9 Quick-Start Blog Posts for Activists

MARY JOYCE
FOR THE OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATION AND THE EURASIAN HARM REDUCTION NETWORK DECEMBER 2013 image: Flickr/JohnCrider

THE BLOG POSTS

1. The Pass-it-Along Post 2. The Were Real People Post 3. The Community Appreciation Post 4. The Our Response Post 5. The Informative Listicle 6. The Mobilization Post 7. The Ignored News Story 8. The Guest Post 9. The Email Interview

FOR ALL BLOG POSTS:

1. Know Who: Speak to a specic audience. 2. Know Why: Have a clear goal for posting. 3. Be Clear: Speak in accessible language. 4. Be Brief: If you can say it in fewer words - do! 5. Attract Attention: Include a visual element (photo, video, gif) that illustrates the post topic.

1. THE PASS-IT-ALONG POST

Pro Tip:
This is the easiest type of blog post to write.

1. THE PASS-IT-ALONG POST

1. Keep track of relevant news by reading other NGO blogs, Twitter feeds, and listservs. 2. When you nd content that would be useful to others (could be your own content too), copy and paste the content into a blog post. 3. Link to the original source to give credit. 4. Comment on why you think the content is useful. 5. Publish!

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1. THE PASS-IT-ALONG POST

Share a photo that powerfully illustrates the problem.

source: SURFRIDER Foundation

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1. THE PASS-IT-ALONG POST

Share an infographic that illuminates an issue your organization cares about.

source: postwhoreamerica.com

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1. THE PASS-IT-ALONG POST

Share in internal report.

source: Amnesty International

2. THE WERE REAL PEOPLE POST

Pro Tip:
In social media people listen to other people, not to organizations. Reminding readers that they are reading posts from real people helps create an online relationship.

2. THE WERE REAL PEOPLE POST

1. Be attentive to the stories of staff and the work they are doing. 2. Remind your readers that your organization is full of real people by sharing stories about staff (or ask staff to share their own). 3. Publish!

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2. THE WERE REAL PEOPLE POST

First-person stories from staff about they work they do.

source: The Kings Fund

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2. THE WERE REAL PEOPLE POST

Ofce decorations, celebrations, silliness.

source: ONE Campaign

3. THE COMMUNITY APPRECIATION POST

Pro Tip:
Activist blogging is about creating relationships between people that allows them to work together to achieve a common goal. People work together better when they feel appreciated.

3. THE COMMUNITY APPRECIATION POST

1. Be alert to the good work being done in the network. 2. Write posts that describe this good work. 3. Use photos and video to illustrate this good work whenever it is available. 4. Praise generously. 5. Publish!

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COMMUNITY APPRECIATION POST

Appreciate a group of people.

source: ONE Campaign

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COMMUNITY APPRECIATION POST

Let individual volunteers and community members tell their own stories about the good work they do.

source: Human Rights Campaign

s e l p m a 3. THE Ex

COMMUNITY APPRECIATION POST

Sharing a video that shows a network member hard at work.

source: SURFRIDER Foundation

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COMMUNITY APPRECIATION POST

When appropriate, sympathize with community members during tough times.

source: SURFRIDER Foundation

4. THE OUR RESPONSE POST

1. Keep track of what governments and the media are writing about your topic. 2. When they say something about your topic (either good or bad) publicly respond to highlight or to correct. 3. Publish!

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4. THE OUR RESPONSE POST

Give your organizations opinion of a government policy report (thats shorter and easier to read than the report itself.)

source: Results UK

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4. THE OUR RESPONSE POST

Refute a misleading public statement about your issue.

source: Hufngton Post

5. THE INFORMATIVE LISTICLE

Pro Tip:
This is a more challenging kind of post because the purpose is to take something complicated and/or long and present it simply and briey. list + article = listicle

5. THE INFORMATIVE LISTICLE

1. Think of something that you want your network to know, but the complexity of the information is making comprehension difcult. 2. Use your expertise as issue analysts to break the information into easy pieces. 3. Present the pieces as a list (bonus if each item also has a photo to illustrate it). 4. Publish!

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5. THE INFORMATIVE LISTICLE

Explain the elements of a confusing new law or government policy.

source: Buzzfeed

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5. THE INFORMATIVE LISTICLE

List a lot of similar content all at once (usually positive content).

source: Buzzfeed and SURFRIDER Foundation

6. THE MOBILIZATION POST

1. State why action is necessary (the crisis). 2. State why action will help (the opportunity). 3. Be clear about how to take action (make it easy). 4. Publish!

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6. THE MOBILIZATION POST

Use links and boldface so the reader can see where and how to take actions without reading the whole post.

source: No H8 Campaign

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6. THE MOBILIZATION POST

Make it personal with an ask from a staffer or community member.

source: Beths Blog

7. THE IGNORED NEWS STORY

Pro Tip:
News is something that happens out in the world, not in the organization.
When an organization publishes a report, that is not a news story, its a pass-it-along post.

7. THE IGNORED NEWS STORY

1. Be alert to stories from inside your network that are not being covered by mainstream media. 2. Write the news story yourself, as if you were a journalist. Include:

Who it affects (start with the story of a person who is part of the event) What + When + Where the event happened Why the reader should care How the reader can take action to help (if applicable)
3. Include an image (with permission) wherever possible, to illustrate the story. 4. Publish!

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7. THE IGNORED NEWS STORY

A creative solution to an ongoing problem.

source: Invisible People

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7. THE IGNORED NEWS STORY

A new threat that you want your network to be ready to take action on.

source: Human Rights Watch

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7. THE IGNORED NEWS STORY

Updates on a ongoing story members of your network are already interested in.

source: Greenpeace

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7. THE IGNORED NEWS STORY

Success stories

source: ONE Campaign

Pro Tip:
These next two post styles are time-savers. You are basically asking someone else to write the post for you.

8. THE EMAIL INTERVIEW

1. Select a community member who has a good story to tell. 2. Email them a list of 5 questions that bring out the story. 3. Edit the interview for clarity and length if necessary. 4. Publish!

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8. THE EMAIL INTERVIEW

Put questions in bold so they stand out.

source: The Open University

9. THE GUEST POST

1. Select an expert on a topic that is of interest to the network. This person should have good writing skills. 2. Ask the the expert to write a post on the topic. 3. Edit the post for clarity and length if necessary. 4. Publish!

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9. THE GUEST POST

This is also a great way to appreciate a network member...

source: The Nonprot Technology Network

THE BLOG POSTS

1. The Pass-it-Along Post 2. The Were Real People Post to 3. The Community Appreciation Post e hes t e n i b of 4. The Our Response Post m s e o p c y t an c re o u m yo . . 5. The Informative Listicle e . s k t ma pos 6. The Mobilization Post 7. The Ignored News Story 8. The Guest Post 9. The Email Interview

THANK YOU!

MARY JOYCE

@MetaActivism mjoyce@uw.edu www.meta-activism.org