Pinterest is dead – already? Weren’t we just talking about how nonprofits are jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon? Pinterest was the third most-popular social network by the end of 2011, then dropped like a stone this spring. But is it over? Two blogs (of many on this subject!) examine what’s going on here and here.

Here’s what we’ve seen and heard this month:

 

• Pinterest – the online bulletin board – is getting lots of buzz in the nonprofit community as organizations find ways to use this fastest-growing social network. Beaconfire’s take on Pinterest includes links to some nonprofit pins here - there's a really interesting diversity of content.
• This M+R Researchblog has collected the current thinking on nonprofits’ use of Pinterest, including how to determine if your nonprofit is right for Pinterest and how to develop your strategy for using Pinterest to your organization’s advantage.

Some of the items I’ve Seen and Heard and found interesting online recently:

 

Consumers view social marketing as invasive: Online Media Daily’s Mark Walsh reports on a study by Insight Marketing Group. Some highlights: “…nearly two-thirds (64%) of people say they “hate” when a company targets them through their social networking profile.” BUT, “…A majority of those surveyed (55%) believe social networking sites are the best way to give a company feedback and that posting about a product or service on a social site can have a strong impact on a brand.”

 

Walsh says the bottom line for marketers to keep in mind is that “…people like being able to provide feedback to marketers via social media -- but they don’t necessarily want to be followed by them.” For more insights, see the full report.

There’s so much happening online this month – here’s what we’ve Seen and Heard:

 

• How diverse are social networks? Care2’s nonprofit marketing blog, frogloop, recently put together some statistics. Did you know that there are 10% more females than males on Facebook? Twitter is also used by more women, but the sexes are split 50/50 on YouTube. Frogloop’s stats cover gender, age, and ethnicity.

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Here’s what we’ve recently seen & heard:

• Google announced on September 20 that Google+ is now open to everyone. As the post goes on to say, “Brand pages are expected to be launched sometime this fall. In the meantime, nonprofit staff can prepare for the launch of the new brand pages, also known as Google+ Entity Profiles, by creating a Google Account and then setting up your personal Google Profile…these best practices will be a work in progress and updated regularly. To be alerted of when new best practices are posted, please subscribe to the Nonprofit Tech 2.0 e-Newsletter.

Various posts worth sharing this month – from whether businesses benefit by running daily deals on sites like Groupon.com … to Twitter selling political advertising … to how other nonprofits are really using QR codes.  Here’s what we’ve recently seen & heard.

Oh yes … great stuff out there about Facebook: golden rules from nonprofit digital media professionals who actively manage their social media programs, more on QR codes and how they can be applied to your program, an innovative monthly donor recruitment tool, an update on mobile giving with an international view, and Blackbaud’s Index of Charitable Giving.

A lot of back and forth regarding social media, Facebook, and whether we should focus our time on it at all this month.  Will we ever come to a consensus on its impact?  Probably not – but what is forward-thinking is NFC (Near Field Communication) and its role in marketing.  And don’t miss MoveOn.org’s recent news …

Two pieces of news from Facebook and a great graphic on the rise of “bacon” vs. spam …