One funny thing about a tool is the way it can save or doom you, depending on the user/usage. Even weapons of mass destruction, it can be argued, can have a positive impact if deterring nations from engaging into conflict. On the other hand, weapons of mass construction, like schools, can be used to indoctrinate children on strict social conformity.
Probably the most critical tools for social change these days are information and communication technologies (ICTs). The internet might be the first topic to spring into your mind, but for millions living in developing countries the web is not an option (not even a PC, for starters). Radio appears far more pervasive, but it lacks interactivity, individual ownership and mobility – features available in mobile phones.
By the end of 2008, there were an estimated 4 billion mobile phones globally (Wireless Intelligence 2008 ). New telephone connections in low- and lower-middle-income countries have outnumbered those in upper-middle- and high-income countries since 1998 – and new mobile customers in the coming years will emerge in developing countries (GSMA 2008).
It’s the “bright” side of underdevelopment: sometimes you are given the opportunity to catch up by skipping some stages. Many Africans never saw a computer, but use mobile phones to access and diffuse critical info.
photo by Future Atlas (CC)
Probably the most widespread application in this field, FrontlineSMS is a simple-to-use, free, open source, entry-level text messaging software targeted mostly at NGOs in the developing world interested in using SMS in their work and who are unable to use the majority of current systems due to a lack of internet connectivity. It turns a laptop and a mobile phone into a central communications hub. Once installed, the program enables users to send and receive text messages with groups of people through mobile phones. The usages are as diverse as the NGO’s mission (browse map here ).
More focused applications are also growing, notably in the health sector:
Text to Change (TTC) uses a bulk short message service (SMS) platform for health education to conduct projects designed to communicate knowledge about HIV and AIDS and encourage subscribers to volunteer for HIV testing. Mobile phone subscribers receive interactive text messages in the form of multiple choice questions on their mobile phones.
SIMpill utilizes ordinary bottles and attaching it a SIM card and transmitter device. Every time the bottle is opened, an SMS is sent to a central server. If the bottle is not opened within a particular time frame, the SIMPill server sends a reminder message to the patient, a family member or caregiver. If patients don’t take their medication, health workers are alerted and can call the patient or visit at home.
It’s one of those communication holy truths, but seldom used. Everybody knows that the most powerful way to get a point across is by presenting a human example. Your own personal example is perfect, another person’s is ok.
If you manage to tell a story using the hero’s own voice, you´ve found a golden nugget.
So why is this nugget so rare in most advocacy campaigns? If you’re advocating for marginalized issues/groups, voicing their arguments and dramas should be fairly easy. After all, most civil society organizations should be close to their constituencies – and therefore able to sample powerful stories.
In reality, bringing such stories to light proves to be a tough cookie. Some obstacles: access to mainstream media outlets is selective and newsmaking quite expensive, particularly whenaddressing facts ocurring in other countries (like developing countries); publicizing marginalized people’s identities might be harmful for them; marginalized people often lack the means – technical, cultural – to express their views to a wider audience and – last but not least – storytelling talent is scarce.
Some tips to overcome this:
• Fundraise to cover travel and accommodation expenses for journalists keen on covering your story;
• When there’s personal risk for the storyteller and/or other people close to her/him, protection is a must – but the story must be told;
• Empower the storytellers through communication capacity buiding.
This last one is of paramount importance. If people master some key skills to express themselves articulately and effectively to diverse audiences, they achieve an important part of getting their stories across. Such mastery should be expressive – rhetorical techniques, body language – and technological – ICT usage, notably those more cost-effective (internet, mobile phones, radio). Two notable examples at this end are Witness and PANOS.
Finally, a note for the tone. Narrative talent should be increasingly invested in uplifting stories. Think and talk positive. A hero is someone that overcomes great perils – preferably not dying in the process. Overcoming imminent death and failure against terrible odds is “the” turn on for audiences worldwide. So give them the drama, the suspense, but wrap up with a happy ending.
President Obama’s call on Americans to put more effort into service has been triggering all sorts of responses. All for Good is presented as such and built mostly around Google – who voluntarily provides its lead developers and hosts the website – but aggregates a vast array of organizations willing to share volunteer activities across the USA.
Another open source application is Social Actions, providing a database of actions people can take on any issue, from volunteer opportunities to micro credit loans. Both All for Good and Social Actions are web-based change hubs targeted at the browsing supporter.
“The overarching goal of our work is to make the web more action-oriented, or in other words, to make it easier for people to make a difference”. Social Action aggregates selected action sources such as Change.org, Idealist or Kiva – themselves already change hubs – and allows the potential supporter to select the most suitable ones with a dedicated search engine. All for Good works in a similar way.
Both projects call on users to engage freely, from posting action opportunities to developing applications for the website. Although similar, they do not compete (in fact, Idealist is partner on both).
From their inception, these are strongly collaborative platforms – showing how ICTs can be a powerful enabler of social change. They are completely user oriented, encouraging her/him to design his own path and level of engagement. This freedom will coin their success.
