This past summer, The Opportunity Agenda conducted a scan to determine the state of immigration advocacy on the social web, looking specifically at the following: blogs that frequently cover politics and reach a mass audience, Twitter, YouTube, and the two largest social networking sites (Facebook and MySpace). This research built on a similar scan we conducted in 2007.
Turning specifically to blogs, we found that while in 2007 major progressive-leaning blogs (including the DailyKos and others) were unsafe territory for immigration advocates. Today, however, the climate is much more receptive. Major progressive blogs discuss immigration, and the comments are usually constructive. Meanwhile, the pro-immigration-specific blogosphere is thriving. One such blog, Citizen Orange, counts well over 100 blogs actively advocating for practical immigration reform.
While the main point of our scan was to provide a snapshot of online immigration advocacy in the summer of 2009, our research did lead to a number of recommendations.
For blogs, we attempting to gain influence in mainstream blogs, we recommended not engaging in conversation on explicitly conservative blogs (e.g., Michelle Malkin). Even during this past summer, when immigration was a top story in the news more often than usual, conservative blogs did not cover the issue with any frequency. When they do cover the issue, the readership does not include what we would call “persuadable” audiences. Given the limited resources advocates often face, it is not worth the effort to engage on these websites.
Instead, we recommended continuing to work to place stories on mainstream blogs that generally lean progressive. Last week, epolitics.com posted “Ten Rules for Blogger Outreach.” Some are obvious like targeting your pitches and packaging your content for easy consumption, but it’s still worth the read as it includes new tips like how to use Twitter to influence bloggers.
Outreach is important because, although not every time, immigration posts on these blogs do often generate a lot of comments, which is indicative of a high readership. We recommended making comments that push forward our messaging in an effective manner.
Finally, when we also recommended advocates use “diaries,” on major blogs. Much like this one.
Any more tips? Let us hear them in the comments below.
Read more at The Opportunity Agenda blog.
