While the FDA may have held the recent social media hearings to gain insight from agencies and industry, they actually created the spark that ignited a social media movement.

In the recent publication “#FDASM: The Making of a Movement”, Fabio Gratton of Ignite Health details how the site www.fdasm.com evolved from a conversation about safe and effective online communication by pharmaceutical and medical device companies about their products and services, into a full-blown, industry wide social media movement.

So, what’s the secret sauce in mobilizing human beings to become part of a movement like FDASM, Susan G. Komen’s Race for the Cure, or Alex’s Lemonade Stand?

1. Gross Problem In Need of A Fix – in all three cases above there lies a systemic problem in need of a fix. 
2. Passionate Core of Advocates – in order to create a movement, or ‘cause marketing’ ground swell, there needs to be a nucleolus of evangelists that will relentlessly pound the drum (and carry the credentials that get people to listen) and work their networks to recruit others for the good of the ‘cause’.
3. Solution That Addresses the Unmet Need – whether the solution is more research, targeted immunotherapy, decoding the human genome, or spoon-feeding the FDA with recommended social media guidelines, a movement cannot succeed without a solution (or potential solution)around which the global community can rally.

For all you brand managers, pharma marketers, and agencies out there trying to get one step ahead of the FDA, I encourage you to review #FDASM: The Making of a Movement, and get involved with www.fdasm.com.

As for Roska Digital, we’re thrilled to be a part of the movement, spread the gospel and see our Twitter feeds, FDA blog summaries and other contributions highlighted in the publication.

In a past post I spent a fair amount of time talking about Google’s Sidewiki, it’s potential impact on pharma websites, and what marketers can do about it.

Consider this post “Part 2” on the topic of website annotation (tools that allow anyone to post unauthorized content right next to your website – in many cases without you even knowing it).

Web annotation tools are used for the following reasons:

• Rate a web resource (such as its usefulness, user-friendliness, suitability for viewing by minors, etc.)
• Collaboration (i.e. discuss the contents of the website)
• Social criticism (public protest or posting of critical viewpoint)

The most popular of these tools is Google’s Sidewiki. It’s exclusive to users who have downloaded the sidebar. Therefore only users that have downloaded the tool can see the comments.

And, pharmaceutical companies have begun to take notice. Companies such as AstraZeneca and Roche have even created master entries (see my past blog post to learn more about master entries) for their corporate web sites.

(note: you’ll need to install the Sidewiki toolbar to see the examples below in your browser)

As the industry waits for the FDA to release its social media guidelines, you don’t have to sit on the sidelines.  If your site get’s hijacked by Sidewiki, consider posting a master entry that includes the following information:

• Posts on Sidewiki are not the views and opinions of the company
• Sidewiki is not authorized and not actively monitored, therefore viewers should not expect a response from the company
• Contact information for viewers in case they wish to reach the company and discuss a medication or treatment, through:
  • Email
  • Phone Number

On a final note, it is important to remember that Google’s Sidewiki isn’t the only game in town.  A few more common annotation tools cropping up include:

www.diigo.com

www.reframeit.com

www.kutano.com

www.layerpad.com

www.stickis.com