New Toolkit From MobileActive.org Encourages Citizen Outreach Through Mobile Apps

For our friends at MobileActive.org, the idea of using mobile technology to support social change among people and organizations around the world is nothing new. MobileActive.org has long been on a mission of connecting citizens; providing resources to NGOs that will enable them to enrich and serve their communities. Many may be surprised to learn that in today’s technologically advanced world, there are still roughly 5 billion global citizens without reliable internet access. However, as mobile phone usage continues to rise, resources like the MobileActive.org’s new Mobile Media Toolkit, may just be the answer these offline communities need to activate their public engagement efforts.  

BACKGROUND

The Mobile Media Toolkitwas launched as a way to organize and explain the multitude of free mobile outreach tools now available to the public; recommending and explaining the most reliable and appropriate tools, outlining the expected impacts of using certain tools, and guiding the process for how to implement using the tools. With nearly 80 innovative new tools profiled within the Mobile Media Toolkit, it is quickly becoming a rich comprehensive resource available for NGOs trying to reach the broadest possible audience.

USING THE MOBILE MEDIA TOOLKIT

The Mobile Media Toolkitprovides guidance on tools, resources, and case studies of how mobiles can be used for reporting, news broadcasting, and citizen media participation on a variety of platforms and in a variety of circumstances. The Toolkit provides readers with a comprehensive set of instructional guides, including:

• How to create contenton a mobile phone
• How to share contentfrom a mobile device to broad audiences
• How to deliver mediato others' mobile phones
• How to engage a mobile audience
• Securing your mobile media communication

For each of the categories listed above, MobileActive.org has done a nice job of organizing its Mobile Media Toolkit resources in an easy to navigate fashion. Most sections provide a brief top level description of the topic, such as an overview and background, definition, and limitations, then also provides related articles, case studies, a list of tools specific to this topic.

For example if a reader wanted to learn more about How to Engage a Mobile Audience, they would click on this section, easily found in the top navigation of the Mobile Media Toolkit. From here, they would be given an overview and background of this topic, including:

What?
Section Focus:

This section focuses on helping media organizations see their mobile-using audiences as participants in the media process, and not just passive consumers of content.

Who?
Potential audiences that will benefit from Engaging Audiences:

• An organization trying to figure out how mobile consumers interact on social media;
• An individual or organization trying to engage a community to express themselves through their mobile phones;
• An individual or organization interested in what their audiences are saying about them through social media;
• Someone trying to setup a mobile citizen media platform;
• Anyone who runs an online citizen media platform.

Why?
Opportunities Presented From Engaging Audiences On Your Mobile Phone

There are many reasons to engage audiences via your mobile phone:

1. The mobile phone is the most ubiquitous two-way media platform in the world today. Predecessors like radio and television are one-way devices, while computers and the Internet do not have comparable reach.
2. Time in history, when media has become more participatory, the term "citizen journalism" identifies awide set of practices, and professor and journalism thinker Jay Rosen has called the notion of a passive audience outdated.
3. Organizations cannot afford not to engage audiences on their mobile phones.

ARTICLES AND CASE STUDIES

Mobile Media Toolkit also provides a list of articles which discuss in depth the platforms used for such engagement, How-to guides, and case studies. For example, the How to Engage a Mobile Audiencesection features articles and case studies on:

• Understanding the kinds of social media that mobile users use, and how they use them.
• Converting citizens into content contributors
• Case Study: Avaaj Otalo - A Voice-Based Community Forum
• Case Study: From Bollywood to BBC, Bubbly is a Voice in the Audio Blogging World

TOOLS

Finally, when users are ready to dig in and find the mobile tools that are right for their outreach efforts, this robust section provides eight pages worth of tools to explore, including Freedom Fone, FrontlineSMS, GeoChat, and more, with specific information on each. Learn about everything from why you would need to use this tool, key features of the tools, which platforms and formats are supported by the tool, maturity (has the tool been deployed, or is it still being developed), links to support forums, and more.  

See full list of tools >>

Find out more about The Mobile Media Toolkit >>