Social News You Can Use

Can you it? Have you ? Did it taste ?

These little icons are taking over the web. They empower you to tell Katie Couric that in the last 24 hours, you (the collective “you” of the Internet) prefer stories with pictures of the world’s most exciting roller coaster over stories about the male brain vs. the female brain. Seriously, you can see what the collective “you” are taking note of or “DIGGing” right here.

Some moments I drift off pondering the enormous creativity that goes into turning just a few pixels into a clever or cute brand. But mostly, I’m looking for opportunities to make the most of out these tools for my online campaigns.

3 ideas:

1. News to note: I glimpse the top stories for news and information covering online trends, new tools that can be leveraged for nonprofit fundraising or marketing…
2. What’s hot, what’s not? A quick scan of the top stories can inspire creative for an online appeal.
3. To post or not to post, that is the question… Will a campaign that I’m leading benefit from posting a related news story or appeal to any or all of these services?  I know that posting a story to Digg or another service doesn’t instantly produce masses of donors or potential constituents, but it may drive a Google Alert, increase popularity in a search, or perhaps grab the attention of a future supporter.