The Power of Social Media Advocacy Amy Sekhar, PhD Access Note - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Power of Social Media Advocacy

Amy Sekhar, PhD

Access Note

Make yourself comfortable. Move about the room as you need. Take breaks as needed. Take care of your sensory needs; stim away!

Overview

Activism & m & Social Media Selecting the Appropriate Platform Creating Accessible Posts Hashtags and How to Use Them Disability Twitter INSILC Social Media Campaign

Disability Advocacy & Social Media

Social Media by the Numbers

69% of Americans think is important in raising awareness of important issues with elected officials (Pew) 64% of Americans feel that social media helps give a voice to underrepresented groups (Pew) More than 50% of American social media users say they have used their accounts for advocacy or activism (George Washing U – GSPM Blog)

Is social media activism really activism?

YES!

“[…] for millions of people with disabilities, they are not able to be the “boots on the ground” in a movement — and their work proves that there isn’t just one way to be an activist.” (HelloGiggles) “Through online communities founded on social media, activists with disabilities have created platforms for their causes and are resisting injustice.” (HelloGiggles)

Social Media is a Powerful Tool

Builds community; Creates a space to share, teach, and learn; Can decrease isolation for people with limited access; One way to “show up” when physically showing up is not possible.

Selecting the Appropriate Platform

Instagram

Visually driven

“Followers can actually see the causes that are being championed (and the impact they are making).” (The Gramlist)

Instagram Example: Annie Segarra (annieelainey)

• Image Description: Annie sits in her

wheelchair wearing a rainbow skirt in front of a door with a step leading up to

• it. Text on the door reads, "Make pride

accessible"

Facebook

Share & connect with your personal network & communities; Organize events

“It's clear that Facebook played a big role in mobilizing people to participate in the global Women's March” (CNN)

Facebook Example: Women’s March Disability Caucus

• Image Description: A screenshot of a

Women's March Disability Caucus event

• link. The headline reads "Our Lives Are

On the Line". The event is for a Lobby/Phone Banking for Medicaid.

Twitter

“Newsy”; fast-paced; real time; community; public; viral power

Viral Twitter campaigns can successfully influence elected officials & affect policy by demonstrating massive support for an issue.

Twitter: Dakota Access Pipeline

• #NODAPL arose out of the Dakota

Access Pipeline protests

• Millions of Tweets in 2016 used hashtag
• Movement was successful in stopping

pipeline progress until 2017 (Trump executive

• rder)

Image Description: A screenshot of a Tweet with the text: "Chief Arvol Looking Horse and riders coming into camp #NoDAPL. There are several indigenous horseback riders carrying flags.

Creating Accessible Posts

What makes an accessible post?

Considerations for accessible social media posts (handout)

Image Descriptions Captions For Videos Content Warnings (CW) Tone indicators (sarcasm) Flashing Image Warnings #CamelCase Hashtags Avoid Ableist Language Minimize GIFs/Emojis

Activity (10 mins)

Login to a social media account:

Facebook Instagram Twitter

Quickly select a post that interests you (preferably with an image). Is this post accessible to you? To a wide variety of disabilities? Why or why not? What would you change or add?

Hashtags and How to Use Them

What is a hashtag, anyway?

Began on Twitter in 2007 Links to a group of social media posts about the same topic

Activity (10 mins)

Login to a social media account: Facebook Instagram Twitter In the search bar, search for “disability.” Next, search for “crip the vote.” In the search bar, search for #Disability. Next, search for #CripTheVote. Try clicking on the hashtag in a post. What did your search return in Facebook? Instagram? Twitter? What’s the difference with and without a hashtag? Which platforms are more effective with hashtags?

How hashtags work on different platforms

Facebook

• See only posts

from friends or public posts

• Can be used to

“brand” posts or communicate engagement in a topic

• Can signify mood
• r humor

Instagram

• Can follow

hashtags

• Suggests posts

that use same hashtag as other posts you’ve looked at

Twitter

• Very searchable

and “clickable”

• Cannot follow a

hashtag

• Can see trending

hashtags  Join current conversations

Popular Disability Hashtags

#SuckItAbleism #CripTheVote #DisabilityTwitter #SayTheWord #DisabilityTooWhite #Disability #Medicaid #AccessIsLove

Disability Twitter

Activity (10 mins)

Login to Twitter In the search bar, search for #DisabilityTwitter. Next, try one of the following hashtags: #ActuallyAutistic, #EDS, #Spoonie What do you notice about the results?

Disability Twitter is not a place: It’s a community

Disability Twitter is a community for:

• Advocacy/Activism
• Sharing experiences
• Learning/Educating
• Building relationships across distance (especially for people with rare conditions)
• Engaging with policymakers (on all issues, not just disability issues)
• Intersectional spaces
• Multiple hashtags (e.g. #Disability #RepresentationMatters #BlackDisabledLivesMatter

#DisabilityTooWhite

INSILC Social Media Campaign

#NothingWithoutUs

Disability perspectives belong in every aspect of policy and decision-making. When you share stories or comment on a post on an issue that impacts disability, use:

#Disability #NothingWithoutUs

Let’s practice! (Activity Handout)

Questions?

Thank you!

Amy Sekhar, PhD Director of Community Education & Training INSILC asekhar@insilc.org