Here are this week’s items that were not quite big enough to merit their own entry, but which were bigger than just a del.icio.us link:

• Envision Solutions released results of research on how people are using health information they find online, digging deeper into some of the findings of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The study found that internet health information seekers are exposed to a significant amount of user-generated media (i.e., blogs, wikis and online bulletin boards), and also frequent websites developed by government, non-profits and corporations. Content provided by peers (particularly Wikipedia) may be perceived as being as credible as that from more “official” sources.

• The video podcast from the Ypulse “State of Teen TV” event I reported on is now available for your viewing pleasure, along with others on “What Youth Brands Can Learn from the Action Sports World” and “The Future of Teen Magazines.” Check them out if you are working with youth.

• The Kaiser Family Foundation has also made available a webcast of a forum held on Tuesday on “Public Service Advertising in Great Britain: Lessons for US Public Interests.” the event featured Alan Bishop, CEO of the United Kingdom’s Central Office of Information, the government organization that implements and coordinates all government public education campaigns, and a panel of several other high-placed American execs who deal with PSAs. (Thanks to Mike Newton-Ward for the tip.)

• I’ve found out about a couple of interesting blogs related to social change efforts in Second Life. One is called A Better World in Second Life, and is part of Joshua Lev’s thesis project, which includes a machinima documentary about activism in Second Life. The other is NPSL: Nonprofits in Second Life, which is a group blog “about non-profit organizations and how they work in Second Life – to collaborate among themselves and with each other, engage with their publics, raise funds, teach, learn and further their real-world goals.” I haven’t been in SL in a while since my first life has been keeping me pretty busy, but I am still fascinated by the potential it holds for social marketing. (via Beth)

• Grokdotcom, a blog focusing on “online conversion rate marketing” (which basically means persuading people to take action on your website), has an interesting analysis of the Canadian Make Poverty History website from the point of view of what they call the “four dominant personality types:”
  

  Methodicals want to know, “How can your solution solve this problem?”

  Humanistics want to know, “Who has used your solution to solve this problem?” or “Who supports your solution to this problem?”

  The Spontaneous wants to know, “Can you quickly tell me why your solution is best for solving the problem now?” and “Why is this the cause for me?”

  And Competitives want to know, “What makes you the best choice for solving this problem?” and “What are your credentials?”

  An interesting way to look (or relook) at any of your communications.

• Yet another social network for nonprofits has come out called All Day Buffet. It has not quite launched, but is collecting contact info and areas of interest before the full roll-out. It’s not clear yet how this will be different from some of the many other social change social networks out there (e.g., Change.org, Idealist, Zaadz, etc.), but at some point I should really do a detailed comparison of them all. (via PSFK)

• Speaking of social networks, the Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog had a great article on how green organizations are using MySpace effectively. And if you want to create your own customized social network, I’m exploring uses of Ning, a retooled site that I think holds a lot of promise for organizations who want to build their own online communities without the negative baggage of MySpace or Facebook.

• If all my posts about using social media for social marketing have inspired you to consider using it in your own program, take a look at Christopher Carfi‘s list of questions to ask before jumping in. It includes a worksheet that will help you think through the who, when, where, why and how before you make assumptions about the “what.” Also see Britt Bravo‘s long list of examples of how nonprofits and their supporters are using social media (and I especially like her description of blogs as the “gateway drug” — seems to be true).

• I love getting glimpses into other bloggers’ cultural traditions, so I thought I would share some of mine from time to time. Sunday is the Jewish holiday of Purim (another in the vein of “they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat”), which commemorates how brave Queen Esther saved the Jews of Persia from annihilation as decreed by the king. We celebrate by reading the story, dressing in costumes, giving gifts of food to friends and family, and giving money to poor people in our community. The traditional food, which I baked a ton of the other night, is hamentaschen — triangle-shaped cookies with a filling inside. (And the other, even more popular, tradition is to drink so much that you can’t tell the difference between the good guy and bad guy in the story.) Sadly, the story of an evil ruler of Persia who wants to destroy the Jews is not old news.

Until next week, keep the tips coming…

Photo Credit: fensterj

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