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My Social Media Campaign and Experience in SW150!

    I have used all of the tools I learned in my Social Media in Social Change class to create a social media campaign centered around mental health awareness and services provided at the University at Buffalo.  I used Instagram as the platform and posted pictures regarding information about the services offered on campus, information about mental health statistics and stigmas, and how the mental health services and awareness can be improved at UB!  My account is @mental.health.ub on Instagram and has the picture I made above as the profile picture, go check it out and use your voice to make a positive change!

     When I was thinking about my goals for this Instagram page, I used the SMART goal layout to determine what could come out of the movement.  SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time, which all pertain to making goals.  My main target was the students at the University at Buffalo and I wanted to mainly inform them of mental health awareness and all of the mental health services UB has to offer.  I wanted everyone to see how serious mental health is, to make people feel less alone, and to inform people of the free services at the University at Buffalo.  Although my overall biggest goal was to make more students feel more comfortable talking about and spreading awareness for mental health.  I also want more students to become more knowledgable about all of the mental health services UB has to offer.  Hopefully, through educating the students on these matters, mental health awareness will become more of a priority for them.  I hope it can make them see mental health in a different, more positive light.  I set my goals fairly low, I wanted to get at least ten followers and at least five likes per post.  I ended up with eighteen followers and an average of six likes per post, therefore I exceeded my goals!  But there is always room for growing my account and gaining more interactions.  I gave myself a week to completely finish the assignment, which was plenty of time for me!  

     In my posts, I mainly discussed mental health awareness and the mental health services that are provided at the University at Buffalo.  I provided information about the free counseling that is available on both North and South campus in case students wanted somebody to talk to.  I also posted about the various types of counseling they do, which are one-on-one, couples, international, and group therapy.  I made sure to provide access to the Student Wellness Events Calendar so students can keep up to date with certain stress-relief events that are going on around campus.  For example, therapy dogs!  Our school has a dog named Lily who comes in every Monday to hang out with the students.  I posted a picture of her and the information regarding it so students could go check it out if they wanted to.  I also interviewed two UB students to get their input about the mental health services here at UB.  They told me that the mental health services here should be more widely talked about and promoted throughout and around campus, that way everyone knows where to go if they need help.  I also think UB needs to work on their promotion of these services and make it very easy to access, therefore there is no trouble for someone who may already be unsure or scared to go to counseling.  I also think Buffalo should talk about mental health in a positive way and make it more normalized throughout campus.  This would help students feel less alone and make them more likely to go out and seek help.  The content I posted helped me articulate my goal to my audience.  I also used the technique of trying to make my posts more aesthetically pleasing in order to attract more people, which is something we learned in Social Media in Social Change.  It was also fun to do!  There are also some other methods I used to better my movement.

     Over the course of the week I used multiple tools I learned in class to better promote my Instagram account and make my movement more effective.  As previously mentioned, I used the SMART goal layout to determine what my main objectives were, which helped me formulate my Instagram account.  I then used a lot of hashtags such as “#mentalhealth, #mentalhealthawareness, #mentalhealthub” to try and promote my posts as much as possible.  Using these hashtags helped me gather an audience of people who are also passionate about mental health, which helped me get out the word more effectively.  I also followed UB’s main Instagram page to try and reach more students at UB.  Doing this resulted in the University at Buffalo’s social work department to follow my account!  This opened a lot of possible doors for me to further promote my movement and reach more students at the university.  When it comes to social media movements, I have learned through this class that it is extremely important to promote your social media as much as possible.  I did this by using hashtags and following people who are passionate about mental health as well.

     Overall, the learning experience I have gained by being in this class has really helped me grasp a true understanding of what advocacy and social work is really all about.  It’s not just retweeting a tweet about a current issue or posting a picture and using a hashtag to show support for a movement.  It is way more than that.  It’s about having passion, dedication, and loving what you’re doing.  The key is you must love what you’re doing, or else it’s a waste of time.  Loving what you’re advocating for will help you reach your goals and as many people as you possibly can.  Advocacy is also about connecting with other people who are passionate about the same things as you.  This way you can maximize your influence and work together to get the word out and build connections with people as you go.  Doing this may also lead to getting in touch with people who have a lot of recognition in the certain movement you are advocating for, resulting in even more interactions and recognition, then you can get the word out more!  One of the things this class has taught me is connecting with people is an imperative key when it comes to advocacy and social work.

