Introduction

Previously (several times actually) I had postulated that social media can be a dangerous lure for the unprepared. Like a great sponge, it has the power to absorb, deflect, and ultimately destroy movements before they even get started.

With that said, it’s fair to say most grass roots movements cannot survive without social media behind them. So how then do movements maintain this precarious balance? Let’s look at some possible counteraction against social media pitfalls.

Issues

Pseudo Participation

This has been cited many times throughout DC Current, but for posterity, I refer to the ease would be volunteers or other audience members fool themselves into a sense of participation. Click a like, type a quick comment, maybe even argue with a critic in some round robin debate for a while, and that person walks away with a sense of accomplishment. The problem of course is they haven’t actually done anything tangible to assist your cause.

A possible technique to counter this problem is replacing general calls for participation and emotional appeals with specific needs. As an example, a homeless shelter could post an interactive calendar that indicates times of need and allows users to click these “blank” areas to schedule themselves. The single click convenience is still present, but is being harnessed into a real world action. Similar techniques could be employed for political movements – keeping a steady stream of polite but purposeful calls to a political figure’s channels over months might prove more effective then shouting them down for a few days until your volunteer momentum is lost.

Emotional Drive

Emotions are a powerful motivator, but are often fleeting. Appealing to emotions with your movement might get things off to a great start, but sooner or later someone else will have a catchy new slogan or cause that drains away attention and resources from yours.

This is where balance and using your voice to incite real movement comes into play. Obviously a bit of emotional appeal is needed, but once you have an audience, it’s time to focus on what that audience can accomplish besides growing until it bursts and evaporates.

Research your movement carefully before you “go live”. Find out exact what voluntary steps you can take. Do you want to build houses? Evoke political change? Send care packages overseas? Whatever the cause, someone has likely done something similar and there are channels or actions to assist you. This incidentally, is where social media can help – remember, it’s not just a soapbox, but a powerful education tool as well.

After having mastered your techniques to a satisfactory level, this is when you switch to the soapbox mode. The social media is now now just a way to get attention, but a tool to instruct your audience on what exactly they need to do for real change. You may also be surprised at how quickly the effect snowballs, as audience members will bring their own skills perfectly suited for allotted tasks, which can then be spread back out through the social media in a beautiful cycle.

…To be continued…