Once you have conducted your research what can you do with your findings to make maximum impact?

This video was made by a group of Palestinian citizen journalists from the Shatila camp in Lebanon. We recommend watching the video with English subtitles as the language is Arabic.

These journalists use a number of techniques to create their own news channel from the camp. And because they are so focused on their community their techniques are very similar to community based research. 

They are:

• observations

• interviews

• checking their sources

Then they use social media to engage the community in their stories, and help them make the story. Often they just use their phones to film - for example, in the video we see Omar going live on Facebook using his phone.

Can we borrow some of their techniques to communicate research findings? Researchers are increasingly using video and social media channels like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to communicate with a larger audience.

For example, watch this trailer We made everything from water for a video based on a research project about the disastrous environmental consequences of public and private sector policies on water in Lebanon. You can read more about the making of the documentary here.

Social media campaigns

Many social causes are increasingly turning to social media and online communication to make an impact. For example, anti-climate change activitists, 350.org use online methods to run campaigns to target national leaders including videos and online resources. This can have a big impact: the Pew Research Center in the USA reported that the majority of Americans think social media is important for getting elected officials to pay attention to social issues.

There are plenty of guides to getting started with social media like this one. But perhaps we need to adopt a more critical perspective - as this article on Going Viral proposes.

Over to you

What is the best way to target important stakeholders with our findings from community based research? Does social media have potential - would you use it? Do you have tips and strategies to share? Can you imagine making videos like Campji to share your research and make an impact? What issues should we consider?

Post your thoughts in the forum and like and reply to other people’s comments if they offer valuable suggestions or perspectives on the topic. Note any useful links or advice in your Research Notebook.