Social Media Activism
This summer I was part of a campaign that affected some real change \during the KRXQ transgender kid controversey. After an ugly and defamatory broadcast which suggested that child abuse was a good response to gender-non-conformity, and a wide-spread community reaction, a group of sponsors pulled support from the station, triggering both an apology and a follow up broadcast which became a teachable moment for the community.
What I Did
I wrote a letter and set up a blog and collected the letters of some other concerned parents. I also did a few webby things (set up a google alert to track the content, did a little SEO, etc.) We had hundreds and then thousands of hits in a matter of hours, and as people began to share information with me, I was able to quickly package and post the content to the web.
I generated a “nice” and a “not-yet-nice” list for sponsors, coordinated letter writing and phone calls, and together with Michael Rowe of Huffington Post, Kim Pearson of TYFA, Sarah Hoffman, and GLSEN, we made KRXQ do the right thing, with a public apology and follow up broadcast which became a teaching moment for the KRXQ listening audience.
What I Learned—and Can Do for You
The experience taught me something about the roles and responsibilities of the on-line activist. Concerned citizens were willing to write letters and make phone calls, but they flat out refused to find out who to call or write by themselves—that was my job. Sponsors wrongly caught up in the net needed someone to push back against—again, that was me. Content needed to be checked and double checked and updated quickly, so the site could become a primary information source for those following the controversy.
The experience was both exhilarating and effective. I have had many insights over the last few months on how to make any subsequent campaign even more effective, and I’m itching to get out and do this again.
Web / Social Media Services I provide:
- Rapid web-site construction (third-party hosted or self-hosted.)
- Pilot content creation
- Social Media Integration
- Press release writing
- Viral video production
- On-line Community Liason-ing
