Using social media responsibly for community service during the pandemic
Social media are online services and tools used for publishing, sharing and discussing information. They can include forums, social networking websites, and any other websites that allow individual users to upload and share content in real time from any location. There are many popular social media tools now available such as, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram.
The article explores how social media helped in setting up a virtual platform, HumanKind Global (prev. Caremongers India) for connecting people across the globe for seeking and providing help during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Overview
March 2020, a month that cannot be easily forgotten as it turned all our lives topsy-turvy. The first wave of Covid-19 hit India sending it to nation-wide lock down. First time our country was experiencing this grim situation of lock down where everything came to a stand-still. Getting essential supplies such as groceries, medicines, milk, vegetables and fruits became a challenge. Moving around the city for emergencies such as hospital visits had become very tough. As India is technologically advanced and internet connectivity is substantially good, social media came to the rescue of people. Volunteers joined hands to serve the community through this powerful platform. One such group that took birth during this pandemic was HumanKind Global (HKG).
HKG Start
Mahita Nagraj, founder of HumanKind Global (HKG) got a call in March 2020 from her friend in US to check on her parents to see if they needed any essentials during the lockdown in Bengaluru. This set the ball rolling for the conceptualization of HKG. Mahita shared a post in Facebook asking any senior citizen requiring help to reach out to her. This not only caught the attention of help seekers but also many volunteers who wanted to offer help. Thus, Caremongers, India (currently HumanKind Global) was born.
Mahita being a digital marketing professional was quick in setting up the process. Initially the requests were flowing in only through Facebook. As the volume of requests grew, Mahita got a dedicated helpline number set up solely for this purpose. The requests were pouring in from all over India. They were mainly related to groceries, daily home essentials, and medicines. Majority of the requesters were from senior citizens who were staying alone. To cater the calls coming from different states, city specific WhatsApp groups were created. Request coming to the helplines were directed to the respective WhatsApp groups. Initially what started with a handful of volunteers (I was one of them) grew to a sizeable group, who were very committed to helping people. There were two sets of volunteers. One group who were doing field duty of physically delivering essentials to people, and another who coordinated all the work online. This was the group that managed the requests coming on social media platforms.
HKG Workflow
Apart from the social media tools, Google forms and Excel sheets were actively used. As the requests volume grew, necessity of having a dedicated group of volunteers to coordinate the fulfillment of requests was very essential. Here the main task for online volunteers were to collect requirements from the requesters and track progress of the requests. A Google form was used to collect volunteer information and maintain a database of their contact details. Next, a Google form was circulated in Facebook for requesters to fill their key requirements on weekly basis along with their contact details for delivery. The online team of volunteers would pass this information to the field volunteers located in the respective city. The field volunteers would keep the online volunteers updated about the progress of the requests. The online volunteers updated the status of every request promptly and would also follow-up with the requesters about the request status. This workflow was targeted towards weekly essential fulfillment.
On weekly basis online volunteers would call or send WhatsApp message to the registered requesters and enquire about their requirements. This ensured the senior citizens and other needy people had someone to lean on during the vulnerable pandemic period.
HKG Global Stats
HKG started with about 10 volunteers fulfilling requests shared on Facebook. Within a month of its inception, the helpline received a whopping 12K calls. WhatsApp messages totaled 35K. About 170 weekly deliveries were fulfilled closing almost 6K requests. HKG was also catering to international requests by coordinating needs for sending essential medicines abroad from India. There is no boundary for social media users.
HKG volunteers spanned several countries including USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Muscat, Dubai, Ghana, Singapore, and Nepal. By May 2020, HKG Facebook page had amassed 30K users across the globe.
Cut to 2021, HKG Facebook page has a staggering 60K members. With our nation gripped by the second wave of Covid-19, the helpline is receiving on an average 12K requests on daily basis. HKG’s online volunteers verify on daily basis contacts for critical requirements such as Oxygen, Medicines, Ambulance, Home testing, and Plasma. The verified contacts are published every day in the HKG Facebook page and shared on Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and WhatsApp groups.
Verified lists published on Facebook has reached over 7.8M people. Overall, for a period of nearly one-year HKG has coordinated over half million help requests across social media platforms such as Facebook and the helpline.
HKG’s success story was captured by various global and local media such as BBC, Forbes, Vogue, TOI, and NDTV. Facebook as part of its Fuel India 2020 event, highlighted the impact of HKG in India during the pandemic. HKG founder Mahita Nagraj was interviewed by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg about HKG’s journey and its nation-wide influence.
Conclusion
Social media has proven to be a blessing for many during the lockdown. It has created livelihood for numerous small-scale businesses and home entrepreneurs. Facebook provides support and tools to setup a public group. One need not be tech-savvy to get started. You must be clear on the objective of the project and be completely dedicated and passionate about it. Mahita spends close to 16hrs daily coordinating HKG activities. She single-handedly manages the helpline messages. Mahita is very clear on HKG ethics and maintains it diligently across all the HKG social media groups. It is very important to build a trustworthy brand and maintain transparency at all levels. Mahatma Gandhi has rightly said, “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
