MSF

For this week we were given the chose between two great organizations that I have followed even before I took this class. The Doctors without borders (MSF) and Charity Water are great organizations that have provided great visuals on social media; each with their strong suits in this regard. Unfortunately I have to decide upon one and that is Doctors without Borders for its ability to display the emotional spectrum in its visual media presence. Although, I do praise the Charity Water campaign for its active role in building a relationship with its audience and shaping the conversation to be positive and moving instead of simply guilt ridden and negative.


MSF is known to post visuals that range from very touching to unnerving. From the frontline of medical epicenters around the world, MSF strives to engage its audience with the reality of their work. Some may find the pictures gory or gruesome but it is important to note that these visuals are to show those not affected by this reality of the harsh nature that doctors and patients have to face. The pictures can also be hopeful or informative really taking full advantage of visual platforms such as Pintrest or Instagram. Although they have to be aware of the effect certain images may have on a sensitive audience, the main goal is to visually display the amazing work of the doctors and staff and the enduring, brave patients they treat and help throughout the world. Of course with the work they are doing there are some security and safety issues that have to accounted for as they gather the social media content but they bravely show the world what they do every day.


Paull Young from Charity Water was right when he said that it is important that an organization doesn’t just guilt trip it’s intended audience with graphic images and content for fundraising. Nick Owen from Doctor’s without Borders elaborated upon this from MSF’s perspective. He said that although they have done some fundraising over certain social media platforms, such as twitter recently with the Ebola outbreak, the main purpose of MSF’s social media strategy is to spread MSF’s message and influence around the world. By displaying both the heart ache and the success stories in pictures and media, as well as tackling confusion and panic through old and new media, MSF creates a campaign that tells a story to its audience that conveys the reality of disease and poor healthcare but also what they can do to change this and help.