Sunday Style had a feature article by freelance journalist Sarah Ayoub, looking at online activism, an article for which I was interviewed a few months ago. Last month it was Facebook friends urging me to sign a petition to save Meriam Ibrahim, who was…
Author: Alex White
Research undertaken in 2012 by pro-union academic Panos Panagiotopoulos found that globally, unions are increasingly viewing digital tools as essential to improving communications and member engagement. Over 61% of unions said that digital was considered a “priority” given budget and…
A week ago, The Guardian’s Global Development Professionals Network held a live-chat with a panel of global digital campaigners to talk about “best practice”. On the panel included campaigners from highly regarded outfits like Avaaz, Change.org and Kony 2012 creators Invisible…
Many people in unions and progressive politics talk about “framing” — made famous by George Lakoff’s Don’t Think of an Elephant — but it’s difficult to see what that means in practice. Effective communication is made even more challenging by the broad…
Marketing is still widely disparaged as a term in the union movement, and progressive organisations generally. Partly this is a skepticism born from shows like Mad Men and The Pitch, and partly it is a misunderstanding drawn from the popular perception…
I’ve often highlighted useful articles about cognitive and behavioural insights that I believe are useful for unions and progressive campaigners. This time, I’ve decided to republish an entire article by Ben Newell from The Conversation, because I want to draw it to the attention of my…
All unions want to grow and increase their membership. Significant efforts and resources are devoted by unions to recruitment and the effort of signing up new workers to be members. The cost of signing up new members however can be substantial. These c…
If the conversations that I’m having at the moment are any judge, many unions and progressive organisations are looking closely at their communications and narrative. In countries or states with hostile conservative governments, like Australia or Canada, this is especially pressing. The key…
One of the regular questions I receive from unions is “how can I get members (or activists) to share our message on Facebook?” or “what will get members talking about the union on Facebook?” Sound familiar? Union organisers instinctively know that a positive “union…
Prankvertisements were the viral trend of 2013, and for a while, it seemed like every week a new company was pranking their customers in order to sell stuff. These were effective videos as entertainment (whether they helped sell anything is debatable) …