A STUDY OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL ADVOCACY:

How Social Media is Changing Grassroots Organizing Among U.S. Political Advocacy Groups

Social Media and Political Advocacy

During recent election cycles, social media has become a powerful channel for political outreach and coalition building. Many key political advocacy groups are now active players in social media and using various platforms to connect with stakeholders. Social media provides political advocacy groups with a platform that widens their reach and can immediately mobilize grassroots support.

This study examines how U.S. Political Advocacy Groups are leveraging social media channels.

Methodology

Burson-Marsteller selected 34 U.S.-based political advocacy groups to evaluate how these groups utilize social media to communicate, specifically Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

The sample breaks down as follows:• 14 conservative advocacy groups• 15 liberal advocacy groups• 5 neutral advocacy groups*

At the outset of our research process, we could not identify a definitive index or compilation of political advocacy groups. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, we selected 34 politically-influential groups that represent a range of political viewpoints.

Data was collected in May-June 2010 based on the 34 advocacy groups’ communications from March 15 to April 30, 2010 (6 weeks).

Data was gathered from the advocacy groups’ social media accounts. Data was collected by Burson-Marsteller’s Global Research Team.

*Note: Because of the small sample size, results for the 5 neutral groups is included in the overall results, but this data is not broken out in the detailed analysis.)

Selected Advocacy Groups

Conservative: American Conservative Union American Family Association (AFA) Americans for Tax Reform Business Roundtable Christian Coalition of America Family Research Council Federation for American Immigration Reform

(FAIR) Focus on the Family Freedom Works National Federation of Independent Business

(NFIB) National Rifle Association (NRA) National Right to Life National Taxpayers Union US Chamber of Commerce

Neutral: AARP American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Common Cause Concord Coalition

Liberal: American Association of People with Disabilities (AADP) American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Human Rights Campaign (HRC) League of Conservation Voters MoveOn NARAL Pro-Choice America (National Abortion and

Reproductive Rights Action League) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

(NAACP) National Committee For An Effective Congress (NCEC) National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

(NCPSSM) National Council of La Raza (NCLR) National Gay and Lesbian Task Force National Organization for Women (NOW) National Urban League (NUL) People for the American Way

Overwhelming Majority Use At Least One Social Media Platform

Thirty-three out of the 34 political advocacy groups examined use at least one social media platform, including either a Facebook page, Twitter account or YouTube channel.

Almost all Groups Are Using Multiple Platforms Simultaneously

Ninety-one percent of the political advocacy groups that use social media use Twitter, Facebook and YouTube as a means of outreach.

* No group used only 1 out of 3 platforms.

Interest Groups Use Social Media to Voice Opinions on Legislation

All of the political advocacy groups with Facebook pages and Twitter accounts use these social media platforms to share their views and news about specific federal legislation or regulation.

Advocacy groups use Twitter more than Facebook to relay legislative and regulation messages. Conservative advocacy groups were more active in discussing legislation and regulation on

Twitter and Facebook than Liberal groups in the six weeks studied (from March 15-April 30).

Examples of Tweets/Posts Concerning Legislation

Groups Encourage Direct Outreach to Politicians

Sixty-one percent of political advocacy groups on Twitter and 56 percent on Facebook use social media to encourage stakeholders to reach out to Congress and other politicians.

Ninety-five percent of direct outreach posts on Twitter and 89 percent on Facebook provided phone numbers, instructions or easy to fill out forms to contact politicians.

Liberal advocacy groups were more active than Conservative groups in encouraging followers to reach out to Congress or politicians.

Examples of Tweets/Posts Reaching Out to Government

*** Easy instruction forms like the one to the right make it easy for the public to reach out – in this example, the letter is already written, they just have to fill out their information and sign!

YouTube Channels Also Keep People Informed

The average number of videos per YouTube channel was 107. In total, these political advocacy groups have uploaded 3,432 videos to YouTube.

Many of the YouTube channels had videos about specific legislation.

*Data for YouTube is cumulative over the lifetime of the channel and is not restricted to the March 15- April 30, 2010 timeframe.

