There are 2 Bandwagons heading in opposite directions.

One is the Social Media Bandwagon that is simply utilizing existing web sites and creating pages, groups, and friends and fans. The other is the Social Media Bandwagon that is creating their own custom web site.

If these two bandwagons were traveling at 45 miles per hour on a stretch of road that extends 90 miles from one another, how long would it take before they collided?

While this is poking fun at anecdotal logic – it really is an issue that many companies face today in trying to reach more users via the Internet and for non-profits, it’s a direction that they must make in order to secure the new generation that talks online.

Can non-profits accomplish everything that need to on a platform like: Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, and YouTube? Or do they need to create their on via custom or open source platforms?

They are so many advantages to using the existing channels that we generally recommend our clients start here. Of course, they have to play by their rules and limitations.

Here is a short video by CommonCraft that does a great job of explaining what the purpose of social media.