The document discusses the impact of social media on public policy. It provides examples of how social media campaigns have influenced policy decisions and government action. Specifically, it describes how coordinated online protests killed proposed legislation SOPA/PIPA in 2012. It also discusses how social media drew attention to infrastructure issues, resulting in congressional action, and how student activism around campus sexual assault led to statements from the White House. The document analyzes factors that made these social media campaigns effective in influencing policy, such as clear messaging, coordinated tactics, and influential champions.

1. The
Social
Web’s
Impact
on
Public
Policy
Jonathan
Kopp
Managing
Director
/
Chief
Interac5ve
Strategist
The
Glover
Park
Group
03
June
2014
@jonathankopp

2. A
Decade
of
Social
Media
in
Poli<cs
2
Register
Donate
Volunteer
Vote
Share
2004
2008
2014

3. The
New
Horserace:
Electeds’
Likes
&
Talking
About
3
Source:
“Congressional
Republicans
have
more
Facebook
fans,
but
Democrats
are
more
energized,”
Washington
Post,
4/28/14

4. Ex-­‐US:
Social
Web
Fuels
Popular
Uprisings
4

5. Take
It
From/To
the
Top.
5
• 100K
signatures
in
30
days
for
response
(up
from
5K
when
launched
in
2011).
• Post-­‐Newtown
gun
control
pe55on
(12/12/12),
neZed
100K
sigs.
in
1
day.
• 10
MM
users
&
15
MM
signatures.
• WH
has
responded
to
200+
pe55ons.
Construc5ve
Engagement

6. Social
Web
Advocacy
Has
Reached
Maturity.
6

7. Everyone
a
Clicktavist
7
ü MoveOn.org
ü Avaaz.org
ü Change.org
ü Care2.org
ü Act.ly

8. Add
Accelerant:
Thunderclap
8

9. As
Social
Standardizes,
Staffer
Skep<cism
Surges.
53%
of
Hill
staffers
strongly/agree
(25%
are
“not
sure”)
that
iden<cal
form
communica<ons
are
sent
without
cons<tuents’
knowledge
or
approval.
Only
22%
believe
that
messages
actually
reflect
cons<tuent
communica<on.
[Source:
Congressional
Management
Founda5on's
2011
Communica)ng
with
Congress
report]
9

10. When
have
signals
from
the
social
web
influenced
public
policy
and/or
ac<on?
What
can
we
learn
from
them?
10

11. 11
18
January
2012
-­‐
Day
of
Protest
• 162
million
people
saw
Wikipedia’s
blacked-­‐out
message,
“Imagine
a
world
without
free
knowledge.”
• 70,000
smaller
websites,
including
those
of
companies,
advocacy
groups
&
individuals,
“went
dark”
or
posted
support
messages.
• 4.5
million
people
signed
Google’s
pe55on.
• 2.4
million
tweets
in
one
day.
• Hundreds
of
thousands
of
emails
&
calls
to
Congress.
• 100K+
signatures
on
a
WeThePeople
site.
• 70,000
people
added
an5-­‐SOPA/PIPA
badges
to
their
TwiZer,
Facebook
&
Google+
avatars.
SOPA/PIPA:
Legisla<on
Swigly
Killed
The
Stop
Online
Piracy
Act
(SOPA)
was
opposed
by
Google,
Microsog,
Facebook,
Twijer,
Reddit,
Wikipedia,
Cheezburger
Network,
WordPress,
Mozilla,
among
others.

12. SOPA/PIPA
Difference
Makers
• Big
corporate
funders
• Populist
issue
• Clear
message
• Technology
leaders
with
most
trafficked
websites
• Highly
coordinated,
integrated
tac5cal
ac5vity
• Innova5ve
approach
• Call
to
ac5on
12

13. Results:
ü President
Obama
cited
ASCE
Report
Card
at
Miami
port
event.
ü Congress
enacted
Water
Resources
Reform
&
Dev.
Act
for
1st
<me
in
7
years.
ü Forward
mo5on
on
the
highway
bill.
ASCE:
America’s
Infrastructure
Report
Card
13

14. ASCE
Difference
Makers
• Rela5vely
obscure
driver,
but…
• Large
membership
organiza5on…
• With
assets
in
every
state
&
county
in
the
country
• Enabled
localized
&
spot
market
targe5ng
• Clear
message:
from
important
to
urgent
• Data
based
integrated
campaign
• Tried
&
true
tac5c
(report
card)
with
innova5ve
twist
(app)
&
crea5vity
(infographics)
• Endorsement
from
top
influencers
(White
House,
Colbert,
etc.)
14

15. Student
Ac<vism
to
White
House
Ac<on
15
“Perhaps
most
important,
we
need
to
keep
saying
to
anyone
out
there
who
has
ever
been
assaulted:
you
are
not
alone.
We
have
your
back.
I’ve
got
your
back.”
–
President
Barack
Obama,
22
January
2014
C
A
U
S
E
E
F
F
E
C
T

