In my work with civil society organizations around the globe over the past year, I can’t tell you how many times this statement about technology by Jonathan Peizer has come to mind:

“It is not about choosing the right technology but about understanding the organizational psychology behind the institutions facilitating it and the needs of constituents who are benefiting from it. How all these players perceive and deploy technology for social value is ultimately more important than the technology itself.”

In some cases, why this has remained on my radar over the past months is a result of all of the hype around Facebook and YouTube. To be sure, these are great examples of online communities and examples of how technology can create that ever-sought-after personalized online experience. These spaces are masterfully designed for sociability and usability and have a high subscriber rate as a result. Millions use these spaces and these sheer numbers have made a huge impression upon those of us working for progressive change in civil society. This has set the stage for civil society organizations to see how they can access the social networking power of a Facebook community. This is very exciting and many campaigns such as Make Poverty History Canada are all over Facebook with hundreds of Facebook groups created. YouTube video clips have become an integral part of the political campaigning process in North America.

But before you consider entering the arena of social media, here are a few questions worth exploring:

• What does success look like for your organization or campaign and how can social media tools best be used to reach your objectives?
• What will be the impact on your internal capacity and resources when you invite people to participate in your online community?
• Do you care about what kind of conversation people will have when using social media tools on your site or within your online community? Specifically, how important is the substance of the content generated by those in your online community or using your social media tools?
• How do you plan to track participation in your online community or engagement with your online social media tools? For example, is it the number of podcasts downloaded or the level of discussion on your blog, or the number of people that return to your online community regularly that is important to you?

So whether you are just setting up a blog or creating an unique online community, it is important to take the time to really explore these and other questions fully. Because, in the end, technology should not drive your organizational, campaign or program strategy. Public engagement is not about the number of people who use a tool like a blog, or download a podcast, or subscribe to your RSS feed.

Public engagement is more about the depth of interaction rather than the number of interactions. It is about stakeholders within civil society creating change. Peizer’s observation, “How all these players perceive and deploy technology for social value is ultimately more important than the technology itself,” provides an invaluable framework when integrating technology into our public engagement strategies.

Pattie LaCroix has provided strategic leadership in crafting integrated communications and fundraising strategies to nonprofits for more than a decade. As CEO of Catapult Media she is passionate about the power of storytelling in engaging your audience and building support for your work. You can reach Pattie at www.catapultmedia.ca.