1.
Strike!
How
to
effectively
utilize
Facebook
and
Twitter
during
a
Live
Event
Background:
On
June
10,
2010,
more
than
12,000
Minnesota
RNs
conducted
the
largest
nursing
strike
in
U.S.
history.
Below
are
the
strategies
we
used
and
(more
important)
the
lessons
we
learned
using
Social
Media
during
an
emotional,
action-­‐packed
24
hours:
• Dedicate
someone
full-­‐time
the
day
of
the
event
to
monitor,
curate
and
edit
content
being
shared
on
your
Facebook
Fan
Page.
This
person
should
be
engaging,
responding,
commenting
and
helping
users
on
the
page.
That
means
being
parked
in
front
of
your
screen
ALL
DAY,
constantly
refreshing
the
page,
sharing
new
content
and
updates,
answering
questions,
solving
problems,
etc.
• Make
sure
your
Facebook
Fan
Page
settings
are
such
that
anyone
can
easily
upload
and
share
their
photos/videos
without
needing
approval
first.
(This
is
obviously
why
you
also
need
someone
monitoring
the
page
in
real-­‐time
on
your
end
as
well.)
• Put
out
encouraging
posts
throughout
the
day
asking
people
to
take
photos
and
videos
on
their
phones
and
upload
to
the
Fan
page.
Make
specific
asks.
• Ask
your
online
supporters
(in
our
case,
it
was
other
unions,
other
association
members
around
the
state,
political
allies,
etc.)
to
help
Retweet
your
most
compelling
content
on
Twitter,
and
to
do
the
same
on
their
individual
FB
pages.
You
also
want
to
ask
these
online
supporters
to
point
their
unique
audience(s)
to
your
Facebook
fan
page
and
the
Twitter
feed.

2. • On
Twitter,
create
a
hash
tag
that’s
easy
to
remember
(in
our
case,
#RNStrike
would
work
fine)
and
encourage
everyone
to
use
it
online
so
you
can
curate
and
collect
relevant
Tweets.
• Have
people
in
the
field
(i.e.
your
staff)
who
are
responsible
for
feeding
you
photos/videos/updates
in
real-­‐time.
That
means
shooting
stuff
on
their
mobile
phones/iPads/etc.
and
then
e-­‐mailing
or
texting
you
the
content
back
at
the
office
so
you
can
compile
it
and
upload
it
as
it
comes
in.
Better
yet,
if
you
trust
their
judgment
enough,
have
them
just
directly
upload
and
share
photos/videos/updates
to
the
FB
fan
page.
• Alert
the
mainstream
media
ahead
of
time
via
press
releases/e-­‐mails/etc.
that
you
will
be
carrying
real-­‐time,
live
updates
from
people
on
the
front
lines
via
your
Facebook
page.
As
a
result,
the
media
may
end
up
featuring
or
even
quoting
what
shows
up
on
your
Facebook
page
(good,
bad
or
ugly).
Be
ready
for
that.
You
can’t
control
every
negative
post,
and
some
of
them
might
just
show
up
on
the
evening
news.
Journalists
are
always
going
to
look
to
balance
the
story
with
the
opposing
viewpoint,
especially
if
it
comes
from
within
your
own
camp.
Accept
this
and
move
on.
• Whatever
you
do,
do
NOT
delete
critical
posts
that
show
up
on
your
page.
Instead
respond
right
away
to
critics
in
a
calm,
reasonable
and
professional
tone.
This
lends
major
credibility
to
your
page
and
lets
the
online
“peanut
gallery”
watching
know
that
you’re
open
to
constructive
dialogue
and
can
agree
to
disagree
in
a
professional
and
respectful
manner.
Remember,
not
every
single
one
of
your
members/fans
will
share
the
company
line
as
things
unfold.
Let
those
people
(especially
if
they
are
a
member
of
your
organization!)
have
their
say,
and
engage
with
them.
Try
to
win
them
over.
Try
and
turn
those
critics
into
supporters.
Use
respect,
charm
and
intelligent
dialogue.
Don’t
browbeat
or
condemn
them.
And
if
all
else
fails,
politely
agree
to
disagree
and
move
on.
Nothing
backfires
on
you
more
quickly
than
trying
to
censor
or
silence
critics
(especially
if
they
belong
to
your
organization)
online.
• Use
Google
News
and
other
tools
to
search
for
real-­‐time
Blog
posts
and
mainstream
media
coverage
the
day
of
the
event.
Grab
those
links
and
share
them
on
your
Facebook
page.
Include
some
color
and
context
with
each
posting.
For
example,
you
can
do
a
status
update
like
this:
“Here’s
the
latest
L.A.
Times
story
posted
online
regarding
today’s
strike.
Nurses,
you
are
making
history!”
• Install
the
Facebook
UStream
App
on
the
left
side
of
your
Facebook
Fan
Page
(if
you
haven’t
already)
so
that
people
can
easily
click
over
and
watch
live
streaming
from
the
picket
lines
or
the
event
itself.
Make
sure
you
put
on
your
UStream
channel
page
a
schedule
of
when/where
the
live
streaming
is
going
to
happen
so
people
know
when
to
tune
in.
(The
“upcoming
events”
you
enter
on
your
UStream
channel
page
will
automatically
show
up
in
the
UStream
App
on
your
Facebook
Fan
Page.)
• Use
a
tool
like
HootSuite
or
TweetDeck
to
schedule
some
Tweets
in
advance
that
share
the
URL
for
the
Live
Stream
or
other
key
events
that
are
happening
during
the
day
that
you
want
to
point
people
to
online.

