Vegan blogger Adam Kochanowicz has just written a couple of posts on Twitter vegan advocacy here and here.
In the first post, he talks about using Twitter's search function to look up phrases like "trying to go vegan" and "switch to a vegan diet" in order to find individuals who are, well, trying to go vegan. He concludes:
Potential vegans are out there. Who will respond to them, you or their meat-waving idiotic friends? Think about that.
This is a very good point. People trying to go vegan find themselves being constantly influenced and discouraged by all the non-vegans they know. As if to prove that point, when I did my last search for "going vegan," I found someone who was asking another Tweep for advice on going vegan. I clicked to see if this was a vegan because if it was I'd leave it to them... Lo and behold, it was someone referring to themself as an "avid carnivore." (Perfect person to ask for advice on going vegan, right?) So I tweeted "@EnzymaticThrpy Tip from a vegan: ethnographic studies show that those with a vegan support network are most likely to stick with it!" And she RT'd (retweeted) that.
To vamp this story up, Adam in his second post mentions the new Twitter vegan help line he has created to overcome some of the tedium of looking up target Tweeps. This is a fascinating way to seek out target audiences, who probably just wish someone would read their tweets! I think a goal for me, given my understanding of the need for people to be part of vegan support networks, might be to direct Tweeps to the right support networks.
Another great thing about Twitter microactivism is that you can use it to build up an online social media network. Here's a little more for the Twitter newb:
RT stands for "retweet" and is used to pass along someone else's tweet. So my tweet became: "Interesting! Makes sense! RT @ciuma Tip from a vegan: studies show that those with a vegan support network are most likely to stick with it!"
@ goes before someone's Twitter name in a tweet, creates a link to their page and can be used to start a conversation. Find all those who have @'d you by going to "Home" and then clicking on the @[yourname] link on the right. Normally you will also use this when RT'ing so that everyone can click on the link to the other Tweeps' pages.
What other ways can you think of / find for Twitter activism? Here is an interesting article spelling (uncalled for) doom for online social media as a political tool. I found the comments more conclusive than the article itself. Writes Tom:
[I]t's true that we are sometimes guilty of being overly optimistic about the power of the internet to do good, but i also agree with Tom Taylor-Duxbury - the internet can easily be compared to the printing press, in terms of how it helps people to spread information, and while authoritarian governments can use it to their own ends, it increases the power of the people far more than it increases the powers of authoritarianism.
And, in case you missed it, my Twitter account is ciuma. Follow me! :)
