The Big Keep Getting Bigger
After reading this article about Google being sued for their search engine autocomplete results it got me thinking about who has the advantage in YWAM because of Google autocomplete. Although the results didn’t surprise me, I am disappointed as it’s another example of how the big keep getting bigger, to the disadvantage of the small Youth With a Mission Centres.
If I type “YWAM ” into Google here in Canada the autocomplete results that come up are:
- YWAM Kona
- YWAM Canada
- YWAM DTS
- YWAM Perth
- YWAM New Zealand
Google autocomplete clearly gives an advantage to two of YWAM’s largest missions Centres, YWAM Kona and YWAM Perth. Although there is nothing that can be done to counter this, it’s another frustrating development for the smaller YWAM Centres around the world who are forced to compete with larger, better known locations.
What can we do to help alleviate the disparity between the larger Youth With A Mission locations and the smaller locations around the world?
Update
Well, if the autocomplete wasn’t enough, now there is Instant Pages.
Update 2 – Thanks to Daniel K
This video given at TED Talk by Eli Pariser called Beware online “filter bubbles” brilliantly displays that I am talking about in the above article. It takes it a step above what I’m talking about though as it talks more about how the filtering works and how it can change the lens that we view the world through.
Interesting, I never thought about how it affects the smaller ones, you’re right. You got me intrigued, so I tried it out.
My Google auto complete shows the following:
YWAM Winnipeg
YWAM Australia
YWAM Maui
YWAM New Zealand
YWAM Denver
YWAM Steinbach (which I didn’t even know existed!!)
Hey Bill,
i was thinking about your comment. First: The prevalent worldview is that bigger is better, so even if you would shut down the communication department of these bases, the people would still be flocking the gates.
I really like what you do with the daily ywam news, because that gives the smaller bases chances to be heard. And the ywam catalogue is also a beautiful example of larger bases serving the smaller. But maybe is the catalogue too centralized for a grassroots movement like ywam.
How much more grassroots can we be, outside the internet? If we would set up crawls on search engines, rss feeds, facebook, twitter to gather every bit on ywam out there. And then use something like Rattle or R (statistical software) for text analysis, we could fill the ywam catalogue from the grassroots up. Any info from a base that submits a tweet can be used and published. Ofcourse when the information is available, there is a need for verification and it would also become searchable.
Almost like a flesh-body: some larger functions are centralised, serving the smaller finger at the end, sharing food and blood as needed 🙂
Greets,
Johan J
Former YWAM-er
I would be curious about what other people’s results are from around the world actually. Were you logged into Google when you did your search Brenda?
One of the main things that we want to do as YWAM Communication teams is to tell the story of what God is doing around the mission. We have a special focus on the YWAM locations that do not have the ability to communicate as easily as the larger locations.
It’s challenging, but with teams like YWAM Africomms in Africa going out into the field to find the stories we’re trying to get the message out there of what else is happening in Youth With A Mission and what other opportunities there are for people to join us.
This is the result when I type in YWAM (in Sweden, and logged in to Google):
hawaii
restenäs
perth
kona
One idea I had, what if the bigger bases would adopt a small base and do some marketing for them… Maybe write about them on their webpage etc… That could be interesting…
Blessings from Sweden,
Jonas
Hey Bill, no I wasn’t logged in, but I used http://www.google.ca
I got different results in my Google search bar (similar to your results) than when I went specifically to the Google page.
I get UK / Harpenden / DTS / London. I’m in the UK. Doesn’t Google personalise the search based on your location and/or search history?
If you are signed into Google you will find it very personalised, and yes, it also customises the search results based on your location.
If you want to be a little freaked out then check out the Google Ad Preferences to see a bit more about what they know about you…
“Although there is nothing that can be done to counter this, it’s another frustrating development for the smaller YWAM Centres around the world who are forced to compete with larger, better known locations.”
It really isn’t a ‘competition’ as you put it. I’ve been to around 1o bases and have met people from over 40 bases and have felt that the smaller bases serve a very crucial part of YWAM, serving to meet the needs of people God desires to be in a very small community for a season. The teams of 4 can have just as much impact on the students and outreach locations as the teams of 40.
Watch this in regards to personalization of Google and FB searches:
http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html
That’s why everyone gets different search results….
Hi Nyk, thanks for the comment.
The competition that I was referring too was a competition for attention and search results. I too have been to many YWAM Centres around the world and some of the most dynamic and exciting ones that I have been to are the smaller ones. The problem though is that it’s hard sometimes to hear about and find those smaller, dynamic YWAM Centres…
That is a brilliant video Daniel, thank you. I’ve added the video to the original post as it’s exactly what I was talking about.
The autocomplete results I got, while I’m here in Salem (and logged in), are:
YWAM
YWAM Salem
YWAM Kona
YWAM Montana
YWAM DTS
So yes, these are the bigger YWAM centers on this side of the country. The Kona website is huge compared to the YWAM Salem site. Salem has started blogging their outreaches, too which might make Google pay more attention to their site. I haven’t seen YWAM Montana’s site.
My home, YWAM Madison, was a “starred result” and appeared as the top search result and then again as the 4th. I don’t know if YWAM Madison appears in the top four for anyone else. We are definitely not a big base (20-30 full-time staff) nor do we have a big communications team (1 full-time, 2 part-time and no graphic designers, though I realize many don’t have a communications team at all). We have worked really hard on our website and online presence….and are seeing larger DTSes than ever.
Actually, the applications started coming in almost immediately after the new ywam.org launched.
So what can we do to alleviate the communications difference between large/small bases? That’s a great question.
It’s an awesome idea to ask larger bases help out the smaller ones…but where would they find the time? We have a huge list of projects for our base and a few others in our region but given the many hats our communications department wears, I don’t know when the projects will be finished.
What if our graphic design or marketing students did some communication projects for the smaller bases as their homework?
Holding more small, local training seminars could also help, though they also have to be well-attended in order to make a difference.
Having more generic YWAM templates would be helpful. So then people could drop in their own pics or things to personalize the pieces (like brochures, postcards, simple web templates to use with something like WordPress, updated business card or letterhead options, t-shirt ideas, etc).
Mission Adventures created some cool packages for bases to use — t-shirts, backpacks, books, etc. It’d be neat to see YWAM do some of the same kind of thing. What if there was a contest to submit t-shirt designs or coffee-mugs and the like?
I love the idea of this new Mission Communicator school running in Colorado. I wished it had been around when I started in YWAM! And I have been very appreciative of the ICN who have been willing to talk to me and answer my questions.
Anyway, now you’ve got me thinking but I should get back to grading some papers. 🙂
Interesting that I have different results from Jonas, yet in same location, but using English language pref rather than Swedish. Google gives… while logged in to G+
YWAM
Kona
Montana
DTS
publishing
Denver
Tyler
Orlando
Then the results on search for ‘ywam’ are also interesting. Canada comes at #2 Bill. (ywam.org, ywamcanada.org, wikipedia, uofnkona, ywampublishing, ywam england, ywam thailand, tyler, Denver and finally Perth on the front page)
/Mike