Charity organisations and nonprofits are often being encouraged to jump on board the social media revolution, with sites such as Facebook and Twitter seen as cost-effective ways to connect with supporters and donors.
Yet a recent study suggests that the popularity of these platforms could actually be making people lazy or apathetic when it comes to donating money to a good cause.
Researchers from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom found that the more friends people have on Facebook, the less likely they are to share information about charities or donate.
Professor Kimberley Scharf, an economist from the university's Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE), said that this could be due to a trend called 'free riding'.
According to Ms Scharf, free riding is when people rely on their friend groups to pass on information, rather than taking the initiative and doing it themselves.
"Information transmission about giving opportunities is undermined by free riding incentives - I count on other neighbours to convey information and so save on the effort of doing it myself," she said in a statement.
"As well as relying on others to pass on information, it may also be true that people are even relying on others to donate," she added.
This research points to a challenge that many Australian charities face - building a strong online presence.
While it is easy to set up a Facebook account, it is not so easy to attract followers and interest.
With so many other organisations on social media and vying for attention, it takes a little thinking outside the square to get noticed and stand out from the crowd.
It is important to have a good social media strategy in place so that you can attract attention and garner support.
Professor Scharf says that it is a good idea to aim for quality over quantity. It's more beneficial to have a small group of engaged, interested followers than it is to have a large group of apathetic followers.
Some questions to ask yourself could be - what are your followers doing with your content? Are they sharing it among their friends and liking and commenting on posts? Or is the news you post on social media left relatively untouched?
"This is what matters, the closeness of social interactions: large loosely connected groups share information less effectively than smaller, better integrated groups," Professor Scharf explained.