16. SAFER:
Difference
Makers
• Student
grassroots
ac5vists
tapped
social
media
to
share
campus
assault
news,
data
&
reports.
• Programma5c
approach,
coordinated
with
like-­‐minded
organiza5ons.
• Evidence-­‐based:
• Na5onal
study
in
early
2013
about
an5-­‐rape
ac5vists,
accompanied
by
a
series
of
blog
posts
and
promo5on
across
the
social
web.
• 2nd
na5onal
study
5med
to
start
of
2013-­‐2014
school
year
analyzed
300
school
sexual
assault
policies;
promoted
across
the
social
web.
• Influen5al
champions:
Sen.
Gillibrand,
VP
Biden
&
President
Obama.
16

17. Hashtag
Deployment
17
“We’re
being
tweeted
into
combat,”
a
military
official
told
NBC
News.
#BringBackOurGirls
Clicktavism:
1
million
signatures
on
Change.org.
1
million
tweets
featuring
#BringBackOurGirls
in
early
May,
including
Michelle
Obama,
Hillary
Clinton
&
scores
of
celebs.
Results
to
date:
State
Dept.,
FBI,
DoD
commit
resources,
equipment,
personnel
&
poli5cal
pressure.
President
Obama
ready
to
appropriate
$5
billion
at
the
request
of
Congress.

18. #BringBackOurGirls:
Difference
Makers
• Urgency
• Brazen
criminal
act
against
sympathe5c
vic5ms
• Authen5c
outrage
&
concern
among
grassroots
• Size
&
speed
of
popular
response
• Influen5al
voices
championing
the
cause
18

19. Gun
Reform,
Round
One:
#Newtown
19
Though
social
has
helped
fuel
the
gun
debate,
it
has
yet
to
produce
many
tangible
policy
change
results.
• Funding:
More
than
$18
MM
raised
to
date
from
more
than
218,000
contribu5ons,
with
more
than
half
of
it
coming
from
people
dona5ng
online
in
amounts
of
less
than
$200.
• Analy<cs:
iden5fying
the
people
who
are
the
most
outspoken
and
targe5ng
them
specifically,
and
iden5fying
that
unlikely
groups
of
people
such
as
veterans
are
pro-­‐gun
control.
• Communica<on:
organiza5ons
can
quick
and
easy
to
talk
to
cons5tuencies
at
mass.

20. #Newtown:
Lessons
Learned
• Passionate
base
can
make
more
noise
than
change;
alienate
opposi5on
and
moveable
middle
• Fragmented
coali5on
• Lack
of
clear,
agreed
upon
goals
• Spokesperson
maZers
• No
quick
or
easy
wins
against
entrenched,
funded
opposi5on
20

21. Re-­‐load:
#NotOneMore
21

22. NRA:
Outgunned
From
Both
Sides?
22
NRA
Statement,
30
May
2014:
….
If
we
exercise
poor
judgment,
our
decisions
will
have
consequences
…
such
as
turning
an
undecided
voter
into
an
an<gun
voter
because
of
causing
that
person
fear
or
offense.
Recently,
demonstrators
have
been
showing
up
in
various
public
places,
including
coffee
shops
and
fast
food
restaurants,
openly
to5ng
a
variety
of
tac5cal
long
guns….
….
while
unlicensed
open
carry
of
long
guns
is
also
typically
legal
in
most
places,
it
is
a
rare
sight
to
see
someone
sidle
up
next
to
you
in
line
for
lunch
with
a
7.62
rifle
slung
across
his
chest,
much
less
a
whole
gaggle
of
folks
descending
on
the
same
public
venue
with
similar
arms.
Let's
not
mince
words,
not
only
is
it
rare,
it's
downright
weird
and
certainly
not
a
prac5cal
way
to
go
normally
about
your
business
while
being
prepared
to
defend
yourself.
To
those
who
are
not
acquainted
with
the
dubious
prac<ce
of
using
public
displays
of
firearms
as
a
means
to
draw
aZen5on
to
oneself
or
one's
cause,
it
can
be
downright
scary.
It
makes
folks
who
might
normally
be
perfectly
open-­‐minded
about
firearms
feel
uncomfortable
and
ques<on
the
mo<ves
of
pro-­‐gun
advocates.
Open
Carry
Texas,
Gun
Rights
Across
America,
Come
&
Take
It

23. NIMBY:
Single-­‐Family
Rental
Homes
23

24. YIMBY:
Na<onal
Rental
Home
Council
24

25. Social
media
can
drive
government
ac<on,
but
specific
condi<ons
are
typically
required.
PUBLIC
INFLUENCERS
Bojom-­‐up:
Grassroots
groundswell
Top-­‐down:
Engaged
celebri5es
from
poli5cs,
entertainment
&
sports
Tipping
Point
CHANGE

26. Social
Media
Is
Key
Ingredient,
Not
a
Silver
Bullet
26
Fundamentals
of
effec<ve
communica<ons:
Analy<cs
&
Insight
Strategy
Message
Content
Targe<ng
STRATEGIC
APPROACH
Paid
Owned
Earned
INTEGRATED
TACTICS
(online
and
off)
+

27. The
Social
Web’s
Impact
on
Public
Policy
Jonathan
Kopp
Managing
Director
/
Chief
Interac5ve
Strategist
The
Glover
Park
Group
03
June
2014
@jonathankopp