CUTA YS sets the pace for change

Today I presented at the Canadian Urban Transit Association Youth Summit. The subject: Indie Media, with a particular emphasis on online social networking. The just of my presentation, which lasted about an hour, was to familiarize people new to the news media and blogging environment with several tools they can use to reach audiences.

Naturally, most individuals at the summit wanted to know how they can spread the word about sustainable modes of transportation. It's easy to take the bus, ride your bike, carpool, and walk to get where you are going, they would say. But how can you get the rest of the public on board? Here are three easy steps to abide by when moving into the online social networking environment:

First step- Identify your audience. Who are you or should you be targeting with your message? Four-year-olds don't have much say in how they get around, but youths, young adults, and middle-aged adults do tend to move around a lot to get to work, play, and whatever else is on their schedule. So, how do you reach them?

Step two- Find the platform that fits the needs of your audience. Some people still read the paper, but not many, according to recent statistics. So, why not try an online blog, or writing posts on a popular website, or starting a Facebook group designed specifically to advocate on behalf of your cause? Several groups, including members of the Fair Copyright for Canada coalition in individuals have succeeded in placing significant amounts of pressure on politicians by using social networking tools, such as Facebook, blogs, and Twitter.

Step three- Optimize the visibility of your blog online. So you have a blog, but no one is reading it. Bummer. What do you do? You link, tag, ping, and backlink. You also register with social media tracking databases, such as Technorati. Most importantly, you write as frequently as you can. Nothing catches and keeps an audience coming back to your site more than the promise of finding new content on your blog. Perhaps even more importantly: promote yourself. Every chance you get, link to your blog, to your website, to your Facebook page. Mention your Twitter account. Read other people’s blogs/websites and post on them with a link to your own site. It works.

Not into the whole "World Wide Web" thing? Well, there is always the traditional stuff, like writing letters to the editor and submitting op-eds. I went through a few tips on how to write effective op-eds during my presentation. You can see what I had to say by clicking on this link. The presentation contains information about blogs and other social networking tools as well.

The Youth Summit was a fantastic venue for exchanging information about how people can choose modes of transpiration that produce less greenhouse gas emissions and are less taxing on the environment. Plus, there was plenty of good food and conversation to be had. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the future direction of urban transportation.