Power to the people. For the past 20 years, the Internet has reigned supreme.

Everybody has a voice. Anyone can be God. Or can they?

Look at this video. Username MrJtuso commented “Snorlax, I choose you!” and has 13 green thumbs up. A normal person became God on the Internet by influencing 13 people to make fun of the uploader.

The uploader, Katie? She was once God by uploading her video on the Internet. Now, she’s the victim.

Which brings me to the case of some not-for-profits (NFP) that would rather jump off a cliff than use social media.

Every time you upload something online, you lose control over that item/picture/video. There is no such thing as privacy. I learnt the hard way. My mom uploaded a naked picture of me when I was a kid on Facebook (but that’s a whole other story).

For NFPs that deal with children or people with a disability, it’s hard to upload something sensitive online without worrying about flamers or trolls.

Look at Invisible Children. They posted a KONY 2012 video to spread awareness and to get donations. Innovative or just unethical?

Not only is their organisation being condemned, people who support them are criticised and made fun of as well.

It’s quite ironical. The more you hate something, the more you create awareness. I guess what my PR lecturer said is true, ‘bad publicity is still publicity’.

But there is an advantage of social media. Even though Invisible Children have received so many negative feedbacks, they reached their main objective which is to make Joseph Kony famous.

I mean, look at their video hits, over 89 million views!!! Try to go outside the streets today and ask anyone if they know about Kony. I bet you 10 bucks that 9 out of 10 people would.

My turn to play God now. Here are a few questions for you to ponder:

  1. Should NFPs take that leap of faith and jump on the social media bandwagon?
  2. Or should NFPs avoid social media like a plague and remain with offline marketing strategy?
  3. Or should N4Ps just jump off a cliff?