Handheld human rights from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

Co-director of Digital Democracy spells out how new platform can skirt government censorship

One of the organizations I’ve been admiring from afar over the past year is Digital Democracy, which works with local partners to put information into the hands of people who need it most – those neglected, disenfranchised or abused by their rulers. The group employs education, communication and participation to empower citizens to build and shape their own communities.

In this interview conducted last year, co-director Emily Jacobi (@emjacobi on Twitter) discusses Handheld Human Rights, a platform, project and website that makes human rights data accessible and actionable. Designed in concert with Burmese human rights organizations, Handheld Human Rights enables people there to communicate securely within their networks and to map crisis hotspots so that the international community can see the human rights violations taking place inside Myanmar.

The tool enables human rights workers to collect eyewitness accounts of killings, forced labor, rape as a tool of war and other brutalities and relay them to the outside world by skirting media censorship from Myanmar’s autocratic military junta. And it is slowly being adopted in other troubled places, like Thailand.

Watch, embed or download the video on Vimeo
Watch or embed on YouTube

It’s a wonderful example of how activists can use media and data to drive home a powerful message. Contact Digital Democracy directly if you’d like to use Handheld Human Rights.

Emily, who heads up Digital Democracy’s education efforts, traveled to Haiti in April to look into how technology can be leveraged to protect women and girls from gender-based violence. The organization also recently launched Ethiopia Vote Report with a local partner in Ethiopia.

Quite a string of accomplishments for a modest-sized organization.

The post A mobile platform for human rights appeared first on Socialbrite.

The dos of mobile advocacy

1. Mobile messaging should be about interaction, not just pitch — a hard notion to learn for advocacy organizations used to pushing email messages by the millions. Mobiles offer a unique opportunity for interacting with a constituent. Advocacy organizations need to think about mobile marketing as a conversation, a way to talk two-ways with constituents.

2. Trust is key as the mobile medium is so very personal. Gain permission and offer relevant and timely content that is valuable to the recipient. Note how to opt out regularly and never ever spam.

3. Pull people to mobile interaction through other media — ads, billboards, the web and offer, in turn, mobile interaction with those media. Think of mobile as an acquisition tool.

4. Know your constituency. Be careful when targeting your demographics and make your ask accordingly — asking an older constituency to upload mobile photos is not going to be very successful.

5. Be relevant. Offer timely news and functional updates that are of interest to your audience — and be clever. Just by way of an idea: The American Lung Association could offer air quality updates via sms for where I live. If engaged in a campaign where I am signing a mobile petition, for example, let me know how it’s going — how many signatures have been gathered, for example. Remind me of events I have signed up for or activities that are part of an organization’s campaign. Give me information I want and need just-in-time when I need it.

6. Be action-oriented. Ask me to forward a note, ask me to make a call, ask me to express myself in a some way in a poll, in a 160 character message, poem or statement. Ask me to do something.

7. Ask me how I want to engage and give me choices. If we are interacting via SMS, do not ask me for my email address first. Give me an option to get SMS reminders when I sign up for an event with you. Tell me how to disengage. Let me opt in to a mobile alert via the web, via a 1-800 number and via a short code/SMS. Move me to the next level when using mobile as an acquisition strategy. Think about that ladder of engagement carefully.

8. Mobile marketing works best when it’s pull, not push, and there is an opportunity for people to express themselves — to ‘talk’ back, to suggest, to respond.

9. Be creative. (See examples in this handout.) In addition to text messaging and sms campaigns, there are lot of other ways in which an advocacy organization can use mobile campaign tactics.

10. Most importantly: Be whole-media. Integrate your mobile marketing and messaging into your entire media and messaging campaign. Know what mobile is good for and for what it’s not.

The don’ts of mobile advocacy

1. Don’t ask me to sign up with my mobile number and then never contact me with a text message until months later. Opt me in right away with an immediate SMS reply and then start talking to me and move me into a conversation with you.

2. Don’t bombard me with messages. Too many messages are obnoxious and a sure way for me to immediately opt out of any further communications.< 3. Don’t be quiet about how to opt out — I need to know that texting STOP, END, OUT all get me out of further communications from you.

4. Don’t give me ambiguous information (160 characters is not a lot!) in a text message or information impossible to understand because it’s in texting gibberish. Test your messages to be sure that a recipient understands them and they are crystal clear.

5. Don’t let me guess what you are asking me to act upon. Always ask me to do something in your message — forward, call, text back, sign, you name it. Text messages are highly actionable. Because if you don’t ask, I won’t do anything.

6. Don’t give me any irrelevant information I don’t need or can’t use. That would be the event alert AFTER the event has already happened.

7. Don’t text me at 4 am in the morning.

8. Don’t use just mobile as a stand-alone medium. When I go to your website, I should see a reference to the mobile portion of the campaign — a short code to text into, text messages from supporters, campaign results including those generated by mobile, a widget to sign up, whatever makes sense in the context of your campaign.

9. Don’t expect huge returns – at least initially. Return on investment will take time to materialize. Do measure the returns, though!

10. Don’t be dour. Use humor, be personable, engage me and make me smile. I will like you better.

Photo credit: hoyasmeg

This post originally appeared at MobileActive.org.

Related

• A user’s guide to mobile activism (Socialbrite)

• How to set up an SMS campaign system (Socialbrite)

• 10 mobile apps for social good (Socialbrite)

The post 20 tips for mobile advocacy appeared first on Socialbrite.

