Foreword Why should we take social media seriously All equality bodies seek to achieve positive from the perspective of institutions such as change in society, by investigating complaints, equality bodies? following the implementation of the and Social media is another communication institutional framework for equality, and channel that will enable us to talk with the actively promoting equal treatment and people where they already are. It is an easy to tolerance. In order to maximize the effect of use and cost effective way of reaching a wide this work, an equality body needs to raise its range of people or indeed, specific target public profile, which it does by consistently groups. There are many options for making and strategically reminding people of its good use of social media, such as: existence, accessibility, effectiveness, Being active in public conversation independence and reliability. with politicians, the media and the An equality body’s activities to seek a public general public. Whenever topic ‘your’ profile are generally directed toward is discussed, be heard. awareness campaigns, events to promote Monitoring social media allows you to know what is being said on a given equality and non-discrimination, publications topic. (guidelines, of conduct, toolkits, Using social media channels as brochures etc.) and lately through the most contact points for people who feel important social media networks. According they’ve been discriminated against. to the Equinet Report , written by members of the Working Group on Communication Challenges Strategies and Practices, over half of Equinet members use one form of social media or One clear disadvantage of social media is that another as an integral part of the promotion it excludes the offline audience. Furthermore, of their work. dialogue can sometimes be difficult as it can
Foreword All equality bodies seek to achieve positive change in society, by investigating complaints, following the implementation of the and institutional framework for equality, and actively promoting equal treatment and tolerance. In order to maximize the effect of this work, an equality body needs to raise its public profile, which it does by consistently and strategically reminding people of its existence, accessibility, effectiveness, independence and reliability. An equality body’s activities to seek a public profile are generally directed toward awareness campaigns, events to promote equality and non-discrimination, publications (guidelines, of conduct, toolkits, brochures etc.) and lately through the most important social media networks. According to the Equinet Report , written by members of the Working Group on Communication Strategies and Practices, over half of Equinet members use one form of social media or another as an integral part of the promotion of their work. Why should we take social media seriously from the perspective of institutions such as equality bodies? Social media is another communication channel that will enable us to talk with the people where they already are. It is an easy to use and cost effective way of reaching a wide range of people or indeed, specific target groups. There are many options for making good use of social media, such as: Being active in public conversation with politicians, the media and the general public. Whenever ‘your’ topic is discussed, be heard. Monitoring social media allows you to know what is being said on a given topic. Using social media channels as contact points for people who feel they’ve been discriminated against. Challenges One clear disadvantage of social media is that it excludes the offline audience. Furthermore, dialogue can sometimes be difficult as it can
communicating_equality_through_social_media_-_a_guide_for_equality_bodies-3.docx