Stakeholders Are Seeking Out and Connecting With Groups

The average number of followers, fans, and subscribers on Twitter (4,880 followers), Facebook (32,588 fans) and YouTube (777 subscribers) suggests there is significant public interest in connecting with advocacy groups.

The number of Facebook fans is overwhelmingly higher than the number of Twitter followers and YouTube subscribers for all groups. The groups with the most fans were the National Rifle Association, Freedom Works, The Human Rights Campaign and MoveOn.

The Two-Way Street: Relationship Building on Twitter Political advocacy groups on Twitter are not just using social media as a platform for

lobbying efforts. The average account follows over 2,000 other Twitter users. Conservative groups follow the

highest number with an average number of accounts following of 3,354 versus 1,585 for liberal groups.

The Two-Way Street: Interacting With Stakeholders on Twitter

Seventy-six percent of advocacy groups are retweeting content from other users.

The Two-Way Street: Interacting With Stakeholders on Twitter

On Twitter, 73 percent of political advocacy groups mentioned or directly responded to others (by using the “@account” convention).

Liberal advocacy groups were more likely to mention or respond to others (93 percent) than conservative groups (50 percent).

The Two-Way Street: Interacting With Stakeholders on Twitter

“Stakeholders” were defined as individuals who have an interest in the actions of the organization and can be affected by them. “Influencers” where defined as individuals such as journalists, organizations or politicians who have the ability to influence public opinion.

The percentages of advocacy groups that responded to stakeholders versus influencers were consistent across the board, showing that advocacy groups care equally about deepening their relationships with their stakeholders as well as influencers.

Examples of Groups Mentioning/Responding to Others

The Two-Way Street: Receiving Feedback from Stakeholders

Sixty-nine percent of political advocacy groups with Facebook pages allow their fans to post on their page.

Liberal groups were the more likely to allow posts (92 percent) than conservative groups.

Fundraising is Not a Primary Purpose for Using Social Media

Less than a third of the political advocacy groups surveyed (21 percent on Twitter and 18 percent on Facebook) use Twitter and Facebook to ask for fundraising support.

Observations About Social Media Content

Overall, the study saw a variety of content published from political advocacy groups. While this study focused on looking at legislative, outreach and fundraising content other messages included:

• Coalition building• Articles of interest• News or blog posts about the organization• Protests/ Gatherings•Hot button litigation•Candidate endorsements

Key Insights

Many Advocacy Groups Are Using Social Media to Generate a Dialogue• Overall 73% of advocacy groups (including 93% of liberal advocacy groups)

responded to or mentioned others in their Twitter posts. • U.S. businesses are less engaged than advocacy groups, as only 43% of U.S.

companies in the Fortune Global 100 are responding to others via Twitter.• Advocacy groups who do are not generating a dialogue use Social Media

Platforms as a glorified RSS feed or newsletter. These groups lose the enormous benefit of community engagement and stakeholder participation that comes with direct interaction.

Social Media Allows for Communication/Mobilzation In (Near) Real Time • Whether during a lengthy legislative debate on the congressional floor (such

as Healthcare Reform) or a public protest, advocacy groups are often using social media to communicate and even mobilize their supporters in real-time.

Key Insights (continued) Facebook is Heavily Used to Rally Base Supporters and Build Community

• Facebook pages tend to become a destination for an organizations’ most devoted followers. The material and conversation posted to these pages is usually highly supportive of the organization. The Facebook page often becomes a virtual meeting place where supporters can cheerlead an organization’s efforts and disparage its opponents.

Twitter is Used for Disseminating Messages and Positions on Issues to Influencers and Other Stakeholders

• Twitter appears to be used to broadcast an organization's positions and news. Some groups have engaged with influencers (such as media and politicians) directly on Twitter.

Both Facebook and Twitter are Leveraged to Encourage Outreach• Beyond building community and disseminating information well over one-half of

Advocacy Groups – particularly liberal groups - provide phone and email contact information to inspire calls-to-action by their followers.

Contacts

Dallas LawrenceManaging Director for Digital Issue Advocacy & Public Affairs202.530.4615 Dallas.Lawrence@proofic.com www.twitter.com/dallaslawrence

Ashley WeldeDirector of Strategy Development212.614.4924 Ashley.Welde@bm.com