertaken with 994 young people by The Futures Company, quotes from young people, and comments on the implications for website design and development. It's also too much to cover in one blog entry. So I can only encourage you to go and read it yourself, blog about yourself, discuss the findings and debate the conclusions.
75% of the young people surveyed said that 'they couldn't live without the internet'. That's probabaly an exaggeration, but I don't find it surprising. I'd say the same thing. Then again, I spend at least eight hours a week-day in front of a computer, I studied multimedia, and I work for an online charity. I'm going away for a week in the country at the end of the month, and the fact that I've been told that there's no internet or mobile access is already weighing heavily on my mind. Being such an online advocate, I'm often asked 'what's wrong with face-to-face?'
After all, the very nature of online communication is that it's mediated by a machine such as a computer or hand-held device. With the lack of body-language and eye contact, and the possibilities for deception, it's possible to see the internet as cold, impersonal and isolating. However, what that assumption ignores is the way young people live what Professor Hulme calls 'hybrid lives' – their onlines and their offlines are blurred. Their friends on Facebook may or may not be friends from school or work; status updates on Twitter may become conversation starters in the classroom. 80% of young people surveyed said they use social networking sites to talk to friends or family they see a lot; 22% said that they use them to communicate with someone they don't know.
So, while it's impossible to generalise the experience of every young person, it seems that for many these online tools aren't replacing face-to-face communication methods – they're complimenting them. As Professor Hulme says, "The more we can communicate, the more we will, and do, communicate." What's changing is the amount of communication tools available, and people's ability to choose a communication tool which is appropriate for a particular situation: broadcasting their thoughts in blogs or vlogs, updating a selected group of friends on Facebook, texting or calling an individual, or having a face-to-face conversation.
I don't have a problem with face-to-face conversation. In fact, it's often quite useful. I do have more of a problem with the assumption that it's absolutely-always-without-a-doubt the best form of communication. The internet can be a great way to make first contact with communities of interest, for example. After all, it's easy to search online for groups of fellow social media geeks – in my case – than try and spot them during my morning commute. Once contact is made, a mix of face-to-face and online interactions often result. The internet also allows us to reach out beyond the restrictions of geographic proximity. And, as the report goes on to say, the internet can also be a great way to source information about issues young people may feel less comfortable talking about face-to-face, with websites like TheSite.org allowing young people to access trustworthy advice on a range of topics.
While it's important to realise that there are issues or dangers around communicating on the internet – the possibilities of online bullying, the possibilities of abuse and so on – it's also important to realise that, in many cases, these are either reflected or replaced by alternative issues or dangers when communication occurs offline. Moreover, just as I was taught not to give out my name on the phone by my cautious parents, today young people have learned similar lessons about the internet. 77% of the young people surveyed agreed that: 'On the internet you can never know if someone is who they say they are.'
The past century has seen huge developments in the way we communicate: from telephone calls, through radio and television broadcasts, to the development of mobile phones, faxes and the internet. While it's not my place to predict what will come next, it seems obvious that there's a lot more communication to do, and for each new generation, there'll be more and more new communication tools as the years progress.
Today, 86% of the young people surveyed loved how new technology helps them communicate with people. Let's keep creating technology, creating websites and online services, that will help us communicate with people. Face-to-face, hands-to-keyboard, in the twittersphere and in the blog comments below, let's ensure this conversation continues.
Posted by Natasha Judd ( 10:41 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Wednesday Sep 16, 2009
The long tail of volunteering
When Clay Shirky, social media guru, talked about power law distribution, he demonstrated how equal access to participate in an activity almost always resulted in an unequal range of partipation. Some participants were active, while others (usually the vast majority) were a lot less active.
"Anything that increases our ability to share, coordinate or act increases our freedom to pursue our goals in congress with one another. Never have so many people been so free to say and do so many things with so many other people. The freedom driving mass participation removes the technological obstacles to participation. Given that everyone now has the tools to contribute equally, you might expect a huge increase in equality of participation. You'd be wrong." (p.122-123)
After this quote taken from his book 'Here Comes Everybody', Shirky used examples from popular social media websites such as Flickr and Wikipedia. He observed that frequently, you see approximately 20% of the participants delivering 80% of the total value produced, whether that's a Wikipedia entry and a set of photos of Flickr tagged with the same word.
Taken from Clay Shirky's article, Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality
Figure #1: 433 weblogs arranged in rank order by number of inbound links.
