Social Media Advocacy: What Works, What Doesn’t, and How that Could Change

We live in an incredible time of connection. We have more access to everyone in our lives and that includes the public servants representing our communities. We can see much more of what they do on a daily basis. We can check in on their work like never before – and that change is driven by social media.

But while we can view more of what they do, there’s a common misconception about what they see US doing. There’s an unspoken assumption that they – or their team – will see when we tag them in a post, or when we send them a DM. But that’s not necessarily the case, and if we don’t dispel those notions, volunteer advocates will find themselves frustrated by a lack of progress from engaging with elected officials across platforms.

Bottom Line Up Front: you need to think about social media campaigns differently.

What leads to that lack of engagement? What’s not working for well-intentioned advocacy campaigns? What’s going to get in the way of advancing your cause?

Social media is great for crowdsourcing volume on a topic. Unfortunately, effective advocacy is almost invariably better because of its timing, not its volume. We’ve all seen social awareness campaigns that aim to make a hashtag go viral – and sometimes they do – but ignore the importance of activating advocates who have an established relationship with a decision maker.

Hashtags, tagging, and sharing posts are great for generating a sense of immediate action for those looking to dip their toes into an issue. But each of those systems approaches are passive in nature. Each of them sends a message into the ether of the internet, with the hope that it will reach the right people to influence a decision. But elected officials have limited resources just like the rest of us. (More on this here.)

An average congressional district is home to 750,000~ residents. For all of those would-be tweeters, there’s typically only ONE staff member who monitors social media traffic for a member of Congress. That person, like everyone on Capitol Hill, has about 15 other jobs to do at the same time. Your hashtag is little more than carrier pigeon trying to fly through a hurricane. It’s just not a great way to advance your agenda directly with the humans on the other end of that internet connection.

So what does work?

Again, social media is great for crowdsourcing volume. But if you want the message to make it to those who need to hear it, social media should be driving advocates to a more specific action. That’s why you’ll often see advocacy organizations share a link that drives viewers to a separate website – one dedicated to helping them send a message directly to the constituent relationship management platforms employed by elected officials.

These action centers are built to shepherd a personalized message right to the staff of a decision maker. Most importantly, it does so through the proper channels so your message will filter right to the staff who need to see it most.

I know it seems cumbersome and it interrupts your happy scrolling. But I have to tell you – if you really care about an issue, these systems are absolutely more effective. They remove the barriers of navigating to an individual congressman’s website, calling their team, writing a letter, etc. These platforms make your life easier, and your message more likely to catch the right eyes. They also often empower you to add your own personal narrative to a message – allowing you to share your personal experiences with an issue.

But technology will continue to evolve.

In the wake of COVID-19, elected officials at every level invested in technology and training that would allow them to maximize their remote constituent engagement. Those investments have changed the game for a lot of folks. In my own state, newer state representatives are prioritizing spending more time back home in their districts and less time in the capital city meeting voters at receptions and events. It’s a shift facilitated by greater technology.

But that means advocates have to find innovative approaches to build the meaningful relationships that will help their messaging get through the noise. They’ll need to invest more time in being back in the communities where they’ll find those decision makers, and perhaps less time in the Capitol. That’s going to look different for everyone, but it’s a strategic decision that should be considered now, well ahead of the next session of Congress or your state’s legislature.

But if you’re just starting out in volunteer advocacy, you don’t need to worry about that just yet. Instead, take a simple step forward. Don’t worry about crafting a perfect tweet or post about an issue. Instead do this:

1. Click on, and complete a call to action if your trusted advocacy organization posts a link.
2. Share that link with your own network and ask them to fill it out too simply to amplify the reach of the original post.
3. Get comfortable typing in your own story, in your own words, on those digital forms. It will help your message stand out from the crowd.
4. Get back to scrolling and enjoying your time making social media social again.