     I definitely plan to use everything I learned in this class and apply it to my future, no matter what I end up doing.  Especially in today’s world, I think it’s extremely important to be able to use social media and technology in general.  A lot of jobs may check to see if you’re proficient in technology and social media.  Being able to promote yourself and your own brand while also being good at it can take you a long way!  I have always loved advocacy and being involved with politics, especially the campaign aspect of it.  In the future, I plan to hopefully work on a campaign, even if it’s just a local one.  During my senior year of high school I worked on our local congressman’s campaign for state senate and I just really loved promoting him and getting the word out about his campaign.  I felt useful!  I also promoted him a lot on social media by providing his social media accounts and educating people about what he stood for.  I can definitely see myself using what I have learned in this class about social media and advocacy to make a greater change in this world and reach a lot more people.

     I also learned something from this class that really changed my perspective on the world: Not everyone has access to the internet.  We learned that some countries ban the internet or limit access to certain information on the internet.  I have learned to be more grateful and appreciative of the fact that Americans can freely use the internet to express their opinions about the world, or just anything in general.  The internet helps us gather people with the same interests in order to fight for justice or voice our opinion if we don’t like something.  The internet allows us to be heard, and I will forever be grateful and appreciative of that.

     Everything considered, I have learned a lot more about social media through this class and my wonderful professor!  Stephanie has helped me see a very different side to social media, and once you dive into the world of social media and try to understand what it is all about, it becomes a lot more complicated yet compelling.  I am very happy that I decided to take this class, and I’m extremely excited to make the most of myself and try to make the world a much better place through the art of social media!  Thank you so much to Stephanie and all of my fellow classmates, I will miss you guys. :(

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My Family and How They Made Me Who I Am Today

Pictured above from left to right is my sister Meryl, my mom Allison, me, my dad Jim, and my brother Ben.

     My family means everything to me.  Without them, I would most definitely not be the person I am today.  They have shaped me into a person I love being, and I will be forever grateful for that!  Growing up my dad worked as a principal, and still does.  My mom has always worked with people with special needs.  When I was younger, she worked as a teaching assistant in a special education class at my elementary school.  She then started to work with young adults with special needs one-on-one.  In both of my parents’ lines of work, they are working with and helping people in different ways.  Seeing them working with others growing up made me want to be able to help people.  Especially seeing my mom help people with special needs, it really made me open my eyes to all of the different career opportunities out there.  I could always tell my mom felt very rewarded with her job and how close she became with her clients, even I would get pretty close to them!  With one of them, I even see him like a brother to me.  Seeing my parents love their line of work and changing peoples’ lives led to one of my main priorities in life to be helping others.  I think it is important to advocate for those who are usually not advocated for.  It will make the world a much better place if we can all see each other as equals.  I believe working in jobs that help others change the world little by little, and that will eventually lead to bigger change.

     Social media plays a huge role in helping me stay connected to my family.  I have family members in Arizona, Texas, and Vermont, so having social media helps me stay close with them.  My cousin who lives in Arizona and I are very close and I consider her to be my best friend, almost like a sister.  Whenever we’re having a hard time, we can reach out to each other through Facetime, Snapchat, or Instagram.  We can make each other feel better even if we are not physically there together, which makes us even closer.  To keep in contact with older relatives, I use Facebook.  Although I don’t use Facebook a lot because, for me, it’s mainly just people arguing about politics or Cornwall (the town I live in).  Maybe I should start following other people!  My brother and sister, and now me, do not live at home anymore, so we don’t see each other every day like we used to.  We have a group chat on Snapchat called “sibs” where we keep in contact with each other.  We send silly pictures and videos and it helps me not miss them as much.  I mean I still miss them a lot, but having that group chat makes things a lot easier.

     Overall, my family is very meaningful to me and I’m glad social media enables me to talk to my distant family members.  It helps us keep up-to-date with each other, that way when we all get back together again, we have something to talk about!  Obviously social media doesn’t show everything though (unless you share your whole life on there), so I still get very excited and happy to see my family so they can fill me in on all of the details.  I am very grateful to have the family that I have, I would not have it any other way!

Links:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/243902/social_network_users_main_focus_is_staying_in_touch.html

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/10539274/Young-users-see-Facebook-as-dead-and-buried.html

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/7-reasons-everyone-should-work-special-needs-kids

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My Experience With Voting

The day I turned eighteen I registered to vote online.  I was so excited, I remember jumping around with excitement!  It was a really important, memorable moment for me.  Since then I have only voted once, it was for the school budget.  I remember being nervous about going in there and not knowing what to do, I was afraid I would make a fool of myself!  Although everything worked out fine.  I walked in and almost everyone in there was an old person, so I felt a bit intimidated.  When I was done I felt very accomplished and proud of myself for voting.  I thought it was especially important to vote for the school budget because I was still in high school.

     Unfortunately, I did not vote in this week’s elections, I did not get an absentee ballot.  By the time I wanted one, it was too late.  I feel kind of guilty about it, but I’ll be sure to get an absentee ballot for next time.  I think local elections are very important, and I want to make my hometown the best it can be, even if I don’t plan on living there in the future.

