Introduction to digital advocacy for social workers and non profit professionals.

1. Digital Advocacy
By Rachel L. West, LMSW

2. Community Organizing

3. Community Organizers
Facilitators of planned efforts to achieve specific goals in the development of a group,
neighborhood, constituency, or other community. Community organizers may be
indigenous community leaders, political office holders, or government bureaucrats.
They seek to help community members achieve social justice, economic or social
development, or other improvement.

4. Community Organizing
Community organizing is the process of building power through involving a
constituency in identifying problems they share and the solutions to those problems
that they desire; identifying the people and structures that can make those solutions
possible; enlisting those targets in the effort through negotiation and using
confrontation and pressure when needed; and building an institution that is
democratically controlled by that constituency that can develop the capacity to take on
further problems and that embodies the will and the power of that constituency.

5. Systems Theory
● A system is characterized by the interactions of its components & the nonlinearity
of those interactions.
● Emphasis relationships among individuals, groups, organizations, or communities
and mutually influencing factors in the environment.
● Systems overlap. When change occurs in one system it will affect the other.
● A system is only as strong as it’s weakest part.

6. Systems People Operate In
Microsystem - Small systems in our everyday lives. EX: Friendship groups, work,
family.
Mesosystem (network of personal settings)- Involves interaction of our immediate
system with one another.
Exosystem- Large social institutions that impact our personal systems. EX:
Government agencies, religious organizations, economic system.
Macrosystem (culture)- Influences all the other systems of our lives including our
beliefs, behavior, social relationships, & expectations.

7. #BlackLivesMatter

8. “When we say Black Lives Matter, we are
broadening the conversation around
state violence to include all of the ways
in which Black people are intentionally
left powerless at the hands of the state.
We are talking about the ways in which
Black lives are deprived of our basic
human rights and dignity.”

9. Structural Racism
A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and
other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group
inequity. It identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed
privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to
endure and adapt over time. Structural racism is not something that a few people or
institutions choose to practice. Instead it has been a feature of the social, economic and
political systems in which we all exist.

10. Institutional Racism
Institutional racism refers to the policies and practices within and across institutions
that, intentionally or not, produce outcomes that chronically favor, or put a racial
group at a disadvantage. Poignant examples of institutional racism can be found in
school disciplinary policies in which students of color are punished at much higher
rates that their white counterparts, in the criminal justice system, and within many
employment sectors in which day-to-day operations, as well as hiring and firing
practices can significantly disadvantage workers of color.

11. History of #BlackLivesMatter
● Started by Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors in 2012.
● Started as a hashtag.
● “Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where
Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an
affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our
resilience in the face of deadly oppression.”
● Grew from a mix of social media & traditional community organizing tactics.

12. How #BlackLivesMatter Uses Social Media
Each platform is used in a specific way:
● Webpage shares the organization's principals, history, and events. http://blacklivesmatter.
com/
● Facebook is used to share news & articles, for people to connect, to develop
analysis on various issues, & to conceptualize ideas. https://www.facebook.
com/BlackLivesMatter/
● Twitter is used to quickly collect information & to share information about
meetings. https://twitter.com/blklivesmatter
● Tumblr is a where members can share their stories. http://blacklivesmatter.tumblr.com/
● Instagram shares photos of events. https://instagram.com/blklivesmatter/

20. Social Media

21. Social media is any form of
electronic communication. This
includes text messaging,
podcasts, and online video sites
such as YouTube.

22. Social Media Can...
● Break down silos
● Networking opportunities
● Community education
● Advocacy
● Community organizing
● Get your message out there
● Fundraising

23. Why This Matters
● It’s a useful tool for macro social workers
● Cultural competency
● Competition

24. Platforms

25. Social Media Platforms
● Social networking sites
● Website & blogs
● Microblogs
● Online rating sites
● Social bookmarking
● Fundraising
● Podcasts
● Forums/message boards
● Social Knowledge/Wikis
● Geo-locations
● Multimedia

26. Social Networking Sites
● Facebook
● Twitter

27. Facebook Stats
● 968 million daily active users. (June 2015)
● 844 million daily active mobile users (June 2015)
● 83.1% of daily active users are outside North America
● 62% of the entire US adult population uses FB
● More women use Facebook than men
● 34% of users are non-white

28. Facebook Best Practices for Nonprofits
● Update no more than 3 to 5 times a day.
● Native videos get priority.
● Include photos with posts.
● Keep it short.
● Use insights.

29. Twitter Stats
● 320 million monthly active users (Sept. 2015)
● 80% active users on mobile (Sept. 2015)
● 77% of accounts are outside the US (Sept. 2015)
● 19% of the total US adult population uses Twitter
● 18-29 year olds are the largest age group using Twitter
● 41% of US Twitter users are non-white

30. Twitter Best Practices for Nonprofits
● For NPOs the more often you tweet the better.
● Use #hashtags.
● Photos & Videos increase engagement.
● Keep tweets to 125 characters

31. Crafting Your Message

32. Crafting Audience Aware Social Media Content
● Which platform am I using &
what do I know about it’s users?
● What do I know about follower of
my organization of this platform?
● What values do my followers
share?
● Why do my followers follow my
organization on this platform?
● What emotions might my
followers feel in relation to my
organization's cause?
● Are your audience members likely
to have any impairments?

33. Via Build Initiative

34. Your Audience
● Audience type/specific person
● What does the audience/person care about?
● What do they need?
● What concerns do they have about the issue?
● What would they respond to? (Stories, data, etc.)
● Who will they listen to? Who can influence them?

35. Consider the Following
● They problem
● Who you are/what your organization does.
● What your audience can do (call to action)

36. References
Beckwith, D., & Lopez, C. (n.d.). Community Organizing: People Power from the Grassroots. Retrieved November 6, 2015, from
http://comm-org.wisc.edu/papers97/beckwith.htm#whatisco
Homan, M. (2015). Relating Community Change to Professional Practice. In Promoting Community Change: Making It Happen
In The Real Work (6th ed., p. 101). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Barker, R. (2003). C & I. In The Social Work Dictionary (5th ed., p. 85 & 220). Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Crafting Audience Aware Social Media Content. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2015, from https://ladynonprofit.files.wordpress.
com/2014/02/social-media-content.png
Black Lives Matter Freedom & Justice for all Black Lives. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2015.
#BlackLivesMatter: It’s more than a Hashtag. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2015, from http://www.buildingmovement.
org/blog/entry/blacklivesmatter_its_more_than_a_hashtag
Swanson, K. (2013, June 1). A Practical Outreach Guide for a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). Retrieved
November 6, 2015.

37. References
Glossary for Understanding the Dismantling Structural Racism/Promoting Racial Equity Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved November 6,
2015, from http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/rcc/RCC-Structural-Racism-Glossary.pdf