Civic Engagement Using Civic Centric Social Media
Want to take a stab at income inequality this instant?
Simple: grab your phone and get started.
Civic life is comprised of the attention & actions an individual devotes
to a common good.But where & how civic life takes place, is an open question. The lines between the private & the public, the self-interested & the civic are blurring as digital cultures transform means & patterns of communication around the world.
Civic Media Project — MIT PressCivic — Latin cīvicus, from cīvis citizen
Forever, the term civic has been assigned to government or community participation on behalf of public concern, as civics was left to a secondary education introductory course. Wired generations aren’t more disconnected than ever — our outdated understanding of community concerns and effective engagement is.
In New York — city and state — thousands of small businesses, artists, arts organizations, and advocacies — post regularly to social media. They are everywhere: to start, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Soundcloud. Burgeoning and established they’re posting on their services and products, local issues, arts, and community. They need your help, your attention, most importantly your ‘engagement’ . Surprisingly, on social media, it’s not just about product; it can actually be as simple as a like, share, retweet, or encouraging comment.
Home grown, local, organic doesn’t just pertain to the farm or dinner table. Social media reach and engagement are hard to come by, for the rest of us, in the ever rising sea of corporate media and entertainment saturation backed by endless digital marketing/online media staffs and bottomless budgets. Yet the wealth of creative and inventive home grown social media posts abound online every day.
Here’s why likes, shares, or retweets matter to small business:
We refer to them as small businesses, yet:
“97% of New York businesses have fewer than 100 employees, while 88% of businesses have fewer than 20 employees.
Looking at employment, over one-third of the workforce (36%) is employed in firms with fewer than 100 employees, with about 20% employed in firms
with fewer than 20 employees.”
If almost 90% of city businesses only comprise 20% of the workforce guess what size business most New Yorkers work for? (Hint: the ones with whole tech, design, media, and marketing departments.)
Scores of businesses aren’t peddling thoughts on sex, breakfast, or the NBA Finals, nor are their posts backed by endless funds — they’re offering wares and information to foster a vibrant social media presence. The livelihood of small business depends on reaching and engaging new and existing followers (aka clients). Many are working skillful non direct advertising and personable imagery while sharing relevant content from followers and other content creators.
The Arts
Here’s why likes, shares, or retweets matters to home grown arts:
‘Skyrocketing rents have forced numerous music venues, nonprofit theaters and art galleries to close their doors and made it difficult for many of the city’s artists, architects and other creative workers to afford to remain in the city.’
Taylor Swift doesn’t need help with her 79 million fans. Lena Dunham’s Kevin Spacey sex dreams are safe with her 4.7 million followers. Jon Oliver will be just fine with his 2.5 million Twitter fan base. But scores of burgeoning artists and arts organizations do need you.
Advocacy
Here’s why likes, shares, or retweets matter to community — and country:
Brooklynites had their say during a visioning session focused on the proposed Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX), with some voicing support for the streetcar while others called it a giveaway to developers.
The Madrid-based Boa Mistura, had come to South Slope to embark on a bold project called Spread Love, It’s The Brooklyn Way.
The artists were brought here by Open Source Gallery (306 17th Street near 6th Avenue) to engage in a collaboration of paint and community.
Instead of complaining incessantly (many of us do) about mainstream media and tabloid journalism — why not look for and engage with reputable non mainstream and civic centric publications and voices? The more community based, the less likely to be politically charged. Opt for inclusive features based posts.
On a personal note: while most advocacy groups and political publications — and many non-profits — have political agendas, many of their features articles are shareable for a broader audience. The trick is in sharing articles and posts less politicized, more informative or reflective than slant ‘centric’ . Most of my shares are clearly from the progressive side of the political aisle, but, for the most part, I opt out of opinion and slant media for reflective informative shares rather than calls to action (Twitter is the exception).
Facebook: all it takes is a follow, and a visit to a business page a few times to share/like a post (forget their post ever making it into your news feed these days). You can even schedule posts to avoid post blasting.
Twitter: since Twitter posts disappear like lightening, use Twitter Lists to capture posts, whether you want to follow them or not. (You need Hootsuite, free for 3 accounts, to schedule posts.)
Instagram: all it takes is a follow and a like. While you can’t share posts, you can embed them on your website.
The best way to take a bite of income inequality is to support local businesses and organizations, arts organization, home grown artists, and advocacies — on social media. A vibrant online presence helps home grown New York — home grown America — the home grown planet. And that will take a bite out of income inequality — locally, nationally, globally.
A billion worldwide logging on daily — with only 3 million advertisers?
To be continued…