3. • Buy
some
Facebook
ads
in
advance
of
the
event.
Target
the
specific
communities
(you
can
even
do
this
by
zip
code!)
you’ll
be
holding
the
event
in.
In
our
case,
we’d
want
to
have
the
ad
point
to
our
Facebook
Fan
Page.
We’d
also
be
asking
the
people
in
those
communities
to
support
their
local
nurses
on
the
day
of
the
strike.
• If
things
are
slow,
throw
out
a
post
now
and
then
asking
for
people
on
the
picket
lines
or
at
the
event
to
share
their
observations,
comments,
photos
and
videos.
What’s
the
mood
like
on
the
ground?
Has
the
public
been
supportive?
What
type
of
shoes
did
you
wear
today?
Any
funny
stories
or
conversations
you
overheard?
Any
celebrities
show
up?
Media
coverage?
What’s
it
like?
How
are
you
feeling?
• Rather
than
just
barfing
up
content
onto
your
page
as
fast
as
you
can,
try
to
add
some
color/perspective/explanation
to
posts
going
up.
If
content
is
posted
from
an
outside
source
without
any
explanation,
be
the
first
one
to
comment
on
the
story.
Use
that
space
to
add
explanation/context/color
as
needed.
• Try
and
build
momentum
with
each
post.
In
our
case,
we’d
want
to
tell
our
nurses
they
are
making
history
and
that
the
whole
world
is
literally
watching
and
wanting
to
hear
their
story
from
the
front
lines.
Then
encourage
them
to
share,
share,
share!
We
want
to
build
a
sense
of
drama,
a
sense
of
urgency,
and
create
what
becomes
a
tidal
wave
of
posts
and
Tweets
about
the
event/strike.
In
Social
Media,
nothing
attracts
a
crowd
like
a
crowd!
• With
Twitter,
use
HootSuite,
TweetDeck
or
another
monitoring
tool
to
track
the
stream
of
Tweets
connected
to
your
event.
Set
up
a
few
different
ongoing
searches
using
keywords
from
your
event
(in
our
case
it
would
be
terms
like
“Nurses,”
“Strike,”
etc.)
along
with
the
official
hash
tag
(#RNStrike)
and
variations
you
think
others
might
use
(#NursesStrike,
#RNProtest,
#MNNurses,
etc.)
• Engage
and
respond
right
away
on
Twitter.
When
you
see
cranky
Tweets
from
neighbors
complaining
about
disruption
in
the
area
or
rude
behavior
by
your
people
on
the
ground,
apologize
on
behalf
of
those
people
and
give
an
explanation
if
you
can.
Include
helpful
links
aimed
at
solving
the
problem
if
it’s
applicable.
(Maybe
alternate
traffic
maps/routes
for
that
day,
for
instance.)
Don’t
ignore
critics.
Instead,
engage
them.
Try
to
win
them
over.
And
if
that
doesn’t
work,
be
polite
and
move
on.
Remember,
the
peanut
gallery
is
always
watching
to
see
how
you
handle
yourself
and
represent
your
organization
online!
• Make
sure
you
RT
the
best
Tweets
as
things
unfold.
Especially
if
those
Tweets
are
coming
from
a
journalist,
politician,
celebrity
or
other
key
influencer.
Doing
this
shows
your
followers
(including
those
on
the
ground
looking
at
their
cell
phones
as
they
participate)
just
how
big
of
a
deal
this
is.
• Send
the
people
participating
in
the
upcoming
live
event
an
e-­‐mail
ahead
of
time.
Include
your
Facebook
URL
and
a
brief
pep
talk
about
why
it’s
so
important
for
them
to
snap
photos
and
videos
and
share
their
thoughts
on
your
page.
Also
include
the
Twitter
hash
tag
(like
#RNStrike)
to
include,
and
make
sure
you’ve

4. already
begun
populating
that
hash
tag
with
some
Tweets
about
the
upcoming
live
event
so
people
get
the
idea
of
what
it
will
look
like.
• As
you
go
along,
make
sure
your
“Favorite”
the
best
Tweets
and
keep
screen
shots
of
the
best
Facebook
posts
from
the
day.
Do
the
same
with
videos
and
photos,
because
chances
are
you’re
going
to
want
to
do
an
event
wrap
up/review
at
some
point
later
on.
For
more
tips/lessons
learned,
I’ve
also
created
these
resources:
• Video:
Labor
Unions
and
Social
Media
–
http://youtu.be/FWQ-­‐GJ1DqwY
• Social
Media
Tip
Sheet
for
Labor
Unions
&
Associations:
http://slidesha.re/eedWe4
• Social
Media
–
Lessons
Learned
during
2010
by
Minnesota
Nurses
Association:
http://slidesha.re/gLyYFw