Water.org is surrendering its Twitter account, @water, for an entire week to the user who racks up the most votes on its site.
To enter, you must be following @Water on Twitter. Then sign up to participate with a short message on why you’re right for the job. The public can vote until August 31 on who should get the keys to Water.org‘s Twitter car. The winner will control the Twitter account from September 5 to 11.
Considering @Water has more than 425,000 fans, the contest — called a “Twakeover” — is a pretty big deal.
“One of our core pieces of DNA is empowering people to make a change,” says Mike McCamon, Water.org’s Chief Community Officer. “The people in the developing world, we don’t just give them a well, they’re involved in it, it’s community driven.” Closer to home, Water.org encourages its audience to donate more than its money — the organization wants your voice and your social status, too. It was only fitting, says McCamon, to honor those efforts by donating Water.org’s own voice for a week.
Still, it’s a bit of a gamble. The contest could be spammed by someone looking to get more followers. The winner could go off on personal tangents. So McCamon and his team have drafted rules to prevent any cheating or reputation-busting tweets. “I want to protect ourselves from a Weiner moment,” McCamon says. The winner will send McCamon their tweets and he will either publish them unedited or withhold them altogether. You won’t see strings of profanity or offensive content.
But McCamon is confident that he won’t really have to do any policing. He trusts the Water.org community will choose someone passionate about water issues — someone who might do a better job talking about the issues than the company. “Every organization is looking to grow,” McCamon says. “In the [contest's] top 10 there might even be people that would come work for Water.org. It allows the audience to self-select its ambassadors.”
So far the contest seems to be populated by people wanting to make a difference. Still, Water.org’s unfailing trust in its audience (and the Internet, for that matter) is a show of digital bravery. Even if the contest goes awry, the organization’s twakeover is an example of turning all those buzzy terms — brand loyalty, openness, empowerment, interaction, dialogue — and putting them into honest, unpredictable action.
More About: contest, non-profit, social media, twakeover, twitter, water, water.orgFor more Social Good coverage:Follow Mashable Social Good on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Good channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:33:40 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/cC-YSKm2qNw/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/04/water-twitter-contest/#comments
To enter, you must be following @Water on Twitter. Then sign up to participate with a short message on why you’re right for the job. The public can vote until August 31 on who should get the keys to Water.org‘s Twitter car. The winner will control the Twitter account from September 5 to 11.
Considering @Water has more than 425,000 fans, the contest — called a “Twakeover” — is a pretty big deal.
“One of our core pieces of DNA is empowering people to make a change,” says Mike McCamon, Water.org’s Chief Community Officer. “The people in the developing world, we don’t just give them a well, they’re involved in it, it’s community driven.” Closer to home, Water.org encourages its audience to donate more than its money — the organization wants your voice and your social status, too. It was only fitting, says McCamon, to honor those efforts by donating Water.org’s own voice for a week.
Still, it’s a bit of a gamble. The contest could be spammed by someone looking to get more followers. The winner could go off on personal tangents. So McCamon and his team have drafted rules to prevent any cheating or reputation-busting tweets. “I want to protect ourselves from a Weiner moment,” McCamon says. The winner will send McCamon their tweets and he will either publish them unedited or withhold them altogether. You won’t see strings of profanity or offensive content.
But McCamon is confident that he won’t really have to do any policing. He trusts the Water.org community will choose someone passionate about water issues — someone who might do a better job talking about the issues than the company. “Every organization is looking to grow,” McCamon says. “In the [contest's] top 10 there might even be people that would come work for Water.org. It allows the audience to self-select its ambassadors.”
So far the contest seems to be populated by people wanting to make a difference. Still, Water.org’s unfailing trust in its audience (and the Internet, for that matter) is a show of digital bravery. Even if the contest goes awry, the organization’s twakeover is an example of turning all those buzzy terms — brand loyalty, openness, empowerment, interaction, dialogue — and putting them into honest, unpredictable action.
More About: contest, non-profit, social media, twakeover, twitter, water, water.orgFor more Social Good coverage:Follow Mashable Social Good on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Good channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:33:40 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/cC-YSKm2qNw/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/04/water-twitter-contest/#comments
