A term originally used with derision, clicktivism or social media activism has now become an inextricable part of how we signal and support causes we care about today. When used well, clicktivism can be effective in broadcasting lesser-known causes and popularizing fringe movements to a mainstream audience.
Understanding the different platforms available today and the subtleties of messaging on each can help activists develop a multi-pronged approach to drive online engagement and plan offline actions of solidarity and social justice.
Using Sphere to analyze the social media platforms of prominent cause-based organizations, we found out that the posts with the highest engagements often shared the same winning qualities.
Here’s how you can recreate that magic:
On this image-first platform, visually appealing information is key so avoid that text overload.
To do:
Go for short, positive quotes and phrases that uplift and unite marginalized groups. Bite-sized slogans are quick to understand and reshare.
Keep things loud and proud — vibrant, fiery colors work best to evoke a sense of urgency and position your organization as a bold force that tackles issues with assertiveness.
TIKTOK
This fast-paced short video platform is the perfect emblem of our attention-deficit times. Get your message across in 30 secs or less to get topics trending.
To do:
Do a quick intro of the topic before diving into the dialogue. As content does not appear on someone’s feed in chronological order, catch users up to speed before dissecting the issue.
Keep it real — raw and authentic content is favored on TikTok. Feature real people talking about real topics in an unscripted way and leave out those highly engineered borders and fonts.
This microblogging platform is popular for discussing news, current and societal issues, making it particularly powerful for amplifying localized and urgent crises that need immediate support.
To do:
Localize your tweets! Use local trending hashtags and mention specific places like Bangkok or India. Name marginalized communities or topics to make the issue more discoverable, such as oxygen shortages in Nepal or massive fire incidents in Bangladesh.
Share tangible achievements about action that have already been put in place. It makes the issue more salient and solvable, gives hope, and puts power in the hands of the reader.
Image analytics
1. Image Emotion Analysis: Identifies the emotion in an image
2. Object Detection: Identifies objects in an image
3. Color Detection: Identifies colors in an image
Text analytics
1. Phrases: Identifies key phrases in text
2. Words, Emojis and Hashtags: Identifies key words, phrases, emojis, and hashtags
3. Sentiment Analysis: Analyzes positive/negative/neutral sentiment found in the text
4. Text Emotion Analysis: Identifies the emotion within text
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