3 Online Social Media Sites Offering Recession Help
From "Woe" to "Whoa"
First Independent Bank of Nevada
This website is all about stimulating the Northern Nevada economy, specifically the Reno area. From the website:
"Let’s kick-start our local economy. Let’s come up with ideas so good the rest of the world steals them. Let’s do more than just buy local, let’s make Northern Nevada the place where the recovery started. Let’s come up with new, cool, awesome, and mind-boggling ideas to get the engine of our area running better than ever. Let’s be smart. Let’s be inventive… We’re all in this together. We’ll get out of it together."
"People are talking about the bank more than in the past."
— Jim DeVolid, President
First Independent Bank of Nevada
There’s a library with over 60 suggestions as to how "Northern Nevada can create its own stimulus package," submitted by various users (presumably average residents from the Reno area). Some of the ideas proposed are actually pretty good. If people like an idea, they can vote for it. Fourteen people liked this idea.
There’s a slick video at the site’s homepage. It’s well-produced, has a genuine vibe, and is appropriately inspiring.
There’s also a meager blog, with only two posts. There aren’t any comments either, probably because there is no commenting feature available.
Since its debut in April, the site has had about 40,000 hits.
Helping AZ
Arizona State Credit Union
Arizona State Credit Union created this website to assist people in Arizona communities who have been impacted by the economy and recent layoffs. The goal is to give people a place where they can voice their "thoughts, opinions and helpful tips for others."
Here’s what Paul Stull, SVP Marketing/Arizona State Credit Union, told Bank Technology News:
"We have many people in our state who are in there 20s and 30s and have never been unemployed before now. We provide a place for them to get information from others on where you can get free WiFi in a community or ask questions anonymously about things like food bank."
The credit union paid about $5,000 to a designer to develop a site that includes a forum on coping with the effects of the poor economy.
Arizona State Credit Union has $1.2 billion in assets and around 133,000 members.
Get AZ Moving
Arizona Central Credit Union
In response to the current economic downturn, Arizona Central Credit Union created this social media website. There are three main sections:
- Get Connected — Locally-owned and -operated businesses are invited to tell their story and share a link to their website. The credit union will post links to your website "so we can all support each other in this economic recovery." Free SEO? 52 business have taken the credit union up on the offer.
- Get Talking — An economic blog. Staff from Arizona Central and other guest bloggers share their stories and suggestions on "ways we can support one another and navigate our way out of this economic downturn." A commenting feature is enabled, and one post has 11 comments. There’s an RSS feed, but no way to find it anywhere on the website.
- Get Answers — If you have a financial question, one of the credit union’s experts will answer it. Questions and responses are shared "so everyone can benefit from the added knowledge." There are seven total Q&As.
The project has its own slogan: "Let’s get moving together."