What makes advocacy campaigning cutting edge and capable of delivering huge impact? Putting it simply, the network effect. And if the network is structured around a strong coalition of organizations, well that’s even better.
Coalitions provide the critical mass needed for achieving social change. The organizations forming a coalition should possess two critical ingredients for success: trusting supporters and good reputation. This is crucial to generate continuous support and ultimately to focus the campaign’s overall goals and expected policy changes. Success stories like the Make Poverty History or Jubilee campaigns wouldn’t unravel without the likes of Oxfam, Christian Aid or the Evangelical Alliance.
But coalitions aren’t risk exempt. Beware of: strongest members trying to dominate the common agenda; competition among members and unequal commitment. There is only one way to prevent this, by enabling a trust environment within the coalition. Such atmosphere is built with 4 main components:
1. Leadership (based on dialogue and consensus);
2. Flexible structure;
3. Division of labor;
4. Communication (lots of it).
This is of paramount importance in our networked society, where face to face relationships in one’s social network are increasingly scarce. Social media works because there is a trust factor in place. We engage because we trust. Keep reading →
Neda Agha-Soltan got out from her house in Teheran to participate in the demonstrations against the rigged iranian elections but was stopped by a bullet to the heart. She became the latest international martyr for democracy advocates. Avaaz, who campaigns for several causes worldwide using the internet, wants one million people to sign a e-petition putting pressure on Iranian authorities. New technologies played an important role in the iranian situation from the start, showing sousveillance at work.
This term was created by Steve Mann as opposed to surveillance – this one being done by authority /power holders. So this means ordinary citizens fighting back, Small Brother versus Big Brother. Portable forms of technology, especially mobile phones, are what makes this possible.
In the aftermath of Iranian elections, the micro-blogging service Twitter was used by Iranian citizens to provide an account of the authorities’ crackdown on demonstrators such as Neda. The government responded by blocking the service and by pinpointing the Iranian twitters (checking the time zone and the persons who spread the information).
But blocking Twitter didn’t do the trick: Keep reading →
Communication is a central ingredient for development: in fair and inclusive political processes; in effective and transparent governance policies; in supporting committed citizens and strong civil society towards a sustainable economic growth.
We require an integrated perspective of the role that communication plays in human development: starting from the perspective of those in need and considering all communication media. A communication for all – and by all.
Advocacy communication can be defined as all forms of communication raising awareness of society, media and decision-makers on relevant public issues in order to produce positive social change. Overall, it’s a communication for social change.
Advocacy communication is effective when used strategically as structured campaigning. An advocacy campaign is a coordinated effort to produce a specific social change. We’re not talking about a single initiative; we’re referring to a mix of activities, communication and information materials and events – all aligned in a time-bound plan.
Who’s doing advocacy communication? Civil society organizations (CSO) are, due to their mission and role, key elements in any communication for social change effort. They are the ones usually more vocal, the ones more willing make the voices of the marginalized heard. On the other hand, they face the temptation to use advocacy efforts to simultaneously boost their own fundraising activities, thus undermining their reputation and the cause/group championed by the advocacy efforts.
Uma árvore de desejos numa praça da cidade: após semanas de discussão, a equipa de Gerard Lemos criou um conceito que, com 4 simples perguntas sobre medos e aspirações, conseguiu obter respostas sinceras numa comunidade chinesa, para depois informar programas de apoio governamental. Devemos sempre ter presentes as componentes profundas da identidade e do sentido de pertença de uma comunidade. Para isso, há sempre que convidá-la a participar na mudança. Mais informaçõesaqui.
A chamada Web 2.0 permite-nos construir relações e comunidades genuínas. Segundo Alex Steed, reduzi-la a uma lógica artificial ou instrumental é uma receita para o fracasso. Nas redes sociais não devemos “parecer” honestos, temos de sê-lo, pois a mentira é rapidamente desmascarada. Um bom “peer associative branding” através da internet só está ao alcance de quem souber ouvir os outros e criar relações de confiança. Apresentação aqui.
Paolo Mefalopulos apresentou em Lisboa a sua visão de uma comunicação positiva, cujo impacto se mede pela capacidade de antecipar os problemas. Entre definir uma situação ou ser definido por ela percorre-se o caminho do planeamento estratégico. Planeiem, que depois tudo correrá pelo melhor. A apresentação completa pode encontrar-se aqui.
A strategic component of any campaign, and a necessary characteristic of any change agent, is advocacy – raising awareness about a salient topic within a target audience. As we experience more of what C W Mills presciently described almost 70 years ago in his classic work, The Power Elite, as the era of public communication, civil society advocates, with the ever expanding technological toolchest, are focusing more on grass roots strategies.
Mass communication is becoming anachronistic; we are in era where each of us is capable – through social networking, YouTube, Twitter, et al - of being our own self contained broad/narrow cast entities.
This bottom up, rather than top down communication approach, seeks to involve opinion leaders at the community level in spreading the message through various means and venues, thereby strengthening the topical appeal among the general public. Keep reading →