     During my senior year of high school, I interned for our local congressman, James Skoufis.  He was running for state senate for our district (he ended up winning) and my friends and I helped him with his campaign.  Our main source of getting the word out about voting was through phone banking and canvassing.  We got a list of phone numbers to call and a script telling us what to say.  We were calling people to try and get an idea of how many people were voting for Skoufis and to inform independent voters that they can actually vote in the primary.  A lot of them weren’t aware and were very grateful for our calls.  With canvassing, we were given a sheet of addresses in a certain area and we knocked on doors to also inform independent voters that they can vote in the primary and to get a sense of how many people were voting for Skoufis.  Some people were amazed and proud of seeing young people being so involved in politics, which made me very happy!  I felt as if I was making a change and changing older people’s views on younger people voting.

     We would also post pictures and videos on our Instagram and Snapchat stories to promote Skoufis and inform independent voters that they can vote.  The hashtag we used was “#SkoufisSquad” which made the campaign a bit more memorable.

     There are a lot of ideas on how we can better promote participation in all elections through the use of social media.  We can do simple tasks by posting promotional videos and pictures on social media, although there are more effective and creative ways to do this:

Start a photo campaign!

     A photo campaign is when you pick a popular area and set up a booth.  Provide paper and have people stop by and write down their primary reason for voting.  Then have them pose with the paper, take a picture, and tell them to post it on their social media with a certain hashtag!  This way people can be inspired by other people to vote.

       2. YouTube

     YouTube is a very convenient way to get people to vote.  Political channels can make videos highlighting what certain candidates stand for, making it easier for citizens to make their decision.  A lot of people are too lazy or too busy to keep up to date with day-to-day politics.  Therefore if a trustworthy political YouTube channel makes these types of videos, they can quickly inform the public while encouraging them to go out and vote!

        3. Celebrity Votes

     A lot of celebrities have been vocal about going out to vote, such as Alicia Keys, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Melissa McCarthy, Jimmy Fallon, etc.  I think it is very important for celebrities to be vocal about participating in the elections because they have such a large influence over society.  Although this strategy is hard to enforce because you can’t force a celebrity to be vocal about politics.  A lot of people look up to certain celebrities and tend to follow in their footsteps, therefore I think celebrity voting is important for encouraging others to go out and vote.

     In conclusion, social media plays a pivotal role in influencing people to exercise their right to vote.  As time goes on, there will be new ways to incorporate social media into the whole voting and election process.  I feel as if this is just the beginning.

Resources: 

https://callhub.io/get-out-the-vote-social-media/

https://civicyouth.org/five-takeaways-on-social-media-and-the-youth-vote-in-2018/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/us/politics/celebrities-voting-midterm-elections.html 

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The Story Of Femme Feitale by Katie Skoog

Pictured above is Jessica Wu.

Source: https://www.femmefeitale.com/about-1

     I went to high school with a wonderful, motivated, and compassionate individual named Jessica Wu.  She has inspired me since the day I met her.  We have been friends throughout all of high school, and still are!  Jessica motivates me for so many reasons, but the most significant reason is her involvement in activism and social movements.  I have seen Jessica do a lot of great things for our school and our community throughout the four years I have known her, therefore I chose to interview her about her various projects.

     Before I jump into the interview, I want to take a minute to promote Jessica’s blog, https://www.femmefeitale.com/.  She is such a talented writer, and blogs about many different topics, including high school and college, anecdotal advice, politics and culture, lifestyle, and fashion!  She pretty much covers everything that I personally find very interesting.  Definitely go check her out and subscribe, she has amazing content and will continue to produce more!  The layout of the website is also very aesthetically pleasing and super easy to use.  With that being said, enjoy learning more about Jess!

     Jessica is in her first year at Harvard University and is currently undecided, although she is thinking about majoring in economics or implied math.  Jessica’s first action or movement that she got involved with as an organizer/change-maker was when our high school organized the National School Walkout during our junior year.  The National School Walkout was a walkout to honor the victims of the Parkland shooting and raise awareness for gun violence, gun reform, and gun safety.  Jessica along with a couple of other students on the student council and students who simply wanted to participate, thoughtfully organized the Walkout together.  This then sparked Jessica’s interest in organizing social movements.