The data is drawn from N.Z Bear's 2002 work on the blogosphere ecosystem.
The current version of this project can now be found at http://www.myelin.co.nz/ecosystem
Chris Anderson referred to this in his oft-quoted book called 'The Long Tail'. He pointed out that the web without the physical constraints of the real world could extract much more value from the 20% of participants. Amongst many others, he used the example of Amazon that was able to make money selling a huge volume of titles that individually sold few copies, but in aggregate added up to a considerable income. Traditional bookshops limited by how many titles they could stock, by necessity had to focus on the most popular titles and neglect the less popular. Amazon with its network of virtual stock had none of these constraints.
Two groups of volunteers
I'm really interested in how we can apply this thinking to volunteering with an online dimension. When I checked my own stats on the level of participation of online volunteer peer advisors in a programme I used to manage, I found an interesting result. Online peer advisors answer questions submitted online via askTheSite - a question and answer service for 16-25 year olds.
Sure enough when I plotted how many answers each volunteer had written to users over the course of a year the long tail effect was clear to see. In fact, the long tail underlined the two distinct groups of peer advisors. There was a group that was incredibly active, and roughly 20% of the peer advisors almost accounted for 80% of the answers over the given year. There was another group though of many more volunteers who had been relatively less active.
The point that is interesting for volunteer managers to contemplate is how to support and engage with these two very different groups. One group that is more engaged in many ways requires a different kind of support. For example, frequently they're looking for progress further in the role, more advanced training and ways to more intensively network with their peers. However, those who are less engaged often required a very different approach to support. For example, they wanted flexibility in how they could commit, along with a low barrier to being able to contribute meaningfully to the project.
Holy grail of volunteerism
On reflection, it hit me how the new opportunities presented by social media are stretching volunteer managers in two different directions. We're being stretched by the increasing variation in the way volunteers can now participate, particularly online, in our projects. Stretched between the smaller group of more intense participants and the larger group of more flexible participants. In the past, a favourite question of volunteer managers was: how many volunteers can a volunteer manager manage? It's almost the holy grail of volunteerism. Finding the balance between the needs of the project and the needs of volunteers has been a volunteer manager's primary tightrope walk.
It's all wrapped up in the broader challenge any volunteer manager has of finding the sweet spot between the stakeholders: service users, volunteers and host organisation. In simple terms, it's about ensuring that there is enough volunteer capacity to deliver what the project requires, while at the same timemeeting the support needs of the volunteers involved.
Are we taking sufficient advantage of this long tail in volunteering? I think we've only just scratched the surface.
Volunteering and participation
If all volunteering activity could be plotted on a graph, I wouldn't be surprised if it demonstrated the contribution of a kind of volunteering that is often labelled as being participation rather than full blown volunteering, e.g. taking part in a survey, consultation, commenting on a website, posting on a blog, etc. Despite the ad hoc nature and short duration of many participation activities, in aggregate it's likely that they make a surprisingly significant contribution to the work of charities and not for profit organisations.
Are volunteer managers creating enough of these kind of these online roles that can scale, so that the larger more flexible group can meet their potential?
Do volunteer managers understand how those participating and engaging in their work can be converted into more active volunteers?
This post was originally posted on the Association of Volunteer Managers website.
Thursday Sep 10, 2009
Supporting Young Achievers
As a supporting organisation of the Young Achievers Trust, YouthNet has made some notable commitments to this charity. CEO Fiona Dawe is an advisor to the board of Trustees and Chris Denholm and I are are trustees. It's been a challenging and exciting year for us so far and we can't wait to be able to show off this year's award winners.The good news is, you can still influence that decision by making a nomination by September 27th. For the full details go to youngachievers.co.uk and head to the nominate now page.
YouthNet has also housed a communications volunteer who has worked hard on getting the Young Achievers message out. As a journalism graduate, Hoda has had some great work experience placements at the BBC and New Woman Magazine, but her interests turned to the youth sector after working as a press and policy intern at the British Youth Council (BYC) - another charity that empowers young people through volunteering. We've really enjoyed having Hoda in the office and look forward to seeing how her role can develop beyong this nominations period.
