This is a documentation of a session on stimulating discussion on the relationship between social media and social innovation. Approximately 40 students contributed.

1. doing the right thing?
- exploring
social innovation
in social media
Pernilla Severson, PhD Media and Communication Studies,
Malmö University pernilla.severson@mah.se

2. first presented at media conference
NordMedia
here presented for master students
leadership for sustainability, at Stapeln,
Malmö
goal: stimulate discussion on relationship
between social media and social
innovation

3. Social innovation
new research field linking
community-driven to market-
driven
innovative ways to meet social
needs
construct for understanding —
and producing lasting social
change

4. Stanford Center on Philantrophy and Civil Society
A novel solution to a
social problem that is
more effective, efficient,
sustainable, or just than
existing solutions and
for which the value
created accrues
primarily to society as a
whole rather than
private individuals.

5. social network site

6. >>
web-based services that allow
individuals to
(1) construct a public or semi-
public profile within a bounded
system,
(2) articulate a list of other
SOCIAL users with whom they share a
connection, and
NETWORK (3) view and traverse their list
SITE of connections and those made
by others within the system.

7. Social media as social innovation
Social media is innovative ways to meet
social needs
Social media is construct for understanding
— and producing lasting social change

8. doing twitter

9. >>
1) following my followers social
innovation activity on Twitter
2) asking my followers for social
innovation examples on Twitter
3) conduct searches for social
innovation on Twitter

10. cross-pollinations

11. >>
connecting where exchange of something
takes place, changes involved people,
something new can grow
means possibilities for more and new
contacts between different groups in
society
is an intricate ongoing weaving of
connecting practices
need communication, trust, reciprocity

12. example
many different
people.
trust created by
commenting
peoples tweets, #DIGIKOLLO
asking for
recommendations
for good beer,
adopting a challenge
for Scrabble on
iPhone, testing and
critiquing an app, open source
etc

13. personal as political

14. >>
sharing experiences (reciprocity), to heighten
awareness, that facilitates action and
cooperation for mutual benefit
highlighting how connecting practices on Twitter
makes visible and enhance awareness that the
personal is political
personal experiences are linked to power
relationships (not electoral politics), personal
(or private) problems are political problems

15. >>
also Putnam’s ”civicness” to understand
and explore possible value of social media
practice
provided by a "dense network of secondary
associations”
main source of social capital “social networks, and
the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that
arise from them”
studying norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness
how Twitter facilitate action and cooperation for
mutual benefit

16. dynamic communities

17. >>
a proposition to understand Twitter’s
flowing, fluent connecting practices
as communities that change
the community concept because
established body of knowledge and
implies connecting practices
the dynamics of communities is the
main important possibility of Twitter

18. I want to learn more
How can social innovation be
understood in relation to the field
of social change?
How is it possible to work more
‘anchored’ methodologically with
social media?

19. Answers March 15th 2012: students leadership for
susainability and media and communication, Stapeln,
Malmö
distinguish approach to social media, personal use, privacy. social media is only tool.
social innovation creates change outide the tool itself, that changes social innovation
in itself. action research methodology.
difficult to come up with definitions, example video, ”social media can be a catalyst
for driving social change”.
same circular as said before, interaction and what stimulates which? social media
revolutionize the social.
media highlights specific cases: FB to provoke change. but no discussion on projects
that do not lead to anything. ended up in ”how do people see internet”. ex statistics
people without internet, more are without than with. change for only a subset of
the world. we need statistics and facts, and at the same time see the possibilites and
examples. who are the small percentage and are they the people with the power?
chicken and the egg. on method, difficult to conduct research to place in traditional
methods and methodology, a third thing. need a new approach.