lauren-glenn davitian
Developing a Social Media Plan: Lessons from Election 2008
Lauren-Glenn Davitian, CCTV Center for Media and Democracy
Election 2008 is remarkable for many reasons. For the first time in U.S. history, the candidates for president have raised more than $1 billion. Voter registration is headed for new highs across the nation -- with a firestorm of newly registered voters under the age of thirty. And early voting levels -- 2.2 million ballots as of this writing -- indicate a massive, record-breaking turnout on Tuesday, November 4th.
Because campaigns employ such a variety of communications tactics to win an election -- from door knocking to lawn signs to TV commercials -- it may be hard to determine exactly what role social media tools have played in this historic year. But, clearly, the campaigns have made social media a central strategy in their Donor, Volunteer, and Voter mobilization efforts.
As agents of social change, there is a great deal the nonprofit sector can learn from Election 2008.
BE the Media -- Free Speech Unfurled
Lauren-Glenn Davitian, CCTV Center for Media and Democracy
While mainstream media remains under the control of a handful of giant corporations, you no longer have to own a printing press to reach a dedicated audience. Building on traditions of public access, independent media and peer-to-peer networks, we now communicate, "many to many", across phone and internet networks with affordable and high powered laptops, PDAs, phones and gaming devices. In this major step forward for free speech, the “network centric” age enables us to "be the media", tell our stories, and make social change happen.
But what media and communication tools will make the biggest impact and have the farthest reach? Whether you are planning a demonstration, a print campaign, a web site, a viral video, or a mobile action, you need to start with a goal and a strategy. To help, we’ve compiled many of the rich resources available to the nonprofit community in a few basic steps to strategic communications.