Soapbox Engage Blog

With the current protests in Turkey and Brazil, focus is again being drawn to the role of social media in mass movements agitating for change.

Mobile-friendly channels such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are being leveraged by organic groups of individuals to speak out and mobilize.

News outlets are highlighting social media's ability to bridge national boundaries to inspire and inform groups thousands of miles away from one another - as well as confuse and muddle their messages and goals.

Much of the power of social media is its capacity for being as mobile as the individuals using it. YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are not tied to a desktop. They are optimized for devices that fit in one's pocket.

If you're an advocacy organization looking to inspire collective action for social change - regardless of the country or the cause - and you are asking people mobilized by social media to take the next step in the ladder of engagement around an issue, you need to ask yourself:

Is your website a door to a higher level of engagement? Or a brick wall chasing mobile users away?

If someone inspired to act by a tweet or video or post comes to your site on whatever device they happen to be using at the time, your online call to action - be it the signing of a petition, registering for an event, making a donation, or more - needs to be as mobile-optimized as the tweet or video or post that brought them there.

If it's not, your organization is losing valuable opportunities to organize activated individuals to bring about the social change you are seeking.

Need to replace your brick wall with a door?

Responsive web design provides a powerful, flexible, and efficient means of optimizing your site for mobile users.

If your website is in need of a mobile makeover to supercharge social change, talk to us!

Photo credit: Semilla Luz on Flickr