So, back to the topic of nominations. If you're wondering how a young person can really benefit from winning one of these awards, here's a list of just some of the outstanding achievements Rikki Colgate (pictured) has made in the last year - a winner in 2008 for the sports category.Since winning last year Rikki has continued delivering free weekly sessions on the Townsend Estate for youths in his Community. He now delivers two sessions a week . Out of these sessions he has managed to enter the young people into local ASB diversionary football leagues held on Friday nights.
He has been invited to the Mayor's Office for a select gathering of local Community Champions , he's also made presentations to the Council Chamber on Bournemouthon Community Sport and its benefits.
He is now getting paid as a self employed Community coach thanks to support from local community grants and support from Anti Social Behaviour funding streams in the area. He's the lead coach for Nacro on the estate and has under his tutelage 3 younger volunteers aged 16-18 who have seen the positive benefits of Rikki's commitment to volunteering and are now involved themselves in giving back to their Community.
He is currently contemplating returning to Education to do a degree in a sports related discipline and is pondering travelling the world as a football coach - an idea that was alien to him before he won the award.
We're really proud of Rikki and look forward to more young people seeing their horizons expand through this awards scheme. Posted by Helen Williams ( 12:36 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Friday Aug 07, 2009
Private and public identity: Social networking sites and the 'ideal me'
Today, I'm handing over my blog account to Emma C Bowler. As our Marketing and Communications intern over the past few weeks, Emma's been thinking about YouthNet's projects and issues around public vs. private social networks...Within a fast paced office with different deadlines and distinct objectives for each campaign, it's easy to get caught up in YouthNet's projects in isolation. I arrived as the bright eyed over-enthusiastic new intern two weeks ago, busy brainstorming ideas for Facebook ads to let young people know about the development version of Lifetracks.com (officially launched in November), little did I think about possible links between Lifetracks and their completed recent project tackling self harm. The former encourages young people to 'take the next step' in their career and the latter addresses mental health issues. After a few days, I gradually lifted my head out of the sand and began to wonder whether these objectives were only superficially distinct.
The advice Lifetracks can bring young people to engage and support them in getting employment and/or training will without a doubt improve the low self-esteem that is sometimes a cause of self-harm. In such a respect the aims and objectives of the projects complement one another. However, I'm going to ask – throw in social networking, and could these projects antagonise one another? Hear me out.
There are great benefits to be had from using social networking sites, in YouthNet's case, a chance to advertise their projects and engage young people in discussion. However, what about the negative effects of social networking? With constant updates on your newsfeed about your peers – where they are, what they are doing and how well they are doing – can we deny that young people might on occasion be tempted to compare themselves with their peers? How many of us would announce we've just been made redundant on our Facebook status? Or got a Third? Not many. "In what ways do Facebook users project their ideal ego, and what are the perceived effects?"
We need supportive social networking that improves the confidence of young people and widens their perspective, in turn allowing them to make informed decisions about their career. Lifetracks.com will provide this, but nevertheless we need to address how 'ideal ego' shaping that goes on elsewhere might threaten its supportive nature by influencing the activity of its members. It goes without saying that nearly all of Lifetracks' target audience will have a Facebook account and new visitors to Lifetracks.com will continue to come through Facebook ads.
I don't want to come across all anti-Facebook with regard to a young person's career. After all Facebook is the product of a young graduate having a blast at being an entrepreneur to help his fellow graduates network. Also, Twitter can be great practice for a budding journalist, practicing coming up with headlines as you tweet, rather than broadcasting what you'd like to be seen as doing. The point I've raised in this blog against social networking sites is a social phenomenon that I believe is just not being talked about enough.
Emma C Bowler
Posted by Natasha Judd ( 9:17 AM ) Link to this post Comments[2]
Friday Jul 17, 2009
Brave new world for volunteering
With the collaborative nature of a lot web tools that have developed over the last few years, such as commenting, discussion, messaging and social networking, etc., the line has started to blur between the ways in which people engage with all sorts of projects and services which aim to effect social change. For example, it's increasingly difficult to define where the role of an active community member ends and an officially recruited and trained volunteer begins.
It's a broad spectrum that now covers community members who regularly comment and engage with other community members right through to volunteers who run and help administer the online community itself. Given the plethora of avenues (commenting, messaging, etc) to collaborate and participate that hard structure of service deliverers and service users is breaking up.
With the falling away of a lot of the more traditional obstacles to involvement (time, location, privacy, resources, etc), so active participation is becoming a more seamless experience. This leads me to ask: does maintaining this distinction between volunteering and participation matter or should our perception of what volunteering is broaden?
