a social media war room for civic renewal

Big companies track mentions of their brands and products in social media and interject rebuttals or enthusiastic responses that lead consumers to buy their stuff. Upwell is a great organization that uses exactly the same techniques to promote its “client”–the ocean. Although supported by philanthropy, Upwell works for the ecosystems of the seas. For instance, when National Shark Week caused a lot of chatter about sharks, Upwell confirmed that most of the tweeters liked sharks and interjected information about conservation efforts, organizations, and legislation. Below is a cute illustration of their methods from their site, but they use a lot harder data than this.

We need an Upwell for civic renewal. Some smart young people should spend all their time in a war room, reading Tweets, Facebook posts, and other social media and identifying topics and events that connect to civic themes. They should work on behalf of a whole array of civic organizations–the kind I mapped here–and insert suggestions to join the most relevant groups, to support reform legislation, or to connect with people of like mind.

See also a video of me describing civic renewal and posts on “political reform on a base of civic renewal,””the folklore of communications and messaging,” and “against ‘messaging.’

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About Peter

Associate Dean for Research and the Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Tufts University's Tisch College of Civic Life. Concerned about civic education, civic engagement, and democratic reform in the United States and elsewhere.