For those of you who have been following PinoyAutoTrader on Twitter or Facebook for the last month; you may have noticed my somewhat obsessive nature in supporting C! Magazine Editor-In-Chief James Deakin's recent appeal to help pass the Hybrid, Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Incentives (AFVI) act (also known as Senate Bill 2856).This appeal has already materialised in the shape of an online petition, through various online publications and through a recent TV appearance by Mr. Deakin on ANC News. Social media recognition and appreciation for this cause is already beginning to gain some momentum, but the battle is by no means won.
if we don't act now and and don't get a Bicam, we could wait for an extensive period of time (possibly years) before Senate Bill 2856 is passed into law
Rather than quoting the appeal and passing on information that has already been well published by Mr. Deakin and various other media outlets already, I want to pass on some useful tips on how to leverage social media to make more Filipino's aware of the cause and to help get more names signed on that extremely valuable online petition. What's the reason for this? Well if we don't act now and and don't get a Bicam, we could wait for an extensive period of time (possibly years) before Senate Bill 2856 is passed into law; the repercussions of which is a delayed response on issues that have serious detrimental events for the health and environment of the Philippines.
With a number of years under my belt working in the realms of sustainable development; I have come to understand the difficulties that come hand-in-hand with trying to spread the word about a cause you feel passionate for. Being able to get peoples attention and then additionally getting them to act on this information will always feel like an up hill struggle as you become dependent on others to carry the torch and continue spreading the message.
However the rise of social media over the last couple of years has really made everything so much easier. Gone are the days of protesting in the streets; instead you can sit back in the comfort of your own armchair to help share information and causes you feel passonate about - all it takes is a little bit of effort.
Here are a few tops tips on how to leverage the power of social media to help support the #WeWantCleanAirNow Petition.
- Sign the online petition on Change.org by completing the petition form. This will seriously take you no longer than 15 seconds.
- Generally, your activity on the petition will be shared on your Facebook Wall (depending on your Facebook privacy settings). However you can do a little bit more by again sharing this link on your wall. If you're really conscious about your own personal impact on this cause; you can also create a unique short link using websites like bitly.com which will highlight to you how many of your friends and contacts have click through to the petition. This can you a great little sense of personal fulfillment when you see the number of click-throughs and shares starting to increase.
- Like the We Want Clean Air Now Official Facebook Page; this is a page specifically created to provide regular updates on the progress of the petition. After you've liked the page click on the gear shaped icon beside the Message button on the page and click share to get this page out to as many of your contacts as possible. If you're the manager of a Facebook Page, you can also like the Page as your Page and repeat a similar process to disseminate the information further through your own brand.
- If you're a Twitter user, use the #wewantcleanairnow and #PassAFV hashtags when posting anything about the petition. A good time to do this is between 8pm and 2am when Twitter sees its increase in Philippine Twitter users. Be passionate and creative about your tweets.
- If you're a blogger, write a blog post - don't just share the same information that we've already received; write about why this information is important to you and why you believe that senate bill 2856 is important to you. If you don't have a blog or you're not into writing, step outside the virtual realm of social media and bring the topic up with your friends and family.
- Change your Facebook Cover Photo to reflect the #WeWantCleanAirNow movement. You can create your own or use the one's that have already been used by Pages like C! Magazine - just remember to also include a link to the petition in the image of the description. Doing this will raise questions among your Facebook friends and will hopefully direct them to more information and the petition.
Are you going to do your part?
There are approximately thirty million Philippine Facebook users (which accounts for around 93% of internet users in the country). All the petitions needs to gain some weight is 10,000 signatures - that's less than 0.5% of all Philippine Facebook users! Ofcourse the aim is to get more, but as Lao Tzu once said "this journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".