In June 2023 the network support team hosted a training for For Our Kids teams on using social media and Canva. The recording is available for teams needing social media guidance. Request a link at: [email protected].
Social media is an essential tool for sharing our stories, inspiring others and being a part of the public conversations around climate. Using social media also has to be weighed against your teams goals and capacity. Each social media platform has different strengths, purposes, audiences and pros/cons for your team. Trends and technologies are also constantly evolving and changing, so we'll do our best to keep you updated with the network's key learnings.
Here's a quick overview of platform options, but you can also read more here in this guide from Future Ground Network about the pros/cons of some platforms (thank you David Suzuki Foundation!):
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Facebook groups (which can be public or private) allow those subscribed to the group to have discussions, share links/news and interact through comments and private messaging. This can add multi-way communication for your team members or supporters who may be following you but haven't joined a meeting. If you do want your For Our Kids team to have a Facebook group, let us know so we can link it to the network's Facebook page (listings here). We also suggest setting up 1-2 moderators for your group, group agreements/rules (to keep discussions focussed) and/or requiring posts approval. There's also some helpful basics on Facebook group settings and moderation here, from the activist handbook website: Activist Handbook - Facebook Groups.
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Facebook pages: they let you post as your group (rather than your personal profile). Rather than joining a FB group, people need to "like your page", which does mean it's a bit more limited by alogrithims (FB wants you to pay to boost your posts so more people see it). We advise starting with a Facebook group and if needed, add a Facebook page. Facebook pages do allow you to purchase ads to reach new audiences (something you can't do with a FB group).
- Instagram: it's a great platform for building general awareness and sharing visual content. It's not as user friendly for getting people to click on calls to action, articles or other links. You can use LinkTree to set up a listing of links to visit (you'll see posts say "Link in Bio" that often takes you to a Link Tree menu - check out the For Our Kids national Link Tree as an example). but not so great for getting people to click on action links or articles.
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Twitter: Twitter is great for publicly commenting on things, engaging with public figures or powerholders, communicating with politicians and media. But in order to be effective, you need to put a lot of effort into posting a lot and gaining followers. For Our Kids national has a Twitter account that you could use if you need one for a certain action/tactic, or you want to use Twitter to direct message or tweet at a public figure.
- TikTok: growing platform, important platform for young people, great opportunity to build an audience for those with capacity to create video content.
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LinkedIn: a growing platform, especially for international audiences. A great place to get exposure, build relationships for fundraising, or share content with others working in social change.
- YouTube: is the second largest search engine in the world, typically where people come for entertainment but a lot of niche communities are having conversations there. A useful place for sharing long-form content and/or YouTube shorts is a place to try out short-form video content.
