The hashtag #MeToo has been trending on Twitter for days. Some are even still participating in this social media awareness campaign up until today.
 
This campaign was sparked by a series of accusations against film producer and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Since then, thousands of women have stepped up and gathered the courage to share their stories of sexual and physical abuse.
 
Big celebrities also participated in the said campaign both on Twitter and Facebook. Stars like Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan, Anna Paquin, Debra Messing, and Laura Dreyfuss.
 
The campaign’s goal is to help “give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem”. And so far, it did just that.
 
Social media has become one powerful platform when it comes to creating campaigns and calling for social change. For one, it has a vast coverage and reach. There are more and more people in social media and that would mean a possibility of influencing more people for change.
 
But how exactly can you spark and ignite change using social media?
 

Hashtags

 
Creating hashtags does not only bring a cause into a trending topic but can bring a thread of an entire awareness on social media for people to follow.
 
The ‘noise’ you create can somehow convert to a bigger value and contribution to your cause. It is when people pay attention and notice your fight for social change that you start to open other people’s minds and invite them into your cause’s sphere.
 
When creating these hashtags, make it catchy but straight to the point. Because there’s no point in creating something catchy when it doesn’t really bring the message across.
 
And if you’re choosing Twitter as your main platform, you might want to create a shorter hashtag as you are limited to only 140 characters to tweet something. Might as well save some characters out of your hashtags and add more to what you got to say in the tweet.
 

Tag a Friend

 
Remember that ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? That was a fun, and really effective way to raise awareness. Different celebrities, athletes, and other famous personalities participated in the challenge and donated money.
 
Although fame has something to do with how effective it turned out but more than that, it was because they ‘nominated’ or tagged a friend to also do the challenge and donate.
 
The key there was to keep on passing the challenge on to someone so it would create a ripple effect to others.
 

Call to Action

 
Starting a campaign is simply like advertising a product – minus the capitalism.
 
You need to create your brand, make your substance matter to others so they’ll buy the idea. But none of those ideas would encourage people to participate if you don’t create a ‘call to action’.
 
It can be in a form of asking for donations or crowdfunding or signing a petition. It doesn’t have to be grand. Just make sure that t is something that will take you a step forward to igniting change and not just some passive-aggressive movement.
 

Don’t Just Say. Do.

 
Simply put, any campaign should not just be about the words sent out to the world. When you create an awareness campaign, the social change should start in you.
 
So whatever is that cause you’re fighting for, do it. Participate. Lead. And you’ll see how others would follow.