EN: Technology is changing a lot. For example, now we can use Facebook to talk to our friends and to meet new friends on the internet. Inclusion Europe has got a Facebook page where you can meet other people interested in inclusion. Inclusion Europe also has a channel on YouTube where you can watch our videos.
FR: La technologie change tout le temps. Par exemple, aujourd’hui vous pouvez utiliser ‘Facebook’ pour parler avec vos amis et pour rencontrer des nouveaux amis surInternet. Inclusion Europe a créé une page sur ‘Facebook’ où vous pouvez rencontrerd’autres gens qui s’intéressent à l’inclusion.
DE: Inclusion Europe a aussi créé une chaînesur ‘YouTube’ où vous pouvez regarder nos vidéos. Informations technologien ändern sich ständig. Heute, können wir zum Beispiel Facebook benutzen,um mit Freunden zu sprechen oder neue Freunde zu treffen. Inclusion Europe hat jetzt eine Facebook-Seite, auf der man andere Menschen mit Interesse an Inklusion treffen kann. Inclusion Europe hat aucheinen Kanal auf YouTube mit videos.
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In the 21st century, technology is a crucial factor for successin any organisation, large or small. Not only from the perspective of how many computers we need and the IT staff required to maintain them, but also because all staff depend on it to deliver programs and projects, to communicate overseas, to promote the organization’s mission, to raise financial and intellectual support, to reach followers, to engage friends and activists and much more.
Technology can now be used in new and different ways to gain support for the Inclusion movement amongst organizations, donors, supporters, experts and public services, as well as reaching individual citizens themselves.
With the expertise of our new Communications Officer, Alejandra Laiton, Inclusion Europe is embracing new communication and information technologies as an opportunity to make information accessible to all, by connecting and supporting our member associations through the use of new technologies such as social media and online collaboration tools.
but, What is social media?
Officially, social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction and the construction of words, pictures, video and audio. (source: Wikipedia)
Put simply, it is used to describe the millions of conversations people across the world are having on a daily basis, through online social networks, computer devices, email accounts,websites and communication tools such as Skype, and MSN.
and, Why should we care about this?
■ Because social media is the new way of democratizing communications
■ Because 2/3 of the global internet population visits social networks
■ Because visiting social networking sites is now thefourth most popular online activity – ahead of personal email use
■ Because we need to be where the people are: the social and mobile Web
Technology is changing the way we engage with our audiences, the way we listen to them, the way we invite them to participate and lead the way for change. It also brings us the possibility of connecting more with our colleagues.
No matter how great or small an organisation may be, we should start asking ourselves how well we are using new communication technologies.
Do we have a presence on important social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter?
Do we plan how information is being distributed on the Internet?
Do we communicate through videos, photos, blogs and other popular media?
The World Congress of Inclusion International 2010 and social media!
Inclusion Europe is already present on online social networks. If you are a Facebook user (Facebook is the world’slargest social online network), become a “fan” of our Facebook page to receive updates, to see our latest photos and events, and to stay connected with friends and supporters of the Inclusion movement.
You can also subscribe to the RSS feeds (RSS -Rich Site Summary- is a format which delivers regularly updated web content directlyto your browser, email account, desktop or mobile device) in any of the 4 languages available (English, German, French and Spanish) for regular updates.
Another interesting site is
Twitter; a real-time short messaging service (SMS) that works over multiple networks and devices (mobile and web) to keep people updated using a maximum of 140 characters), Inclusion Europe has created a Twitter account
www.twitter.com/InclusionEurope (in English) where we will share updates on our activities and onthe World Congress 2010 with our followers who use this service. Twitter is also completely free!
For those who like videos, we are also on
YouTube. YouTube is the leading online video website for watching and sharing original videos worldwide through the Web. Don’t miss the opportunity to see the latest videos of Inclusion Europe:
www.youtube.com/InclusionEurope and the World Congress:
www.youtube.com/Inclusion2010 on YouTube! You can visit the channels, rate and comment on our videos. We are doing our best to provide videos in different languages with subtitles to cater for different audiences. YouTube is also a service provided for free.
We are continuing to work on the communication strategy for Inclusion Europe 2010, capitalizing on these trends and we hope we will soon be able to use this “new medium” to branchout to other sites and come up with new ways of using them. If you need any support do not hesitate to contact Alejandra Laiton, Communication Officer at Inclusion Europe at:
a.laiton(at)inclusion-europe.org
