Mediaboss Marketing

Jeraldine Phneah

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Seven out of 10 nongovernmental organizations are using social networking websites as a primary channel to communicate with youngsters.

The approach is more popular than using traditional channels such as by telephone (60 percent) and face-to-face interviews or home visits (58percent).

These are the findings of a project commissioned by Microsoft and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, with the University of Hong Kong's Public Opinion Programme surveying 64 NGOs that provide services to those aged 15-24.

The survey, conducted from May 6 to 27, found that the top three reasons for using social networking sites to promote their causes included faster responses (62percent), easy acceptance by youngsters (38percent) and convenience (25percent).

Council chief executive Christine Fang Meng-sang said: "The use of social media enables organizations to save time and it is a very convenient method as well. Through traditional means, youngsters would take about two hours to respond to social workers but now, it is two minutes or even two seconds!"

Many NGOs are well aware of the growing importance of social media. About 47percent of those surveyed said they will increase the budget in the near future to develop internet communication tools for youth services.

Another 91percent believe the government should support organizations for the young by adopting social networking tools.

Support is most sought when it comes to subsidies for purchasing hardware (40percent), training (38percent) and providing and purchasing software (28percent).

See more here:
Social approach pays off with youngsters