In this guide, we’ll introduce you to the world of mobile activism and show you how you can take your organization mobile. (You can also download and print out the guide as a 16-page Word doc from Archive.org.)

Mobile is a complex ecosystem, and it includes:

• Telecom carriers: All mobile traffic is routed through telecom providers like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T.

• Handset manufacturers: A wide variety of companies manufacture mobile devices, from Apple’s iPhone to boutique brands you haven’t heard of yet.

• The Internet: A small number of mobile  hones (about 5%) have web capability – users can check email and surf the web, though the experience can be uneven at times.

• Application providers: Mobile application providers allow you to create and manage your mobile programs, often from a web-based application.

We’ll mention a few pertinent facts about each of these areas, but we’ll focus mostly on application providers; good providers will serve as a one-stop shop, so you won’t have to deal with any complexity.

First, though, a short introduction to the various forms mobile programs can take.

Mobile downloads

There’s a good deal of buzz surrounding mobile applications like ringtones and wallpapers.  There are some drawbacks, however:

• They don’t work on every phone.
• Ringtones and wallpapers require users to download content.
• Depending on your programming, mobile applications can require heavy customization and lengthy development time.

SMS messaging & voice applications

• Text messaging is becoming the most popular form of communication on Earth.  Mobile subscribers send more than 1 billion SMS messages per day in the US alone.

Basics of SMS messaging

Text messaging, or SMS (Short Message Service), is everywhere.  In some parts of the world, text messaging is far more popular than traditional telephone calls.  Here in the US, text messaging isn’t just for the young anymore; SMS is popular among nearly every demographic, and the average age of a texter is 30+.

And why not?  After all, text messages are concise (up to 160 characters) and timely, and they can reach your supporters wherever they are. (95% of mobile subscribers have their handsets within arm’s reach 24/7.)  Better yet, mobile is a non-SPAM, opt-in-only medium.  And for that reason, text message open and response rates are higher than in any other medium.  In other words, mobile is a great way to reach out and mobilize your supporters – anytime, anywhere.

Getting started

I’m interested in mobile; what’s my first step?

First, you’ll choose a mobile application provider – a software solution that will let you create and manage your mobile campaigns. Using that software, you’ll create a text messaging program and encourage your supporters to opt in by either

a) texting a keyword to a short code, or
b) filling out a webform on your webpage.

When a user does so, he will receive an automatic response message welcoming him to your campaign.

Short codes

So what’s a short code? A short code is just a 5- or 6-digit number that’s used for opt-in text messaging programs. Mobile application providers will often provide you the use of a shared short code as part of their fee. This means that you’ll be able to create keywords on that short code and then encourage your users to opt into your program.

Your mobile application provider may have other clients using this short code as well – this is what’s called a “shared” short code. Don’t worry –
your data is secure, because your mobile programs are distinguished from other groups’ programs by your keywords.

Can I get my own short code?

If your organization wants its own short code for branding purposes or any other reason, you can lease one from the Common Short Code Administration. (Typically, your mobile application provider will do this for you.) There will be some extra costs involved – the carriers will need to review and approve your program, and you’ll have to pay to lease the code. (It costs $500/month to rent a randomly chosen short code, and $1000/month for a vanity short code.) It also takes 6-12 weeks to get a short code approved, aggregated, and provisioned across all of the carriers.

I’ve built a list of subscribers — now what?

Now you can do all kinds of things – mobile petitions, geo-targeted event notification, mobile town halls, rapid media response, text-to-call and text-to-screen campaigns, database-backed programs, or anything else you can think of. Just remember, text messages are most effective when you convey timely, urgent, and/or action-oriented information to your users.

A great example is GOTV; if your work involves turning people out to the polls, then you need to be using mobile. Recent studies by Princeton and the University of Michigan have shown that users who receive a text message reminder to vote on the day before an election are 4-5% more likely to do so.

CRM integration

Depending on your mobile application provider, you can even integrate your mobile campaigns with your CRM data. Doing so allows you to target your messaging more precisely and conduct better data analysis on the back-end.

Text-to-call applications and user experience

• When people opt in (or at any point thereafter), you can choose to send them a text-to-call message. This message will include a phone number; when the user connects to the number, they will hear a talking points audio message before being connected to the destination number you’ve specified.

• The user can connect by just pressing a button or texting back ‘call.’

Text-to-call applications: The client experience

• Clients can create text-to-call programs by deciding where they want to direct calls. They can upload an audio file or they can call in and record a message.

Text-to-call: The client experience: Step 2

• Here is what the organization sees in Step 2: An option for the initial message, such as Regular text, Info request or call-in request, with the text of the message here.

Text-to-call: The client experience: Step 3

Once the campaign is launched, you can begin receiving reports, offering metrics in great detail.

Text-to-screen applications: The user experience

Messages can be pushed to Jumbotrons and screens, like this one in front of the California State House:

or

You can syndicate messages across the entire web with flash widgets or tools for developers.

How easy is setting up a text-to-screen campaign?

Mobile clients push messages out by moderating incoming messages in a mobile vendor’s user interface. Simple.

Data applications

The Blue Ocean Institute gets thousands of queries from people at supermarkets, restaurants, and on the go.

Data application user experience

Data applications: How easy are they?

Step 1: Make a spreadsheet

Step 2: Upload the spreadsheet or use an API

It takes less than 5 minutes!

You’re done!

Remember, people interact online and offline.

Related

• 16-page printable Word doc of this article

• How mobile is empowering consumers

• 20 tips for mobile advocacy

The post A user’s guide to mobile activism appeared first on Socialbrite.