     I asked Jessica what she thinks her biggest successes have been in her work thus far.  She started this project at our school called Student Voices Week where every day after school for a week there would be a student, or students, discussing a certain topic featuring a guest speaker who is an expert on that topic.  It was a student-run event that allowed students to use their own voices, express their own opinions, and educate each other on things that are happening in the world around us.  Jessica would choose topics that were current and relevant at the moment.  For example, some of them were gun violence, mental health, the opioid crisis, immigration, global warming, and so on.  This event made the students aware of serious topics and encouraged them to use their own voices to make a change.  Another event of hers was her organization of the Sadie’s Hawkins dance.  She set up the dance, decorations, and had people buy tickets for entry.  All of the money went toward a non-profit organization called She’s The First.  This organization sponsors groups of girls across the world who are the first girls in their family on track to graduate high school.  Jessica voiced her support of equal educational opportunities through her choice of this organization.  She successfully raised a lot of money for this cause because the event engaged so many students and was a lot of fun!  

     Along with many of Jessica’s successes, she has faced some disappointments and challenges along the way.  I asked her what specifically has hindered her work and she said the lack of apathy that exists is a huge issue when it comes to change-making.  Jessica also said people who are disillusioned or feel as if they do not have time to care about politics are significant negative effects in making a social movement more effective.  She also said it is hard for people who live in a privileged space to gain interest in these movements, and how they may view the work being done as fruitless.

     I asked Jessica if she is currently working on any projects and if she is collaborating with anyone on them.  She said she is apart of a club on campus called Democracy Matters.  They are currently tabling in the dining hall to recruit people for the club.  Their main goals are to find a large partisan group to elect, get ranked choice voting on ballots for Massachusetts, and create a nonelectoral partisan reform.  They are trying to get the students around them involved with politics and voting so they can use their voices to make a change in their community.

     Jessica’s advice to anyone who is starting out with organizing and does not  have any relevant experience in it is the following three tips:

It is okay to follow the movement first and see what other people are doing, get familiar with the space.

Learn about the issues and understand the foundations.  It is important to have introspection and think about why you care about certain issues. 

      3. Stick to your passions and be unafraid to go for it.

     I asked Jessica how social media affects her work.  She said it is definitely a very convenient way to spread the word about events, campaigns, or protests.  She used her blog, Femme Feitale, as an example.  She said it is her own space where she can formulate her own opinions and put them out there for the world to see.  It is also a way to incorporate her own creativity into her social media.  Jessica said that people think just reposting is enough, but it is not.  The people need to add their own input into each individual message, because then it just diminishes the value of each message.  Her last point was that there are also negative effects of social media.  She mentioned Twitter specifically and said how it is so easy to get caught up in an echo chamber and fake news.

     Jessica uses social media a lot when it comes to her change-making.  She said it is definitely a significant portion of her work and it is all very closely connected.  Jessica said it is convenient because you can get the word out so people can know about your specific event or message.  Another use for social media for Jessica is recruiting people through it to get them to come to meetings.  This way everyone can show up who wants to be involved in a movement or organization and find out about it in a quick and easy way.

     I asked Jessica what her most used social media platforms are for her change-making.  She said Instagram is definitely number one, and is best for targeting younger people.  Then she said she uses Facebook for targeting older audiences, and Snapchat for more specific audiences.  It is important to keep in mind what age group uses which social media platform, this way you can effectively target your target audience and get as much interaction as possible.

     I wondered how Jessica’s use of social media differs from her professional and personal use.  She said for her, it depends.  If she is being super political, she will post on her blog.  Although there are some things that she is willing to say that is her opinion no matter what and she will stick to it no matter what.  She personally has not been involved in anything “too official” but she did run the Instagram and Facebook for the Young Democrats of Cornwall (our hometown).

     I asked Jessica where or who she turns to for information, inspiration, and connection.  Her main driving force at the moment are her friends at Harvard.  They are constantly motivating and inspiring her to do greater things.  Her one friend Sabrina founded Hudson Valley Stands Up, which is a group of students who protest for gun reform in the Hudson Valley (which is in New York).  So ultimately, she finds her inspiration and motivation within her peers.  She said there is a lot of it to go around at Harvard.

     I wondered if Jessica’s work has really affected or influenced other areas of her life.  And the answer is: yes!  In high school when she had goals in mind, it was a broader goal of her understanding of inequality in the world.  The amount of educational inequality was very eye-opening for her.  She wondered why girls are less represented in STEM fields and why there is an educational gap between different races and income levels.  Although for her, her first semester at Harvard is more about stepping back, learning more, and understanding where her skills can create change.  She wants to focus on being a researcher, not necessarily an organizer.  She really wants to understand educational inequality so she can try her best to make positive changes within that area.

     The event that Jessica organized which made her realize she loves being a change-maker was “definitely” Sadie’s Hawkins.  She loved organizing an actual event for a cause.  Her favorite part was organizing the actual event and seeing it turn out the way it did.  She also loved seeing others who attended the event get excited to be there.  It made her feel as if all of her hard work paid off.

