2016-06-20
Viv Glance & Claire Bowen
VIV: Before this campaign, likes, shares and comments were all I thought there was to Social Media (SM). That was before I began working alongside Claire Bowen and Sanna Peden who are looking after Curtin's SM. Now 'reach' and 'engagement' have become familiar and nurturing a SM presence has become a daily habit. I've learnt how Instagram and Facebook are best friends, and Twitter's 140 characters is great for encouraging succinct comments that get to the point or intrigue or amuse.
CLAIRE: Before this campaign I had managed social media but not in a form that allowed me to use the insights available when you manage an official page. While before I had to judge my audience's reactions by likes, shares and comments, with the data available on a page I get to know the people who like the Curtin page much better.
VIV: At the start of this campaign, UniPollWatch asked me if I thought SM would be important this election. I replied I thought the content of the message was more important than the way it was messaged. Now I know differently. Many studies show how SM use and participation can influence how people find out about and interact with politics, or can be mobilised around issues.
We've all been on a fascinating learning curve over the past few months and Greens WA and the Australian Greens provide great resources on how SM works, and how to use it in an effective and positive way (see links below).
Claire has been testing which posts cut through and the best time to post them, and which types of image and content increase engagement and grab people's attention in their very full and active SM feeds. Images are all important, both still and moving. They drive today's SM and we're fortunate to have many people to call upon to help us. Short videos on Facebook (around 30-45 seconds long) or on Twitter and Instagram (between 10-20 seconds) are the most effective. Certain algorithms on Facebook seem to favour videos, and the number of views can quickly reach more than a thousand.
CLAIRE: I have learnt that the people on the Curtin Facebook page have some very specific habits - they see posts at specific times and not others and they share and interact with a very specific range of posts. What I like most about administering the Curtin page is that I have developed a fondness for it's members - everyone is kinda great - what they like most in their social media is photos of people, especially people volunteering because they care! Which is why our photographers and videographers are so precious to the media team.
VIV: Ellen MacCarthy, Penny Bennett, Julie Scanlon, Sanna Peden, Judy Blyth and Alistair Leith have turned up when we're out engaging with voters. Their pictures and videos have been invaluable and look so much better that a fuzzy selfie!
CLAIRE: I do the more candid shots of Viv and volunteers, and some of you will know that I have a fondness for making little comedy videos. I like the humanising, behind-the-scenes, funny side of social media, and it's been nice working with The Greens that way because it is part of their strategy too - make it human, make it personal, make it shareable. Viv is fun to work with too, we find the same things funny.
VIV: But print media is still important. The high circulation of local community papers means they continue to have an important impact, especially with more senior voters. Again, an image is important and can make the difference between being on the front page and being buried way back on the other pages.
Connecting to voters in a grassroots campaign is essential. Posting as frequently as you can, but at least once a day, will increase followers and extend the reach of a campaign. We don't have the big bucks from corporate donors for extensive broadcast media, or billboards on every street corner across an electorate. Combining door knocking, phone banking, with strategic analysis of data on past voter contact to inform door knocking and phone banking, is a really effective . It can help us let everyone in each electorate know what we value as Greens, what our policies are, and to follow us on our #Greens16 campaign.
REFERENCES:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-06/social-media-battle-pivotal-in-cam...
http://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/digital-democracy/social...
http://journalistsresource.org/studies/politics/citizen-action/research-...
http://journalistsresource.org/studies/international/global-tech/researc...