Free social media surgery in Leeds

I happened upon a site the other day which will be of enormous interest to a lot of people in Leeds.

Leeds Social Media Group is running an open surgery for all community and charity groups next week, offering advice on using various methods to communicate with the public.

Anyone needing help with a website, blog, Facebook or Twitter group for their organisation can get free support and instruction, which is absolutely brilliant. Companies offering this kind of service would charge by the hour for their advice, which charities and not-for-profit groups just can't afford to pay.

it is increasingly important for community groups to have an online presence and be easily contactable. There will always be those who are happy to just phone up or go along to an organisation's offices and who have no interest in how else it communicates. But there are more and more people, particularly younger generations, who take exactly the opposite view. I know myself if I'm looking for a company offering a particular service - a garage, for example - my first port of call will be the internet. If the company's website has too little information, is difficult to navigate or is badly written - or, worse, if there is no website - I will be very strongly deterred from using that company.

Old school journalists detest this view of life. They constantly argue that finding stories on Facebook or making a story from a trending topic on Twitter is not journalism. To be a real journalist, you have to go out and meet people and speak face-to-face, they argue. I wouldn't dare disagree that getting out on the streets is of huge importance, but it is not always the best approach. Stories involving students, for example, will often require a different approach to those involving pensioners. If you want to contact a 19-year-old about his part in a national news story - perhaps he has commented elsewhere as an eye-witness to a major event - then often, a message on Facebook is the best approach. It is what he is used to and will put him more at ease than a formal approach on the doorstep - and it then leaves room for him to call you and arrange a proper interview.

The same approach is needed by charities and other community groups - they need to make themselves available via every medium, to ensure people of all ages feel comfortable getting in touch.

Leeds Social Media Group is run by volunteers itself, so the whole thing is purely benefiting the community - especially because it promises biscuits, which I feel should always be provided at any kind of meeting or public event.

So get yourself along to the Round Foundry Media Centre next Tuesday evening from 5.30 to 7pm - more details here. And pass the word on. You never know who it might help.