Remember when we all started using email in our nonprofit work? 

(If you're under 25, you are excluded from the next paragraph: you don't remember a time WITHOUT it!)

First, we got excited because email made communications  cheaper and faster; you could send out 1,000 messages in no time at all, and for very little money.  Then, we realized email had a little secret sauce to it. Unlike direct mail, emails could acutally change hands and reach NEW audiences pretty easily.  So, we all started adding "Forward this to a friend" pleas to our messages and waited for our campaigns to go "viral."

What we were hoping to do was tap the power of networks.  Just like the old shampoo commercial, we wanted our supporters to get our message and tell it to friends, ad infinitum.

Sometimes it worked.  Most of the time it didn't.  Usually, external forces affect how viral a campaign will go -- like if your issue or topic gets big news coverage.  No matter how well-crafted or compelling your message, it wouldn't work as a viral campaign unless some external forces were in place. (And yet, I get the same "sisterhood" message forwarded from my mom over and over again.  Go figure.)

I'd argue that the reason those messages had a hard time going viral was that they weren't personal. 

At the end of the day, a marketing message is a marketing message, whether you're Coke or Amnesty International.  And it's really hard to write a marketing message with which everyone can make an emotional connection.  

Social media changes all of that.  Social media allows your stakeholders to tell their own stories, and their networks will respond to that. Whether it's through photo sharing, blogging, or video, telling your story and then letting your network retell it their own way is a powerful force.

This week in We Are Media, the fabulous Beth Kanter is leading us through the process of sharing our stories.  We're asking you all to help us answer a few questions:

• Why is sharing your story social media-style important?
• What are some easy ways to get started?
• What are the tips and techniques of getting your stakeholders to share your story?
• What are some of the best of the best nonprofit examples? (Here's your chance to brag about your project!)
• What are the best how-to resources on this topic?
• What are the tools?

You can share your responses in the comments here, or on the wiki.  I'm looking forward to your stories about stories!