Another change in the way people perceive volunteering and the not for profit sector in general is that causes and issues are coming to the fore, and the mechanism or root you take to engaging with the issue or cause you care about is not necessarily now the driver for why people get involved.
Good examples of this are the how groups come together around issues on social networking sites nowadays and it's not enough for big organisations to simply appeal for support without clearly identifying the cause or issue they are working to change. Twestival was a case in point where people came together around an issue not an organisation.
Developments on the web are taking this into account, such as web movements-dialogues like 4Change, Socialbrite and many, many others that put the issues before the mechanism for creating social change. In what ways will this change how volunteering is perceived once it becomes increasingly decoupled from a specific context, i.e. volunteering in a formal role with a traditionally constituted organisation?
Posted by Patrick Daniels ( 3:34 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Wednesday Jul 01, 2009
Reflections on the #moonwalk
Last Friday, after work, a group of us from YouthNet walked down to Liverpool Street station for a twitter-organised moonwalk in memory of Michael Jackson. Given the instantaneous nature of the Internet, I'm almost too late to blog about the event itself. All over the web, you can read about how a tweeted idea became an exercise in mass participation, involving the police and Network Rail, announcements over the loud speakers at the station, and thousands of people bobbing up and down to Jackson classics. There are plenty of photos on Flickr, videos on YouTube, and a twitter stream using the #moonwalk hashtag where you can see how it all came together.
However, what's more interesting, from my point of view, is the questions it raises for charity marketers, campaigners, press people and others who spread the word about a cause. It's too easy for social media campaigns to fail – despite the best planning and the most inspiring causes – because they just don't catch on. For all that we may believe that re-tweeting a message about one of our causes doesn't take much effort, I'm beginning to wonder if it actually does. People have to be logged into Twitter to see the message in the first place, they have to pick it out of all the other tweets they're receiving, they have to understand it, engage with it, and choose to pass it on. And that's only one social networking tool.
It's also easy to be impressed that the event went from concept to implementation in one day. And while the moonwalk wasn't actually held in Liverpool Street Station in the end, and while there wasn't actually room for much moonwalking in such a large crowd, the fact that it happened at all is testament to the power of social media to turn buzz into action. As charities, do we have the ability to be this spontaneous? If the mood of the public was to turn in the direction of our cause on a particular day, would we be able and ready to react? And, would it be appropriate for us to do so?
Finally, when you're pressed up against people, it's easy to overhear their conversations. A woman behind me was asked why she was there. "I'm actually more a fan of Twitter than Michael Jackson", she said. And while, like many children of the 80s, I did bop around my room to Billie Jean, the same applied to me. What we had then was a crowd of people who used Twitter or who know people who used Twitter or read reports of people who used Twitter. While there were some real fans, I'd guess that a significant amount of people had come along to see what was happening and be part of it. If we were going to organise a charity event via social media, would that matter? Raising awareness is a goal in itself sometimes, but if some people are 'there for the sake of being there', is that enough?
Would be great to hear your thoughts.
Monday May 11, 2009
Who will organise the data?
Earlier this afternoon, I attempted to clean out my inbox. I didn't get very far. Old newsletters could be deleted easily; so could old invitations to events, sales emails, and spam. However, I found myself distracted by an emailed link to this half-forgotten YouTube video, entitled The Machine is Us/ing Us.
The video is from 2007, and of course, the internet has moved on over the past two years. However, I was struck by the continued relevance of a question which appears three minutes and one second into the animation: 'Who will organise all this data?' And the answers, 'We will... You will.'
Last week, I was invited to get involved in a Twitter chat about using social media for social change (using the '#4Change' hash tag). While I've been using Twitter since mid-2008, this was the first time I've participated in an organised, on-Twitter event – and another opportunity to reflect on this 'who will organise all this data?' question.
Earlier in the year, I went to Twestival, and in a crowded, dark and noisy warehouse in London, I commented to a fellow attendee that it was so much easier to find people on the internet. Back then, in the distant days of February, I was talking about finding them via Google or perhaps through using the Technorati blog index. I meant by searching for people or organisations based on the words they'd used on their websites or other online content. I still do that.
