HARNESS
YOUR
POWER
A GUIDE TO
SOCIAL MEDIA ADVOCACY
If you’re in the Gen Z category, it’s likely that your go-to news source is through social media. In 2021, the University of Canberra’s Digital News Report revealed that more than half of Gen Z were using social media as their main source of news.
Social media has become an influential tool for anyone – no matter their profession or age. It’s a space for all to share knowledge, create community & empower themselves and others.
The Australian Electoral Commission reveals that government departments and politicians have demonstrated social media’s ability to engage citizens in democratic processes. For young people with no voting power, social media can be a powerful headquarter to take control and advocate for social change. It’s accessible, offers little to no cost, allows for free expression, and with a tactful approach – can reach widespread audiences.
It’s likely you’ve seen movements like #MeToo break the silence surrounding sexual assault, or the #IceBucket Challenge to raise money for sufferers of MND (Swap around). In Australia, 19-year-old Aretha Brown used social media to leverage her voice around Indigenous rights, and AJ Clementine amassed major followings on TikTok and other social platforms speaking on issues around LGBTIQA+ discrimination.
Social media can equally be used as a platform to spread misinformation, fake news, and an open forum for conflicting opinions and harassment.
In partnership with FBi, Codebreakers has developed a guide for young people to take control of their voice and be an advocate for change in the safest & most effective way possible.
GOING
BEYOND
THE
SCREEN
It’s important that social media activism is supported by real-world action. This could be through encouraging people to:
SIGN A
PETITION
ATTEND
A PROTEST
CONTACT A LOCAL
MEMBER OR POLITICIAN
SPREAD
THE WORD
CHOOSING
YOUR
PLATFORM
FINDING
& CREATING
YOUR VISUALS
When thinking about what platform you’re using to share information – consider your style of content and target audience.
Here’s a guide.
If you’re planning on reaching as many people as possible – you can tackle all the above, adjusting the style of the content to the platform!
FINGING
IMAGES:
When using someone else’s images – credit them by mentioning their name or tagging them in your post.
Great places to start when looking for free images:
Google Advanced Image Search – Under ‘usage rights’, select ‘Creative Commons license’.
Flickr
Creative Commons license only.
Pixabay
Royalty-free images, videos & music.
Unsplash
Free-to-access high-res images.
Creative Commons licenses are public licenses, where the creator says what others are allowed to do with their work – so make sure to check this before using/posting.
CREATING
YOUR OWN:
Whether you’re looking to craft an explainer, infographic, quote or create some aesthetic graphics – there are a range of free and user-friendly design platforms you can use:
WRITING
A
POWERFUL
CAPTION
LENGTH:
Keep your text short, sweet, and punchy. While the average person spends just over two hours on social media a day – people generally start to lose concentration after 8 seconds.
Aim to capture your audience’s attention before they continue scrolling and keep things reader-friendly by adding spacing between sentences, hashtags and redirecting to links with more information where you can.
CALL
TO ACTION:
If there’s some real-word action you want your audience to do – tell them! The more specific, the better. For example, instead of saying “Sign our petition to support the cause,” try: “Sign our petition now to support the cause. Link in bio.”
USE STATISTICS
WHERE YOU CAN:
Young people are generally informed by the content they consume on social media. Media companies and activists like yourself have a responsibility to share truthful information. Use statistics to validate your information from a trusted source:
> Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
> gov.au
> Australian Data Archive
> Google Dataset Search
Make sure to double-check your statistics before posting, mention the original source, and use recent statistics.
SAVE TIME
WITH AI:
Level-up your language with AI, where you can create some AI-generated captions to get you spending more time on the advocacy-side of things:
> ChatGBT
> Vista Social
> AISEO
TRIGGER
WARNINGS:
Posts that deal with sensitive topics like child abuse, sexual violence or suicide should typically involve a trigger warning.
Example: Including ‘Trigger warning: sexual violence’ at the beginning of your text.
FACT-CHECK
YOUR
INFORMATION
Always verify your information before you post or share:
- Check your source’s credentials – is this a trusted news source? If an individual – do they work in the field you’re covering?
- Use TinEye to reverse search images and see where they came from and how they’re being used.
- Find a quick & easy eay to fact-check with the Fact Check Explorer on Google.
ENGAGE
WITH YOUR
AUDIENCE
