Website Analysis
www.nationalservice.gov
AmeriCorps's official website, nationalservice.gov, is compelling immediately upon visiting the homepage due to the engaging photos used as icons for the individual sections of the Corporation for National and Community Service's website. AmeriCorps and CNCS remain consistent with their brand by using the colors red, blue, white and black throughout their entire website to highlight sidebars as well as other useful content and information. The biggest takeaway, I feel, for users viewing the webpage is the extensive FAQs they provide for potential service members. Existing AmeriCorps programs can also order a selection of marketing materials at no cost through the website. The overarching mission of AmeriCorps is to get people involved in their communities, so their website is constantly fostering involvement with their brand throughout by clearly outlining the requirements and benefits of serving, how to apply, what service experiences are available, and what others have done as part of their service and they impact that that has had, which could potentially inspire someone to serve or to start a program. All of the content provided by the website is original.
Social Media Platform Analysis (Facebook)
www.facebook.com/americorps
The multiple divisions of the Corporation for National and Community Service each have their own social media presence and personalities. AmeriCorps's facebook page is compelling in how it provides the government agency with a warm and inviting personality. It remains consistent with its brand in that the content it publishes and shares relates solely to the purpose of promoting service, whether it is advocating for Facebook users to apply or its sharing stories of service members across the country. The AmeriCorps Facebook page is fun and engaging for users because they very effectively mobilize around offbeat holidays, such as National Cat Day, and pop culture, often using memes to communicate and relate to its younger members. AmeriCorps often uses their Facebook page and other social media to bring attention to campaigns around national days of service and other initiatives, such as the Mayors Day of Recognition for National and Community Service. Facebook users can engage with these posts by following to see what is going on locally for them and if there isn't already an event plan, they could start one. This also is a means of fostering involvement with the Facebook users. The content published by the Facebook page is mostly original, but the page often shares news articles and other aggregated content related to AmeriCorps service.
The biggest difference between the nationalservice.gov website and AmeriCorps's Facebook page is that while the website is representative of all national service programs and initiatives, the AmeriCorps Facebook page is able to focus on and give a voice to solely that one program. It effectively humanizes and distinguishes the program from other national service efforts, giving it a unique presence and voice that users can engage with and relate to. The Facebook page often directs people to the website in order to read more or engage further with the content they provide. AmeriCorps has also recently started using "Thunderclap" for its major campaigns. "Thunderclap" refers to themselves as the "first crowd-speaking platform." Similar to crowd-funding platforms, Thunderclap allows individuals to commit to sharing content at a designated time, the idea being that if enough people sign up, the message will reach all of their friends. Users give Thunderclap permission to post on their behalf by signing up for their campaign. AmeriCorps first used this on their 20th Anniversary last year. I took part in the Thunderclap campaign which effectively helped AmeriCorps become a trending topic that day.
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