But, increasingly, Twitter itself is becoming one of my major communication tools. It's often where I hear breaking news – both on the world stage and in the lives of my contacts. It's where I can ask questions, get advice. However, with millions of people now twittering, and even with only 200 of those people on my personal follow list, it's often a case of too many people speaking at once. To make sense of it all, I've found that I need start categorising my contacts, using tools like TweetDeck. There's my 'all friends' list; then there's those I talk to on a day-to-day basis. There's another column for direct messages, one where I can monitor updates relevant to work, and so on. Often it's just as important to say, 'What can I ignore, what's not important for me to know right now?'
The #4Change hash tag is another way of organising/filtering information – a way of bringing together information on a particular topic: in this case, information how people worldwide are using social media for social change. However, it's not just the # that makes things happen. It's also us. It's Tom Dawkins from Ashoka, who had the idea, defined the hash tag, recruited regional organisers. It was setting a time when people worldwide could join in (even if this was between 10pm and midnight here in the UK!) It was sending @ messages to particular contacts, in the hope that it would make the tweet about the chat stand out amongst all the other tweets they received – and the excitement of, later in the day, seeing some of those people join in the discussion.
Twitter is another social media tool. It might be the next Facebook, it might never really catch on. That's not important. What seems increasingly important though is how we individually make sense of the data we receive, how we filter this information, what we chose to trust and why. As representatives of charities and other not-for-profit organisations, we also may need to consider how we can reach out through this barrage of information to raise awareness and support for our cause. It's something that I'm sure will continue to be discussed in future #4Change chats.
For now though, it's back to my email sorting. Who will organise all this data? Much as I sometimes wish I could give others the responsibility of adding 'okay to delete' tags to my inbox, that's just not practical. So, who will organise all this data?
In this case, I will.
Eventually.
Posted by Natasha Judd ( 9:40 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
Thursday Apr 30, 2009
YouthNet opts out of Phorm
After much internal discussion and following the media debate, YouthNet has decided to add our name to the growing list of organisations who have chosen to opt out of Phorm. You can read more about our reasoning on the press statement we released this morning.
For reference, here is the email we sent to Phorm.
From: Natasha Judd
Sent: 29 April 2009 09:29
To: 'website-exclusion-AT-webwise-DOT-com'
Subject: Phorm opt-out for YouthNet domains
To whom it may concern,
As a charity, which provides confidential online guidance, YouthNet requests that all our websites, including TheSite.org, do-it.org.uk, YouthNet.org and all related domains, be excluded from scanning by the Phorm / BT Webwise system.
Here is a list of our domains which should be excluded (please exclude any and all subdomains as well):
thesite.org
thesite.org.uk
thesite.mobi
askTheSite.org
askTheSite.org.uk
askTheSite.net
askTheSite.co.uk
selfharm.org.uk
yourtentormine.org
mytentoryours.org
chooseaction.net
do-it.org.uk
do-it.org
doit-london.co.uk
youthnet.org
youthnetuk.com
youthnet-uk.info
youthnet-uk.org
youthnet-uk.net
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions about this request.
Natasha Judd
Marketing Manager
We received the following (auto) response:
From: website-exclusion [mailto:website-exclusion-AT-phorm-DOT-com]
Sent: 29 April 2009 09:29
To: Natasha Judd
Subject: Publisher Exclusion Request Autoreply
Thank you for your submission to the Phorm website exclusion list. If there are no obvious grounds to doubt the legitimacy of the request the URL will be blocked as soon as possible, usually within 48 hours.
Requests must be made by the legitimate owner of the domain. If we have questions regarding your domain Phorm may take a number of steps, including attempting to contact the domain administrator by email for confirmation of this request. If the request remains questionable and is not confirmed within 10 days, the URL will be removed from the exclusion list and an email will be sent informing you of this decision.
Where applicable, please ensure that the Administrative Contact details for this domain are up to date. If you need to update them, please resubmit your request when the amended details are visible in the WhoIs database - (use a public whois service such as http://who.godaddy.com/whoischeck.aspx if you are unsure it has been updated)
Heard a rumour about Phorm? Check out the truth at www.StopPhoulPlay.com
Saturday Apr 18, 2009
Young people as trustees
I posted this on my personal blog, but as it's partly about YouthNet I should probably mention it here:
"On Wednesday we had a meeting at work to discuss recruiting new trustees for YouthNet, and in particular the desire to get "youth trustees" onto our board. We've been having similar discussions at the charity I'm a trustee of, the Citizenship Foundation, where I think I am if not the youngest, I'm certainly not that much older than the youngest."
