The Dragonfly Effect

Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways To Use Social Media to Drive Social Change

Jossey-Bass, 2010

15 min read

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When you use social media to advance your cause, amazing things can happen.

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Social media endow ordinary people with extraordinary powers of communication. You can use these powers to good purpose by following the advice of the husband and wife writing team, Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith, who collaborated with journalist Carlye Adler. Their “Dragonfly Model” teaches you to harness social media to promote positive social change. The authors include tips, templates and cheat sheets to aid you in your quest, and include shining tales of corporate, nonprofit and individual heroes. Their website connects you with others with whom you can exchange stories and share resources. getAbstract recommends this model to small businesses, nonprofits or any potential hero striving to make a difference.

Summary

“The Dragonfly Model”

The dragonfly is the only insect that can move in any direction when its four wings work together. Analogous to this winged insect, the Dragonfly Model provides a framework for exploiting the power of social media to advance your cause. “The Dragonfly Effect is the elegance and efficacy of people who, through the passionate pursuit of their goals, discover that they can make a positive impact disproportionate to their resources.”

An economic concept, the “ripple effect,” explains how one person’s spending increases other people’s income, which in turn raises their level of spending. When applied to social action, the ripple effect demonstrates how “small acts can create big change.” Moreover, when people work to advance a cause they believe in, they feel happier and more fulfilled. These feelings are contagious and inspire others to follow suit.

The Dragonfly Model relies on four wings working in harmony to generate incredible outcomes. Remember it easily through the mnemonic “Focus + GET”:

“Focus” – Choose a goal you can achieve.
“Grab attention” – Get someone to see what you’re doing...

About the Authors

Jennifer Aaker is a professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Andy Smith is a principle at Vonavona Ventures, a marketing, strategy and operations consulting firm. Journalist Carlye Adler’s articles have appeared in magazines such as Time and Fortune.

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A. 1 decade ago

Here's a recipe that worked for me:
1. Find a cause you truly believe in.
2. Open up a facebook page and make sure to keep posting relevant content on almost a daily basis.
3. Get your initial user base by advertising your page with facebook ads.
4. Identify your "champion fans" (Those who intesively interact with your page). Personally proactively connect with your champion-fans. Make friend requests to them (even if you don't know them). Make sure to maintain these friends by talking to them on a one-to-one level (By whatever means, usually facebook-chat is the easiest at the beginning)
5. Start organizing some "real life" meetups if possible, inviting all your fans but especially your champion-fans. Once you know your fans a little better, found a "real-life" organization (non-profit, company, society... or other structures)
6. Go on from there and never look back at what you've achieved, but always focus on your cause and how you can further it.

Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith

The Dragonfly Effect

Quick, Effective, and Powerful Ways To Use Social Media to Drive Social Change

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