politics 2.0: how to use social media in a political context - and why it\'s cheap
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Four cases of social media within a political context.TRANSCRIPT
Politics 2.0: How to use social media in
a political context - and why it’s cheap
Bente Kalsnes
Journalist and social media enthusiast
http://bentekalsnes.wordpress.com
Def. social media
• Content created by random Internet users rather than a specific group or person.
• Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among people.
• Ex. YouTube, Wikipedia or blogs with comments.
Social media’s timeline
2005 and beyond - Web 2.0 applications and user generated content take over.
By Brian Solis, Flickr,CC
Four examples of political campaigns
• SMS - Amnesty International Norway
• Facebook - Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian prime minister
• Blog - Global Voices
• The perfect social media campaign - Atheist Bus
Amnesty International Norway
Amnesty’s SMS campaignThree reasons why they use it:
Revenue opportunities Engage people in campaigns Attract new members
Success: 80.000 in SMS database (Amnesty has 50.000 members in Norway)
Has used it since 2003.
Amnesty (cont.)
Lessons learned:
• Outsource technology
• Make a good deal with a service provider
• Don’t send SMS too often
• Integrate SMS within the whole communication strategy
Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg
Why is the Prime Minister on Facebook?
• To meet new supporters (young)
• To get ideas, suggestions, create debates
• To mobilize supporters• To share videos,
images, speeches
• 12 000 fans• Stolenberg had no
experience with Facebook, learned from his kids.
• Stolenberg among the 30-40 most popular politicians on Facebook
Advocacy blog
What every advocacy blog needs
• Background information
• Current update• Clear goal
• ”Get involved” page• Contact e-mail
Make the blog center of action
• You are the leader of the community (clear mission)
• Know your community (competence, ideas, nationality)
• Select an action (e-petition, write to rep, boycott, sign a pledge, offline action)
• Mobilize your community (make it easy)
The Atheist Bus campaign
Atheist Bus: Why is it the perfect social media
campaign?• Quirky and simple
idea• Celebrity backing• Organisational
support
• Online and offline media
• Dedicated team (2 people)
• Simple and cheap technology (Wordpress, Justgiving)
Further reading
• Blog for a cause (Global Voices) http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/guide-blog-for-a-cause/
• Online Politics 101 (e.politics) http://www.epolitics.com/download-online-politics-101/
• techPresident http://www.techpresident.com/
Questions?
http://bentekalsnes.wordpress.com/