Using Social Media

• Instantaneous communication:
  communicate to wide range of citizens and politicians.
• Innovation: engage people with creative educational tools.
• Networking: encourage participation in advocacy activities and coordinate efforts.
• Inexpensive: No set-up or membership fees

• Less personal: social media can never replace a valuable face-to-face conversation.
• Slacktivism (slacker + activism): Becoming too dependent on clicking “like” and “share” and not engaging in other advocacy activities.
• Overload of information:
• The instantaneous messaging may be too much for politicians and citizens to respond to.

SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL

WHAT IS IT?

POTENTIAL OUTCOMES?

Facebook

• Set up a Facebook page for your organization or campaign.
• Invite your networks to ‘like’ your page. Then they will see your posts on their own “newsfeed.”
• You can share news, stories, blog posts, videos, and pictures from events on the page.

Tip: Keep posts short and conversational,
and post about every other day.

• Helps create better
  public awareness.
• Helps improve networking and capacity.
• Facebook groups, events, and pages can help others find information about your cause and join advocacy activities.
• Increases group capacity

Twitter

• Users (both individuals and organizations) can create posts of 140 characters or less.
• You can also post links, images, and videos.
• Follow politicians, organizations, and media sources on Twitter to stay in
  the loop.
• “Retweet” others’ Twitter posts that will help educate people about your issue.
• Use relevant hashtags (Ex. #cdnpoli, #poverty, etc.) to engage in a conversation.
• Tweet directly to elected representatives with actions you want them to take.

• Helps keep you informed and you can help
  educate others.
• Helps improve networking   and capacity for
  political advocacy.
• Adds to public dialogue and puts pressure on elected representatives.

YouTube

• Add videos to inspire change.
• Videos can be helpful campaigns tools.
• Organizations can use video to help others understand their work.

• Helps educate and
  engage citizens.

Blog

• A website where you post your own content. Posts can be as long as you want, though shorter (less than 500 words) is better for online engagement.
• Easy, efficient, and authentic way to circulate the message.
• You can also do longer posts and explain your ideas and concerns.
• You can include your personal perspective on an issue.
• Organize your blog posts into separate groups of posts about different issues.

• If your blog is widely
  circulated, you could gain the attention of people in
  positions of influence.
• Your blog can help educate and
  inspire others.

Tips

• Keep blogs concise and
  focused on one or two
  specific issues.
• Share stories and use an
  engaging writing style
• If you are writing about a
  particular group, try to include the voices of these individuals in your blog.

Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn,
and Google+.