Social media activism is all the rage in recent years, but someone needs to ask if these social media campaigns really help. There are reasons to suspect they may not be working well, or at all. Part of the problem has to do with who they reach, part with how results are measured (if they are measured) and part with the type of information that gets shared.
Confirmation Bias:
Unfortunately, social media activism can serve more to reinforce peoples' prejudices than to educate or motivate. Feminist memes, for example, might be intended to share information about women's issues but that is not always what happens. Probably it happens more by mistake than through a deliberate marketing effort.
The "echo chamber" effect is at work. People who want to be informed about issues that concern women are going to see the meme, blog post, or news story. People who don't, will not. This isn't all bad, because you publish these things to inform people who follow your issue and want to know more.
What about people who need to get the message? Do these social media campaigns reach them and do you care? If the point is to "raise awareness" about Issue X, then you should definitely care. You should also ask if the campaign is working.
Measuring Results:
Firstly, this might not be relevant if you are just sharing information with members of your organization, people who follow you on Twitter and so forth. The rest of you need to think about your goals.
What if your real goal is to make people change their behavior?
What if you want to change values?
How do you know if you really did that?
Pro Tip: Create a measurement plan ahead of time.
The Accidental Entrepreneur:
An availability entrepreneur is one who gains prestige or earns income by making sure that information to support a certain point of view, doctrine or ideology is always available to an audience. Some examples:
1. A Facebook page whose member shares stories about domestic violence
2. A site devoted to news about gun violence
3. A writer and speaker who writes about cases of police brutality
Now, these availability entrepreneurs may be performing a useful service. Whether that is true or not depends on whether you agree with their work. If you think that the world is a dangerous place for women or for Christians or whatever group, then someone who shares information on repression of that group will be interesting to you.
If you are deliberately or unintentionally an availability entrepreneur, are you sure the facts are on your side? In other words, would a disinterested outsider think you are sharing useful information or propaganda? If the latter, rethink those posts!
The Value of Asking Tough Questions:
This post should have given you some questions to answer about your own current or planned social media efforts. Remember that asking tough questions now can save time and money down the line, and perhaps magnify your organization's impact.
Confirmation Bias:
Unfortunately, social media activism can serve more to reinforce peoples' prejudices than to educate or motivate. Feminist memes, for example, might be intended to share information about women's issues but that is not always what happens. Probably it happens more by mistake than through a deliberate marketing effort.
The "echo chamber" effect is at work. People who want to be informed about issues that concern women are going to see the meme, blog post, or news story. People who don't, will not. This isn't all bad, because you publish these things to inform people who follow your issue and want to know more.
What about people who need to get the message? Do these social media campaigns reach them and do you care? If the point is to "raise awareness" about Issue X, then you should definitely care. You should also ask if the campaign is working.
Measuring Results:
Firstly, this might not be relevant if you are just sharing information with members of your organization, people who follow you on Twitter and so forth. The rest of you need to think about your goals.
What if your real goal is to make people change their behavior?
What if you want to change values?
How do you know if you really did that?
Pro Tip: Create a measurement plan ahead of time.
The Accidental Entrepreneur:
An availability entrepreneur is one who gains prestige or earns income by making sure that information to support a certain point of view, doctrine or ideology is always available to an audience. Some examples:
1. A Facebook page whose member shares stories about domestic violence
2. A site devoted to news about gun violence
3. A writer and speaker who writes about cases of police brutality
Now, these availability entrepreneurs may be performing a useful service. Whether that is true or not depends on whether you agree with their work. If you think that the world is a dangerous place for women or for Christians or whatever group, then someone who shares information on repression of that group will be interesting to you.
If you are deliberately or unintentionally an availability entrepreneur, are you sure the facts are on your side? In other words, would a disinterested outsider think you are sharing useful information or propaganda? If the latter, rethink those posts!
The Value of Asking Tough Questions:
This post should have given you some questions to answer about your own current or planned social media efforts. Remember that asking tough questions now can save time and money down the line, and perhaps magnify your organization's impact.
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