Twitter Case Study: War Child Part Two

In this blog post, I posted the first part of an interview with Dr. Samantha Nutt from War Child. The second part follows:

3. For those who perhaps did not follow your tweets, explain a bit more what your experience was like in Darfur and why you were there.
It is always a compelling experience to touch down in a war zone. The extent of the trauma and the suffering is staggering, but I am always astounded by people's resilience and determination. You expect to meet people who have given up. Instead, you meet people who remind you every single day why we get up and do what we do at War Child.

4. Some of the Tweets seemed to indicate that you were very close to danger. How much of that was a concern for you?
Security is always a major concern in many of the countries in which we operate. You must be aware of the dangers and the risks. Sometimes that can be quite intimidating and almost paralyzing - you are always looking over your shoulder, always wondering what will be around the next corner - but it is better to have an acute awareness of the insecurity and take precautions than to be caught unaware. I was more concerned about my security on this particular assessment mission than I have been for a very long time. It reminded me of the experience of working in Somalia in the mid 90s. But security is a huge problem for Sudanese nationals as well. Anyone who is perceived to have either an income or access to valuables (e.g. a vehicle, a sat phone) is at risk.

5. What does War Child hope to gain from Twittering about events/trips like these?
It's not so much what we can gain but what value this type of first hand reporting brings to our network of supporters. The feedback I received suggests that people found it engaging and an eye opener and the increase in people following the journey means it must have been having some kind of positive effect! I think the fact that I could talk to a woman who has seen her family killed in front of her and 30 seconds later post her story, gave the people following it a much more visceral and immediate experience than they would have had reading a news report, for example. There is also something to be said for posting what you are experiencing it as you experience it. It's raw; unfiltered. Sometimes when you have a chance to think about it for a while you end up over-rationalizing or over-interpreting the experience and it loses some of its authenticity.
The success of this, in retrospect, was in its honesty and simplicity - there was neither the time, nor the space (at under 140 characters) to be lofty about any of it.


You may think your cause not as compelling as Darfur, but if you share your client stories in a interesting and engaging way, people will respond. Twitter is one way to do that. Remember that people give to people, not organizations or websites.

Do you share client stories on Twitter? Share your twitter username below and tell us why it works for you.

*UPDATE: You can follow Dr. Nutt at NuttsAtWarChild

Related Articles
Twitter Case Study: War Child Part One
Client Stories on the Web