     Lastly, I asked Jessica about her blog, Femme Feitale.  I asked her what the main purpose of her blog is.  Jessica said the first main purpose is her use of it as a personal outlet to express her own interests.  It is really important for her personally to organize her thoughts and think about issues she normally would not think about that affect her everyday life.  She said if she does not write about them, then to her, it is simply a passing thought.  Therefore she writes these posts for introspective.  Jessica wants to promote it, and she said if people want to read it, “then that’s cool too.”

     Overall, Jessica Wu has done a lot for our school and community back in Cornwall, and she will continue to do outstanding things for and at Harvard.  I personally cannot wait to see what she comes up with (no pressure of course, Jess!).  People like Jessica are the people that are transforming our world for the better, whether that be through large or small gestures or actions.  Everything counts.  Please make sure to check out Jessica’s blog!  I will link her blog along with other resources down below.

Links/Resources:

Jessica’s blog: https://www.femmefeitale.com/about-1

Jessica’s Instagram for her blog: https://www.instagram.com/femmefeitale/

How To Become A Change-Maker: https://www.techstars.com/content/community/7-keys-become-changemaker/

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Incorporating Creativity Into Social Movements by: Katie Skoog

In order to make a social movement more effective, it is important to add a creative touch to the process.  This way it makes it all more meaningful.

For example, in my junior year of high school, my friends and I planned the National School Walkout for our school to honor the victims of the Parkland shooting victims and to raise awareness for gun violence.  We tried our absolute best to get as many people as possible to show up to the Walkout through social media.  We tried to hang up posters around the school and put it on the announcements, but our principal wouldn’t let us… Although we didn’t face a lot of support from our administrators, we still persisted!  Anyways...

Listed below are some ways to make your social movement more creative:

1. Fundraising

Fundraising is a great way to raise money for a good cause, while incentivizing people with cool stuff!  For example, we sold orange ribbons, orange being the color for gun violence awareness, for $1 each.  All of the money went toward Anthony Borges, who was shot multiple times while trying to protect his classmates.  He faced several severe injuries, although thankfully survived.  The money went toward his medical bills to help him and his family pay for the surgeries.  

Fundraising can encourage people to be apart of your movement and help reach a broader audience!  You can sell anything you would like.  You can even make your own products to sell.  Then when people see others wearing them, they can ask what it is for and be aware of the movement.  Here are some pictures from when we sold the ribbons:

2. Making your own posters

This is a nice way to incorporate your own creative personality into your movement that you’re organizing.  If you have artistic abilities, use this to your advantage!  If you’re organizing a protest or walk, posters are especially useful.  They let the audience know exactly what you’re advocating for and gives them more information on the topic.  For example, when we did the Walkout, we made signs with all the names of the victims of the Parkland shooting.  We also made another poster with all of the shootings that had happened (that we knew of due to it being on the news) and next to it we put the number of people who were shot and died.  This way people knew how serious the issue is.  Although our posters were more informational, you can still make a type of drawing or anything that you think will get your message across!

3. Pull on their heartstrings

You really want your movement to have an intense emotional effect on the audience.  You need to have them realize how serious and problematic the issue is.  This way they will be driven by their emotions and feel the need to change the unjust things that are happening.  For example, we had some guest speakers at the Walkout.  Our a capella group came and performed a song that actually made people cry.  Then we had someone read a poem, and someone make a speech.  Sometimes various forms of art can really make a person see a situation differently.  They begin to take it more seriously and show more empathy.  For example, a lot of people are desensitized to school shootings these days, but I think since we all got together and actually talked about it, people realized the situation was getting worse and worse.

Overall, creativity is a huge component of social movements and advocacy.  You want to be able to work with a bunch of different people in order to make your movement more known.  Talk to your local newspaper about covering the event, get other organizations to promote your movement on their social media!  There are so many options.  Maybe invite a guest speaker who’s an expert on the topic.  Make it interesting.  I hope this helped you think of various ideas to use for your own movement!  Good luck!

More resources to get started:

https://www.fastcompany.com/3006283/4-steps-building-successful-social-movement

http://www.thefundraisingauthority.com/fundraising-basics/fundraising-event/

https://blog.richmond.edu/s12ldst304/category/meyer-poltics-of-protest/chapter-5-strategies-tactics/

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Inclusion And Exclusion In Social Media

There are many types of companies, movements, and campaigns which include and/or exclude certain people.  I believe that everyone on social media is guilty of being exclusive, whether it is intentional or not.  Especially when it comes to companies, they have a certain target audience which they aim to sell their products to.  This then causes certain groups of people to feel left out.  Although the main scenario in social media that I see exclusion in is in social movements/campaigns.

