The College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños (CDC-UPLB) shared best practices, challenges, and lessons learned in managing www.cccomdev.org with the larger community of ComDev specialists of the Philippines.
Professor Cleofe Torres and Asst. Professor Liza A. Cabrera presented their paper on “Reflections on Managing the Collaborative Change Communication (CCCOMDEV) Global Platform Content” in the 5th Consortium of Development Communication Educators and Practitioners in the Philippines (CDCEPP) held in Musuan, Bukidnon, Philippines on December 3-5, 2015.
CCComdev has been institutionalized as part of CDC-UPLB global services through the college extension program, and the faculty and staff, led by Dean Ma. Theresa H. Velasco, are involved in the management of the platform.
Best practices in managing cccomdev include: establishing viable content management processes by using applications such as Hootesuite, Joomla, and Googledocs; employing competent writers and editors; conducting regular updates and backup to ensure web security. Content management processes are useful in creating a publishing schedule and monitoring uploaded or published articles. Content is mostly from partner organizations, however, the active participants in the virtual community (FCCM) are main contibutors.
Technical difficulties relating to slow connectivity in the Philippines and web security issues were two challenges that CDC-UPLB have learned to deal with form the very start. Also, immediacy, where information should be updated very fast on social media has been a daily and weekly challenge to keep up with. Despite the challenges, CDC-UPLB learned that research is a must for cccomdev.org because content is crucial. Up-to-date and relevant information is fundamental to keep followers, partners, and community members interested.
Virtual communities are stimulated and galvanized through regular updates via social media, monthly newsletter, thematic forums and discussions. Finally, in this day and age, visibility is key and the hashtags (#) have been useful in contributing ongoing discussions or trending topics online.
Lynette B. Carpio-Serrano, Assistant Professor, also presented her paper on “’Wag kang Susyosero: A Textual Analysis of Social Media Posts on Public Breastfeeding.”
Prof. Torres (Professor and former Dean) and Cabrera have been working on CCCOMDEV with FAO since 2010. Carpio-Serrano manages the social media accounts of cccomdev.org since 2012.
CDCEPP is a professional organization of Devcom educators and practitioners who are committed to “promote the ideals of development communication as a field of study and practice which contributes to community development and nation-building through meaningful and relevant communication ” and “work together with shared dreams for the nation and recognizing communication as the creative force of community-centered, culturally-sensitive, and process-oriented social change.” Its head office is located at the College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), College, Laguna.
For more details about 5th CDCEPP National Conference 2015, visit http://cdcepp.org.ph/conf2015/