Thoughts on Communication

Several interesting blog posts and news articles have me thinking about the changing nature of communication and how we view it. First off, from the Chronicle of Philanthropy we learn that a) the average age of a Facebook user is rapidly rising, and as it does so, its value for fundraisers will increase because b) social networking sites are increasingly being used for personal communications over regular ol' e-mail.

Next we have an article and a blog post that quite succinctly answer the question: Is anybody really listening out there? The answer is a resounding, "Yes."

From Donor Power Blog we see exactly how word of mouth (and he uses a great term from the Church of the Customer, Wominomics) can help or hinder us.

And from ABC Entertainment News--that's right, folks, Entertainment News, we see how Demi Moore's twitter feed may have saved a woman's life. This is not the first time that Twitter has been used in a real-time effort to spread information to appropriate parties, but it certainly is a great example of just how mainstream it has become as a platform for quick and effective communication.

Lessons learned? Use Facebook. Use Twitter. Be good to your constituents and listen to what they are saying about you. And be assured, people are listening to you.