For example, the #MeToo movement does not acknowledge the sexual assault that males face.  They mainly focus on women, which makes sense because women are more likely to be sexually assaulted.  But the movement should still include males’ experiences to be more inclusive of everyone who has experienced sexual assault.  This way their movement can grow to be larger and stronger.  There are many more examples of exclusion, whether it be because of your age, race, gender, sexuality, etc.  I believe that everyone should be included in a movement, even if it is targeted toward a certain group of people, others should be able to at least help out in the movement by spreading the word or by helping organize.  I think everyone has the skill to participate in a social change movement, even if the issue does not directly affect them.  They can further spread the movement by informing their own group of people who the campaign was not necessarily directed toward.  Including all different types of people lets them know that they can too be apart of a social change movement to overall just make the world a better place.  That is what most people (I at least hope) want in the world anyways.  I am sure if you ask a variety of different people from different backgrounds to help out in your campaign, they would be happy to.  They could also be more informed about the issue while helping you out, which would make them a more educated, well-informed person.

For example, if I wanted to create a social change movement in regards to transgender rights, I would obviously want the transgender community to participate and be on my side, but I would also want to include others who may not be as educated about the issue and may want to learn more.  This way I’m not just advocating for transgender rights, but I am also educating different types of people on it so they can become more helpful and understanding.  It’s like killing two birds with one stone.  

The main goals of social change movements is to obviously make actual change, but to also educate different types of people and backgrounds on the specific issue.  If you are open-minded and understanding, you can successfully practice the act of inclusion in regards to social media.  I think inclusion is something we can all work on to make the world a more understanding, passionate place.

References/Works Cited:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ohGmJZ-03g

https://metoomvmt.org/

https://electronics360.globalspec.com/article/12905/social-media-users-negatively-affected-by-social-media-posts-that-make-them-feel-excluded

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How Well Is The March For Our Lives Organization Actually Doing? By: Katie Skoog

     The March For Our Lives is a nonprofit, student-led organization that advocates and is in support of gun reform to prevent further recurring gun violence in the United States.  The organization was planned by students David Hogg, Emma González, Cameron Kasky, Jaclyn Corin, Alex Wind, Sarah Chadwick, and Alfonso Calderón at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after the school shooting that took place on February 14th, 2018.  In this blog post I will be evaluating whether or not March For Our Lives’ social media is effective enough for their organization.  Just a disclaimer, I did not have access to their website’s analytics and I could not look at the specific analytics for the gender, age, location, income, and education for their users without having to pay for a subscription.  Please note that the lack of this information may affect one’s opinion on the organization.

Listed below are the March For Our Lives’ social media:

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/marchforourlives)

YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC77-uGJRVBiXou-G6S7_4yQ)

Twitter (https://twitter.com/AMarch4OurLives)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/marchforourlives/)

Facebook Analytics:

     According to Likealyzer.com, the March For Our Lives’ frontpage is at a rating of 100%.  They provide a profile picture and cover photo, a title/username, an ‘about’ section, and a call to action message.  Although their context and information provided is at a rating of 44%.  They are lacking a phone number and a location for their main office.  This restricts people from getting into immediate contact with them and visiting their office and/or sending letters to their office.  Their activity rating is at a 62% because it has some activity, but they leave their followers wanting more.  The specifics of their activity is they have on average about 0.4 posts per day, 197 characters per post (40-100 characters is recommended), 16 videos, and 0 pages liked.  The response aspect of their page is at a rating of 100% because their followers are able to post on the page.  Lastly, their Facebook page provides a “donate” button right on the front page, which allows easy accessibility for their users.  This small, yet effective feature really helps the organization raise more money, which means they can create more change.

Twitter Analytics:

     According to sparktoro.com, the March For Our Lives’ Twitter has a score of 94 out of 100.  They have 3,462 tweets, they are following 469 people, and have 465,843 followers.  Their engagement score is at a 97 out of 100.  They generally get 993 likes per tweet, 255 retweets, and 100% of their tweets are met with engagement from their followers.  Their Twitter was listed by other accounts/sites 1,633 times.  They are somewhat active with 40 tweets within the past week, amd 128 tweets within the past month.  They also provide a link to their website through their Twitter.  From what I have observed, I would say their Twitter is their most used social media.  If you wish to get into contact with this organization, I recommend doing so through Twitter and/or email.

Instagram Analytics:

     According to analisa.io, the March For Our Lives’ Instagram has a 2.56% engagement rate, a 2.50% like rate, and a 0.06% comment rate.  They have 358,471 followers and are following 287 accounts.  Their average engagement per post is 9,177, average likes are 8,945 likes per post, 232 comments per post, and they post on average 1.09 posts per week and 4 posts per month.  They also have a link to their website through their Instagram.  They are lacking posting enough content on their Instagram.  In order to gain and maintain their followers, they should start posting more.

