Social activism via digital media tools

Citizen Participation Team resource, brought to us by DigiActive, is a collection of guides on how to use digital media tools more effectively for social activism.

One of the major successes of President Obama’s campaign was its ability to utilize new technologies in disseminating its message to a wide range of people.

Here you can download three DigiActive's guides:

  Introduction to Facebook Activism

 Guide to Twitter Activism

 Blog for a Cause

which all serve as introductions to the different types of social media available. They provide case studies, lessons learned, and step-by-step instructions on how to use digital tools to promote one’s organization or issue-based campaign.

Each guide begins with an introduction to the platform it highlights and the related terminology, which would be particularly useful to those new to social media. The guides also present possible strategies for using these platforms, a list of do’s and don’ts, and discussions on the effect of technological capacity and political space on the use of different platforms. For example, the recent events in Iran demonstrate how Twitter can be a powerful tool in countries with limited or restricted internet access.

* An Introduction to Facebook Activism is also available in Arabic. The translation can be found HERE.

* Blog for a Cause is also available in Spanish, French, Arabic, and Chinese. Translations can be found HERE.

NDI is currently using social media sites (both Facebook and Twitter) in its Latin American program. In addition to several individual country program Facebook pages, social networking is being utilized for publicizing party reform resources and other new content of the Leadership Program and Political Party Network (www.ndipartidos.org).

Network activity has increased significantly since beginning to utilize these social networking tools. (Twitter: http://twitter.com/ndipartidos; Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ndipartidos, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=78235854060, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5581486145&ref=ts)