Advocacy and You: Twitter

Now that you are using your Facebook as an advocacy tool, it is time to expand your reach to twitter. Twitter can be a great
way to advocate. There are over 175 million active users who are willing to connect, and ready to support a cause; you can make a difference. If you don’t believe that Twitter has power let’s look at all of the revolutions that took place in 2011. The majority of them were started because of people connecting on twitter.

Here are some tools and tips to help you be a better advocate:

1. Connect with the Media: There are a lot of journalists that use twitter. What better way to spread the power of music therapy than through the media? Begin to follow journalists on twitter and see what stories they are writing about. Begin to comment on their tweets and show your knowledge and appreciation for the topics in their articles. They more you interact, the more likely you will be able to assist them with a story in the future.
2. Look beyond your network: Start to connect with people outside of the music therapy community. Look at politicians, celebrities, and people who will be beneficial to connect with. See what they are talking about and show them that you can relate. If they are people with celebrity status, treat them like your friends. (Most celebrities won’t open up if you flaunt all over them)
3. Every connection is a new door: Just like advocating in an elevator or to the government, you never know whose life you can touch by spreading your message. If you think someone can benefit from some information, let them know. Twitter can connect you to so many people and you don’t have gateways blocking you. On Facebook they need to add you as a friend, LinkedIn requires approving your connection; twitter can allow you to gain access you didn’t think was possible.
4. Be Human: Here is one thing we often forget when we put on our advocacy hat. You may want to sound formal and stick to a script when advocating. Formality can often be lost especially in only 140 characters. The more human you are the more likely it is that people will listen.
5. Importance & Repeat: Remember to let people know why it is important to support your cause. If you don’t tell them then they won’t know. On twitter, you need to tell them often. There are so many updates that come through on a given twitter feed. I follow 666 people right now, that means your tweet can easily be missed when I log on. Tweak your message a little each time so you stay human but if it is important make sure you keep updating!

Check back on Monday for tips on increasing your advocacy efforts on LinkedIn and Google+.

Advocacy and You: Facebook

So how do you become an effective advocate? There are so many ways you can fight for the things you believe in and with the power of social media you can expand your efforts.  In honor of #MTADVOCACY month, we want to show you how you can expand your advocacy efforts with your social media profiles to achieve your goals.

Facebook is a great tool for advocacy. With over 800 million active users, you have an attentive audience to preach to. Here are some ways you can expand your advocacy efforts with Facebook:

• Gather the troops: In order to be an effective advocate you need to have a variety of people who support your cause. Facebook is a great tool to do this. People actively use the site and spend a majority of their time there.  You can create a page in support of your cause and spread it through your network. Encourage people to like the page and share it with others who will support the cause. The more “likes” you get, the farther your advocacy megaphone will reach. You will have more success getting people to join a Facebook page than subscribing to another newsletter.
• Encourage conversation: What better way to get people motivated? Use your wall to strike up a conversation about your cause. Share your passions and thoughts and encourage others to do the same. The more people talk about your cause, the more support you will get. One great example I have of this is of a Music Therapist who took to advocating for their profession on a blog where people were criticizing it. Her passionate comments caused her to be contacted by people who were moved by the power of Music Therapy and wanted to be a part of it. She not only educated outsiders, but also was able to move people to make a change in their life. (Another benefit of having a running conversation on your wall is that you will have a record of who is extremely passionate. You can reach out to the most active people to get them more involved.)
• Digital Petitions: Ahh, the petition. Going door-to-door collecting signatures to encourage your government to take action on your cause, who has time for that anymore? You can use Facebook to get your petition in front of more people in less time. I highly recommend the site CARE2 (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/create.html). You can create a digital petition and automatically have it available on Facebook. You can easily share it with your own network, your active advocacy page, and encourage people to spread the petition for you. It will help you spend less time on collecting signatures and allow you to actually advocate for your cause.
• Expand: You can’t get complacent with your Facebook advocacy efforts. Too often we encourage people to get involved with a cause on Facebook but that is it. We don’t give them any sort of follow up or action they can take to the real world. Use your Facebook page as a central hub for your efforts on-line, but provide resources to help people get involved offline. Facebook is a vast landscape and people can easily forget about your cause if you don’t get them interested. If Facebook was a country, it would be the 3^rd largest in the world. With so many other distractions, don’t let people get lost in the crowd and forget about your cause.

Try to start incorporating the tips into your Facebook advocacy efforts. Remember to never give up. It takes a long time to grow support for your cause, and the best way to ensure success is to keep moving forward. Check back on Friday to see how to optimize your Twitter account for your advocacy efforts.