YouTube Analytics:

     According to socialblade.com, the March For Our Lives’ YouTube channel has 37 uploads, 8.44k subscribers, and 402,608 views total.  They are rated a grade C+ and have gained 150 subscribers and 26.136k views within the past month, make about $7-$105 monthly, and $78-$1.3k yearly.  They are ranked 6,074th place in the nonprofit rank.  They generally do not reply to comments and I noticed that they have not posted in three months.  These two factors could be the reason why they are only ranked at a C+.  I suggest that they possibly do a ‘question and answer’ type of YouTube video to further personally connect with their audience.

Organizational Considerations:

     The March For Our Lives organization costs $5 million and have “several million” left to spend (Hoisington).  Based on what I’ve seen, they have a good reputation for being able to spread the word quickly and effectively, and they also impress a lot of others because they are so young and have made such a significant contribution to the United States.  A total of 1.2 million people are involved in the March For Our Lives organization according to Wikipedia.  Their social media help this number increase everyday.

My Personal Impression of the March For Our Lives Organization:

Strengths: According to the analytics, this organization’s main social media platform is Twitter.  Their Twitter account has the highest score for their engagement and popularity.  They are also skilled in using social media to enact change and organize large groups of people.  For example, they started the National School Walkout Movement and the March For Our Lives protests solely through the use of their social media accounts.  On their Twitter, they tweet about relevant news regarding gun laws, which is what most of their following is interested in.  Therefore I believe the type of content they are producing is relevant to their followers and their organization, which looks good and does more good for their organization.

Weaknesses: According to the analytics, this organization’s YouTube and Facebook could use some work.  They have not posted on their YouTube channel in three months, and inactivity leads to losing the interest of your followers.  They also rarely reply to their YouTube comments, which leaves the users thinking that they are not valued.  Their Facebook’s aesthetic is at a rating of 100% (likealyzer.com), but their activity level is low.  They should communicate better on all of their social media outlets to improve their organization’s reputation and effectiveness.  This way the audience will feel more valued and appreciated, which makes them more likely to continue to follow the organization.

Opportunities To Improve: The organization should work on improving more of their social media, that way they can attract more people and better promote their non-profit organization.  One of the main problems I noticed is that they do not engage with their audience enough.  If they take some time to reply to questions or just generate a conversation through replying to their users, they could be receiving higher scores on their analytics.  They also need to be posting more frequently on some of their social media, such as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.  If they continue to lack content, they are going to lose the interest of their audience, then their organization will start to slowly fall off.

Threats To This Organization: The March For Our Lives faces threats by Donald Trump, the National Rifle Association (NRA), Marco Rubio who funds the NRA, and many more.  Especially with Trump and The March For Our Lives being so active on Twitter, there is a chance for them to butt heads on that platform.  Although this organization’s strengths outweigh their weaknesses.  They have many young people, gun violence survivors, mothers, fathers, and so on, on their side.  They also have a variety of celebrities who have participated in their march, such as Justin Timberlake, Will Smith, Cher, and Amy Poehler.  The amount of support from these different types of people will further grow their organization.

Next Steps and Long-Term Areas To Focus On:

     The main next couple of steps this organization should focus on is improving their social media.  They need to engage more with their audience in order to create more change.  Ideas from fellow students across the United States could help fix gun laws and help grow their organization.  As for long-term goals, The March For Our Lives should focus on changing the United States and their gun laws one step at a time.  It is important for this organization to keep in mind that the little victories count too.  Overall, The March For Our Lives is an extraordinary organization that is aiding in changing gun laws for the better, one victory by one.  Their social media definitely helps them in spreading the word and bettering their organization, although it could be more effective.

Works Cited:

https://analisa.io/profile/marchforourlives (IG Analytics)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_for_Our_Lives (Organizers/participants)

https://filtergrade.com/photos-from-the-march-for-our-lives-in-boston/ (Picutre)

https://likealyzer.com/report/marchforourlives (Facebook analytics)

https://socialblade.com/youtube/channel/UC77-uGJRVBiXou-G6S7_4yQ (YouTube analytics)

https://sparktoro.com/score/amarch4ourlives (Twitter analytics)

https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-march-for-our-lives-presents-a-radical-new-model-for-youth-protest

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How Social Media Has Affected Me

     For me personally, social media has always been viewed in a negative light.  Of course there are some positive aspects to it, but overall it has caused a detrimental effect on our society.

     I do not think social media is beneficial towards anyone’s health.  It causes us to become more anti-social and causes us to lack certain social skills.  For example, whenever I am around some of my friends, they often just sit on their phones in silence.  It’s boring and a colossal waste of time!  Social media can negatively impact others by setting unrealistic body expectations for everyone, no matter who you are.  The covering-up of imperfections through the use of angles, lighting, photoshop, and an excessive amount of filters piled one on top of another is causing people to hate their bodies and compare themselves to fake images.

