Workshop 7 - Twitter: #7istooyoung

The Advocacy Initiative

Social Justice Media: Lessons Learnt from e-advocacy

#socialjusticemedia

Overview

The Seven is too young campaign

The Campaign online & offline

Lessons learned

Questions & Answers

The Seven is too young campaign - To oppose Section 4 of the 2012 SW & Pensions Bill

Our objectives

Kill Section 4

Call to action!

Highlight the issues

Our ‘Plan’:

Lobby in person

Posters/Bus shelters

Web/E-mail

Facebook & Twitter

The Campaign online - #7istooyoung

Jan-April –

We (@OPEN_Ireland & @FraffieB) tweeted about meetings with politicians

Shared our campaign document widely

Used the # for EVERYTHING relevant, regardless of who originated it

The Campaign online - #7istooyoung

• April 9th – 30th

Dedicated campaign ‘skin’ on our website

Easy to read/understand information

Contact details of politicians by county

Supporters’ gallery

The Campaign online - #7istooyoung

Lone parents & others took pictures of our bus shelter campaigns & we/they published them online

We answered every #7istooyoung query on Twitter

The Campaign offline - #7istooyoung

Support from other organisations & individuals

Meetings

‘Op-ed’ pieces

Press conference

So, did it work…?

Lone parents who had never gotten involved in anything before sent letters/e-mails and visited/phoned politicians

Feedback about the bus shelters was 100% positive “For the first time I feel like we matter”, said one lone parent, when she saw them. Lots of RTs when I tweeted this & that it made me cry.

The Dáil Research & Library service provided an overview of the Bill

for members, with many references to our campaign & quoted extensively from OPEN’s document.

Every Minister, TD & Senator who spoke for or against the Bill said “Seven is too young”

#7istooyoung ‘trended’ repeatedly during last week of April & was used by The Journal.ie as its hashtag for all Oireachtas debates about the Bill.

Well, sort of…

“I am undertaking tonight that I will only proceed with the measures to reduce the upper age limit to seven years in the event that I get a credible and bankable commitment on the delivery of such a system of child care by the time of this year’s budget. If this is not forthcoming, the measure will not proceed”

Minister Joan Burton, T.D., at the start of the Dáil debate, April 18, 2012

Lessons learned re #7istooyoung

Low cost & effective

Deliberate strategy to exploit an opportunity to raise awareness about our families/ poverty

Twitter is NOT enough!

My (ahem) totally scientific Twitter survey* - Question

While you're all busy shouting at #marian panel, would you PLEASE name 1 campaign/organisation which uses Twitter effectively? Ta :)

* Taken during the Marian Finucane Show on July 8, 2012

Twitter survey - Answers

@Barnardos_IRL

@Concern

@RuhamaAgency

@CorkFeminista

@IPRT

@TFMRIRE

@YesForChildren

2 specific campaigns by Greenpeace & Charity Water

#7istooyoung – no, really!

Twitter survey – Why those causes/organisations?

“strong emotive messages and offers calls to action to followers (amazing how many orgs do first but not second)”;

“..not just press releases…links to relevant media articles, comment on/highlight public policy developments/legislation, invite you to seminars, etc”

“they are v quick to post reaction to issues (budget, issues in the media etc) also v good at

responding to tweets”

Some Thoughts

It’s a CONVERSATION

One way traffic is pointless & will lose you followers in the real world.

Use it wisely/appropriately/strategically

It just doesn’t work for some things

Ineffective if you suddenly take it up & then abandon again, e.g.: some politicians

Some tips/resources

Get on Twitter & lurk before you decide

Read this from @kayross:

http://www.kayross.com/blog/2012/07/05/tw

eet-tweet-this-is-how-i-do-it/

Attend training OR a Not-For-Profit #tweetup –

follow @askdirect & @SPARKMarketingC for this

Thank you!

Don’t forget to tweet #sjmedia

And do follow

@OPEN_Ireland