Tweeting for Legislative Advocacy

Social Media

As a Twitter user since 2009, I’ve attracted followers who form a strong network of public school and education advocates.

While I typically post only a few items daily or have a handful of Twitter interactions, my tweets on average may generate up to 5,000 impressions, making this social media tool a valuable route to reach constituents and policymakers.

In Nebraska politics, everyone from political columnists to public office holders to public interest and advocacy groups is on Twitter — as are most of my school board members. Like most boards, mine understands that advocating for legislation that is pro-public education and thwarting the most toxic legislative proposals are a vital part of a superintendent’s work.

From experience, I’ve developed a few pointers for using Twitter as an advocacy tool to promote one’s legislative agenda.

• Determine whether you will tweet as an individual account holder or through an official district account.
  School leaders actually should have both and make a clear distinction in their uses. We use the @norris160 Twitter feed only to post official district announcements, link to district news and celebrate success. On my personal account, I tweet a wide range of content that includes broadly relevant educational content and personal updates on district developments. I use @jskretta to express opinions on policy matters important to our legislative objectives.
• Clarify with your local board of education what the legislative platform is for your district.
  Even on an individual Twitter feed, you always will be perceived as the voice of leadership representing your district, so avoid content that could be perceived as inappropriate. Ensure your board is supportive when you take a stand on education issues that may fall along partisan political lines or deal with hotly debated topics.
• Recent examples in Nebraska include charter school proposals, use of public funds for private school vouchers and adoption of new state science standards. In all cases, know where your board stands before you put yourself out there and risk articulating a policy perspective that will inevitably have supporters and detractors.
• Make sure you’re following the members of the AASA Policy and Advocacy team.
  Our national organization’s talented advocacy leadership team, including Leslie Finnan (@LeslieFinnan) and Noelle Ellerson Ng (@Noellerson), provide tremendous advice and timely updates regarding the potential impact of proposed federal legislation. They routinely tweet concise analyses or links to AASA briefs on Title funding, voucher proposals and other topics. They also helped to pioneer the #lovepubliceducation hashtag and social media conversation that promotes positive public education content.
• Follow key policymakers and opinion leaders in your state.
  In Nebraska, the Farmers Union and Farm Bureau, Open Sky Policy group and others routinely share economic analysis, taxation information and funding projections highly relevant to K-12.
• Engage your local media.
  In our state, just a handful of reporters covers education and a small group of writers covers our state legislature. They are all on social media. While they may not have the largest following, this is actually advantageous for superintendents because the reporter is more likely to follow you or reply to your mentions of their coverage than the larger news station or publication.
• Use hashtags to expand reach.
  In Nebraska, the hashtag #neleg is commonly used for those who are tracking our state’s unicameral. Hashtags #k12 and #lovepubliceducation are key means of jumping into a social media stream that will capture the attention of thousands of users.
• Avoid “Twitter wars.”
  Because Twitter is unmoderated content and wide open to the public, it can also become a hateful place where negativity reigns. Do not engage.