     For the future, myself included, I think we should all try out best to stay off of our phones in social situations.  Not only are you missing out in living in the moment, but it is extremely rude to someone if they are talking.  Decreasing the amount of time on our phones could improve our social skills and make us more useful in the world.  We should also stop comparing ourselves to people who are edited so much to look like somebody else.  I suggest unfollowing accounts that post pictures of photoshopped pictures of people to decrease the triggers that it can cause some people.

     Social media can be beneficial in some ways, such as using it to gather large groups of people and spread awareness about certain subjects.  Although besides that, I believe social media is being used for the wrong reasons.

Picture: https://medium.com/behavior-design/social-media-has-the-exact-same-negative-effect-on-depression-as-eating-potatoes-letter-may-e689b3d5f1df

Article on negative effects of social media: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/negative-effects-social-media/

Article on positive effects of social media: https://curatti.com/social-media-positive-effects/

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https://twitter.com/GOTRBuffalohttps://www.instagram.com/gotrbuffalo/Girls On The Run Buffalo

     One of the local organizations in Buffalo is called Girls On The Run.  Their main goal is to inspire young girls to be confident and healthy through the sport of running!  They overall want girls to see their potential and for them to believe in themselves.

    ��I personally believe that this organization is achieving their goals and so much more.  They use FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote themselves and for fundraising.  They are also teaching girls at a young age how to not only love themselves, but how to be healthy.  This is important because it is crucial for girls to realize how powerful and capable they truly are.  I have volunteered for this program for two years and it even helped me realize MY potential.  The coaches and junior coaches are role models for the girls, and I believe this is a crucial part of the program because not everyone has a positive female role model to look up to in their life.  

     At the end of the school day the girls look forward to going to practice and seeing their friends.  At the beginning and end of every practice, they do a new learning exercise everyday to teach the girls how to practice self love, and show respect and love towards one another.  At the end of each season, there is a 5k race for all the girls and each of the girls get to choose a running buddy to run with.  At the end of the race there is food and all of the girls feel accomplished and proud of themselves.  This is good for them at a young age so they can soon realize their potential and learn that hard work pays off.  They will then learn to lead successful and productive lives.  It is so important for girls to be taught these lessons of self love, respect, and much more at a young age so they can continue to practice them as they get older.

     The sport of running itself is so rewarding and it’s all about self-improvement.  They are also getting in their exercise when coming to practice, so it’s a win-win situation.  This program keeps the girls happy and healthy!  It informs them of the importance of health and encourages them to run and eat healthily throughout their lifetime.

     It is extremely quick and easy to get in contact with this organization!  They utilize FaceBook, Twitter, and Instagram to get into contact with people both inside and outside of their community.  Although I recommend contacting them through either FaceBook or Instagram because they haven’t used Twitter since May.  I will link their socials down below!

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/gotrbuffalo/?fref=ts:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gotrbuffalo/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GOTRBuffalo

     I highly recommend enrolling your daughter/little sister/friend in Girls On The Run!  The community is so close-knit and truly a wonderful, unforgettable experience.  They are changing the world one young girl at a time.

Photos from: https://www.facebook.com/pg/gotrbuffalo/photos/?tab=album&album_id=558868317472470&ref=page_internal

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Art is a catalyst for social change.  It brings forth perspectives society may have never considered before.  In Banksy’s Keep Your Coins street art, he portrays the ongoing issue of homelessness and how we need social and political change in order to effectively deal with the epidemic.

I came across this piece of art by looking up “political pieces of art” on Google for my class, Social Media in Social Change.  Our assignment is to find any piece of art that motivates me to actually act on social change, so I chose this one.  I feel as if the issue of homelessness and poverty is often overlooked in America.  This street art sheds light on this ongoing problem and shows people that actual change needs to be accomplished.  Giving a homeless person a couple of dollars is only a temporary solution, social and political change must be done in order to attempt the process of reducing the amount of people on the streets.

I have not taken any action yet to help this particular issue.  Although I plan on it and there are many both short term and long term solutions, such as:

- Volunteering in a soup kitchen to feed the homeless.

- Donating money to a homeless person personally or through an organization.

- Donating old clothes or household items to a charity for the homeless.

- Join a local organization to advocate for change.

- Run for any kind of office to create policy changes to help homeless people.

Do some research online and within your community to get educated and advocate!  Work with your local representatives to figure out a way to spread awareness and set up events, such as soup kitchen volunteering.  Even the little changes amount to something bigger and better!  Finding inspiration for advocacy and social change lives all around us, you just have to be willing to take one step further and not be afraid to use your powerful voice.

Sources: 

 https://sites.psu.edu/calliefreenock/2015/10/08/keep-your-coins/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy

https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935307.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935307-e-13