Volunteer Managers- Thoughtful on Thursdays.

A group of people involved in the management of volunteers have kicked off a movement called "Thoughtful Thursdays". These people are using Twitter to to share ideas on topics related to the  volunteer engagement.

Last week's theme was tools and ideas to measure impact with a blog post written by Emma_C_Shelter on measuring volunteer impact as the kick off..

Comments can be left on the blog or by adding the hashtag #ttvolmgrs, people can join the conversation viaTwitter.

To help measure Thoughtful Thursday, the organisers are asking if people to  spend a minute filling in what they hope is the world's shortest Survey Monkey as well.

See you at #ttvolmgrs!

Spotting Spam on Facebook [Updated]

I get a lot of questions in my workshops about the rash of spam that people keep "sharing" and "posting" on Facebook.  There are some ways you can spot such spam:

1. THE USE OF CAPITALS 

FACEBOOK JUST RELEASED THEIR PRICE GRID FOR MEMBERSHIP. $9.99 PER MONTH FOR GOLD MEMBER SERVICES, $6.99 PER MONTH FOR SILVER MEMBER SERVICES, $3.99 PER MONTH FOR BRONZE MEMBER SERVICES, FREE IF YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WHEN YOU SIGN ON TOMORROW MORNING YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR PAYMENT INFO...IT IS OFFICIAL IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS. FACEBOOK WILL START CHARGING DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES. IF YOU COPY THIS ON YOUR WALL YOUR ICON WILL TURN BLUE AND FACEBOOK WILL BE FREE FOR YOU. PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON IF NOT YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DELETED IF YOU DO NOT PAY I DONT KNOW ( HOW TRUE THIS IS BUT WHAT THE HECK DONT HURT ANYTHING SO I DID IT

As soon as you see a whole or most of a message in Capital Letters or one with lots of sentences which use capital letters, assume spam (or the writer is drunk)


2. Hysterical Headlines

eg IF YOU HAVE A CHILD THEN READ THIS!  PLEASE PASS THIS TO ANYONE THAT HAS SMALL CHILDREN!!  
or  


FACEBOOK FRIENDS!!! SOME APPS ARE SENDING NOT VERY NICE MESSAGES USING YOUR NAME!!!


The more hysterical the headline, assume it is fake.


3. Share this and a Child/Dog/Tree/Rainforest will recieve a donation of 1c, 3c, 5c, 10c, $1, $3 etc
What about the ones that promise you a donation to a charity, money, an IPAD or an iphone when you like a story or photo or if you share that story or photo. Sadly, simply sharing any story or image on Facebook wont make any difference to any cause. There is No money given for simple sharing a story. No hospital, charity, company or Facebook themselves have ever organised donations based on the number of times a photo, message or email is shared.

4. Heartwarming Fake Stories
The story below leaves one full of admiration for the airline staff. It has circulated widely with different airlines and destinations included.

On a British Airways flight from Johannesburg, a middle-aged, well-off white South African Lady has found herself sitting next to a black man. She called the cabin crew attendant over to complain about her seating. 

"What seems to be the problem Madam?" asked the attendant. 

"Can`t you see?" she said " You`ve sat me next to a kaffir. I can`t possibly sit next to this disgusting human. Find me another seat!" 

"Please calm down Madam." the stewardess relied. "The flight is very full today, but I`ll tell you what I`ll do-I`ll go and check to see if we have any seats available in club or first class." The woman cocks a snooty look at the outraged black man beside her (not to mention many of the surrounding passengers). A few minutes later the stewardess returns with the good news, which she delivers to the lady, who cannot help but look at the people around her with a smug and self satisfied grin: "Madam, unfortunately, as I suspected, economy is full. I`ve spoken to the cabin services director, and club is also full. However, we do have one seat in first class." Before the lady has a chance to answer, the stewardess continues ... "It is most extraordinary to make this kind of upgrade, however, and I have had to get special permission from the captain. But, given the circumstances, the captain felt that it was outrageous that someone be forced to sit next to such an obnoxious person." With which, she turned to the black man sitting next to the woman, and said: "So if you`d like to get your things, sir, I have your seat ready for you..." At which point, apparently the surrounding passengers stood and gave a standing ovation while the black guy walks up to the front of the plane. 

.. people will forget what you said .... .. people will forget what you did .... .. but people will never forget how you made them feel. 

This tale is almost certainly apocryphal. Add to it, the stories of kittens, Vietnam vets and doggies that appear regularly. Before posting something you can check if it is real at snopes.com or by copying or pasting the story inro Google or simply go to a news channel. Yesterday,  I was asked to commemorate the deaths of some soldiers in a nasty helicopter crash. The tragic crash which supposedly happened yesterday in fact happened last year.

5. False Sayings

I love this picture on the right because it illustrates the stupidity of posting without checking things. If you still don't understand this one: the net did not exist in Lincoln's day!

6. Links outside Facebook
Various messages get posted on Facebook that say: you can now see who has been viewing your Facebook Profile OR you can find out who has been stalking you OR you can now get the "dislike". When you click the button, you exit Facebook and are presented with the option of entering your password. Don't do it! This is dangerous. You are giving your log in and password to someone else. This is how people's Facebooks get "hacked"

Ever unsure of something isn't genuine, don't post it. Check out: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/facebook-related.shtml

Facebook is NOT as evil and scary as you think!

There is a lot of paranoia and fear about Facebook. I accept that Facebook makes some dumb mistakes but Facebook has been blamed for so much and given so much more power than it has.

I see people who get  get angry at things that Facebook has shared that they themselves have inputted into the site!

 The one that amuses me is when people say "Facebook stole my password ..that is why I have sent junkmail, spam or viruses".

How about you clicked on a link that took you OUT of Facebook and you entered your own password on that link.

What also amuses me about the paranoia is that I can find out lots of information about you OUTSIDE Facebook.

You are not invisible anywhere..

Join a Yahoo group- then you have an online presence
Post a complaint on Trip Adviser?
Post your pic on your family web page?
Be interviewed by your local TV/Radio station/newspaper?

All of those things will put you online.

Protect yourself:

• Don't share anything online, you dont want to see repeated. Anything, anywhere.
• Be real
• Don't post when angry, drunk or frustrated
• Don't share your password
• If you are ever asked for your Facebook password by any other program, page or individual, check it is legitimate.
• Log out of your Facebook account when on shared computers