It’s a huge undertaking: one man is on a 5,000 mile human-powered journey to promote awareness for wild places and the need for them to be connected. John Davis has cycled (picture below), hiked, and paddled on TrekEast, an adventure for Wildlands Network. See where John is and where he is headed on the journey that started in Florida and “winds, loops and zigzags northward into Canada, along the visioned Eastern Wildway” by clicking here.
Connectivity of wild landscapes is a concept wildlife biologists understand: wildlife need room to roam in order to flourish. But how do we use social media to get people to care?
We call it hitting the M.A.R.C.:Medium: We use each medium to its full potential to deliver our message. Our website and YouTube channel hold more in-depth information: longer videos, more science, and conservation actions people can take. Facebook and Twitter act as the vehicles to drive people there. For example, video posts to Facebook are generally shorter: 45 seconds. And if a frog is calling, sound is more effective: http://twaud.io/qLwr
Audience: We get to know our audience. Analytics programs allow us to get to know our audience and usage habits. We use these to target our message. For example, the general public understand the value of protecting wildlife through safe highway crossings but our message is more effective when we frame it as a human safety issue.
Relevance: Our posts that are relevant to current events get more comments. The power of social media’s immediacy facilitates its sharing potential. For example, after the tornadoes ravaged parts of the Southeast, John Davis posted a video on the resiliency of nature: http://youtu.be/jR__ZJzrnEQ
Content: How often do we post? Content drives the frequency of our posts. When John gets to the top of a mountain, and sees a cell phone tower, THAT motivates him to deliver a plea.
This guest post was written by:
Susannah Smith, M.A.
Mass Communications
www.youtube.com/wildlife2913
www.twitter.com/SusannahScoop
