We are spending more and more of our lives online.
According to the latest available data, the average person spends about 6:50 hours per day on screens connected to the Internet outside work requirements.
Gen Z alone spends over 9 hours per day.
While the mix of a person’s digital footprint is a blend of online presences in maps, gaming, texts, video chats, content creation, social media viewing, streaming, etc., the truth is that our growing digital presence leads us to make many decisions online.
Because of this, enterprises need to have an authentic and engaging digital presence. In the arts, a digital footprint is no longer a complementary communicative resource of an enterprise’s activities and offerings; it is now an integral part of its business strategy.
In the second session of the Digital Strategies substream, curated by Vanda Gaidamovic, GLI Fellows learned about Rivet, a microfinancing platform for young social innovators to access no-strings-attached capital and opportunities to grow their initiatives. The key strength of this business model is a dual market system that places communities of young people at the center.
How can we begin to understand online communities? How we bond and express ourselves digitally differs from how we bond in everyday life.
Entrepreneur, Youth Empowerment Expert, and Founder of Rivet Eric Dawson offered fellows the following advice. Instead of defining what a digital community is or should be, create a process to define how you want to engage with that community.
Communities are ultimately about creating membership and making people feel a part of something. For this to happen, three essential things must be clear in an online presence:
- Define a set of beliefs: it must be clear how the digital community understands itself, what it values, and how it celebrates those shared values.
- Prompt behavior: communities must actively express themselves to feel a sense of belonging. Understanding the role community agency plays in the brand is a crucial component in the art of community building.
- Tell stories: all social impact happens through relationships, and stories are the building blocks of relationships. For brands, storytelling means creating a web of emotional connections that ultimately build a grand brand image.
What digital community makes an impact in your life?
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