How to mobilize students using social media.

Kidwai, Sabrina

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTINUES TO EVOLVE. Today there are a number of sites where users can interact with each other and share information-think YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Skype, among others--making social media a powerful tool for advocacy. According to Forrester Research, three out of four Americans use social technology. Social sites arc the fourth most popular online activity, according to Global Faces & Networked Places by Nielsen.

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Due to its popularity, a number of organizations, including schools, arc using social media tools to gain support for causes and campaigns. After the earthquake in Haiti, a number of organizations started a viral social media campaign to raise money for the victims. The American Red Cross asked people to donate $10 by sending a text message with the word "Haiti" to the number 90999. In the first 24 hours of the campaign, the Red Cross raised approximately $5.1 million dollars. People using Twitter and Facebook advertised the campaign by updating their statuses asking friends to donate money to the Red Cross. The Red Cross campaign illustrates the power of social media as an advocacy tool.

Educators, including those involved in career and technical education (CTF,), should be taking advantage of this medium to advocate for education. They should also be encouraging young people to become advocates because students can put a face to the narrative that CTF is important, and the investment in it is vital to their future. With its prolific use among students, social media is a great tool. According to a Pew Research report titled "Generations Online," teens and Generation Y (age 18-28) are significantly more likely than older users to send and receive instant messages, play online games, create blogs and download music.

Tips on Getting Started

Before schools start using social media for advocacy, they need to research which outlets of social media will be most useful for their advocacy efforts. For instance, Jessie Seidman, a member of the Pacific Northwest Junior State of America Student Government, started a movement to lower the voting age for school board elections in Washington state. Before launching his campaign, he researched the best way to proceed, the costs involved, and legal issues to be considered. In another instance, an organization called Students Advancing Via Education at California State University, San Marcos (SAVE CSUSM), was started in September 2009 by two students who wanted to lobby against the fee increases and furloughs that were happening on campus, and in the state at large. After looking at different options, the president of SAVE CSUSM, Gabriella Pruitt, said she decided on Facebook because CSUSM has 9,600 students and about 6,000 students use Facebook.

"Facebook has been an amazing social media tool for SAVE CSUSM," said Pruitt. "Before invitations to join the group were sent out on the first day it was created, students had already started joining. It (Facebook) has greatly aided us because we are able to notify members and supporters of upcoming events and projects and receive feedback on our progress."

SAVE CSUSM's first major project was creating a petition with 7,000 signatures to present to the CSU Board of Trustees, their representatives in Sacramento, and the governor of California. Pruitt started the petition in September, and they have collected nearly 5,000 signatures for the petition. Not only did they use Facebook, but they are obtaining signatures through their Web site, petition drives on campus, and contacting the local media.

Impact of Social Media on Legislation

Students at both the secondary and postsecondary levels are advocating for a number of education issues; organizations like the U.S. Student Association (USSA) have conducted a number of social media campaigns to educate policymakers about different policies. In October 2009, students across the country participated in a week of action to urge Senate members to vote on its version of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA). On the first day, students did a "new media blackout" in which all participants set their Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter statuses urging the passage of l he comprehensive student aid reform. On the second day, USSA embedded a Twitter tool that allowed students to submit messages urging their senators to vote for SAFRA; thousands of students participated in each event.

According to USSA Director of Communications Jake Stillwell, "The effect of this campaign was strongly felt in the Senate. During the week of action in Massachusetts, Sen. John Kerry told students contacting him that he was undecided about whether or not he was going to support the bill. After a few hours of our second day, he asked students to stop contacting his office because he made up his mind to support it."

Students successfully used social media to raise awareness of the SAFRA bill, and so did SAVE CSUSM about budget issues in California. According to Pruitt, social media has advanced their popularity on campus, but it's not the sole reason for their success. "I think students' willingness to advocate for issues using social media versus other avenues largely depends on how much the students want their cause(s) to succeed. A large portion of our success comes from participating in student organizations, fairs and speaking to classes about the petition."

As they face budget issues, teachers and administrators need to find creative ways to educate their community and policymakers at the local, state and national levels. In using social media to lobby, it is imperative to research which forms of social media students arc using and to create ways for them to tell their story. Students can tweet about their CTE experience to their legislators, write a blog about how CTE is an investment in their future and the local economy, use their Facebook accounts to encourage funding for Perkins, or create a fan page for CTE and encourage the 2.2 million students involved in Career and Technical Student Organizations to join. Whatever the case, engaging students in advocacy efforts for CTE can and does influence legislation, funding and the future of CTE, so it is time to mobilize students to be the voice of CTE.

Resources

Junior Statesmen Foundation

www.jsa.org/isf-mission/isf-mission.html

SAVE CSUSM

www.savecsusm.org

Facebook

www.facebook.com/#/group.

php?gid=127875459389

Follow us

www.twitter.com/SAVE_CSUSM

U.S. Students Association

www.usstudents.org

Sabrina Kidwai

is ACTE's media relations manager. She can be contacted at skidwai@acteonline.org.