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I'm the co-founder and partner of Lux Digital in New York, and the author of "Share This! How You Will Change the World with Social Networking" (Berrett-Koehler, 2010). I'm a consultant to key media and advocacy organizations, and my clients have included The Ford Foundation, The Daily Beast/Newsweek, and Jim Hightower’s Hightower Lowdown. I'm a social media advice contributor for NPR’s flagship news program, “All Things Considered.” I specialize in social media, am a leading expert in women and technology, and am a frequent guest on CNN International, BBC Radio, Fox News and more.

Contact Deanna Zandt

The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

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The Social Media Secrets of Top Movement Leaders

Whenever I’m called in to provide the leaders of both public and private sectors training and guidance on using digital tools, I sometimes get a little bit of resistance. And that resistance almost always focuses on a single complaint: I just don’t have time for this. People in leadership positions are already juggling a million different roles and tasks, and I’m asking them to take on another that doesn’t, at first glance, feel like it has immediate return on time investment. In the nonprofit world especially, movement leaders experience intensive levels of stress, and social media doesn’t always seem to make sense in the scramble of trying to save the world.

Since I’ve been sold on digital tools as world-changers for a pretty long time, I decided to ask a few colleagues– some of my very own favorite movement leaders– about their social media usage. Meet Rinku Sen, executive director of the Applied Research Center and publisher of Colorlines.com (note: I serve on their board), and Malkia Cyril, founder and executive director of the Center for Media Justice. Here’s what they had to say.

DZ: What’s your social media routine? I.e., are you online and listening throughout the day, or is it more periodic? Do you use your mobile devices or your desktop/laptop more for social media? Why?

Rinku Sen: I go on at various points throughout most days: first thing in the morning, twice in the afternoon, and often pretty continuously in the evening. Mostly I use my mobile, though not everything works well that way (hello, autocorrect!). Using a mobile is handier and doesn’t make me feel like I’m working the way the computer does.

Malkia Cyril: [In the morning,] I head to a cafe to get my coffee and check my social media sites. It has replaced my morning routine of reading the newspaper, which I do online as part of my social media check. I generally kick off with a political question or personal/political reflection, sharing key tweets or posts, or an inspirational quote. Throughout the day, on breaks, I try to respond to the comments or question raised, or “like”/”favorite” posts from others that are in my social network.

I use my phone in the morning, my computer throughout the day, and my iPad at night. I do it this way because I consider it part of my job and role as a movement leader to know what people are thinking, to build national community with those in my networks, and support the members of the Media Action Grassroots Network. Like any organizer, it’s my responsibility to go where my people are. Working nationally means my folks are online. I don’t do this alone–most members of my team do this too.

DZ: What do you get out of using social media for your work? Not just “we run successful campaigns” kind of work, but personally/emotionally.

RS: Immediate reactions to things I post, and a feeling of validation from likes, shares etc. Social media services make me feel connected with people I don’t see often, and working digitally gives me a feeling of scale, that I’m reaching large numbers. I use both Facebook and Twitter for work, and do more personal posting on Facebook, which is generally friendlier venue for me.

I also get a lot inspiration and instruction from various things that I’d never go searching for if they weren’t in my feeds, like quotes by writers on writing. And, on GoodReads, I get to engage around books, which makes me happy!

MC: Since my work is an expression of my life mission, I try to integrate all parts of my life into my online practice. I share about health and wellness, relationships, culture, and politics. The purpose for me is community building, articulating and aligning a shared analysis and approach to cultural change, connecting issues, and inspiring people to take personal and political action to make their lives better.

I get connection in a job that can be isolating. While I aim for authenticity, I keep any critiques positive and boundaried, and never discuss the personal lives of others. I share only what I am comfortable with, and what I think my connections will be comfortable with.

DZ: Do you have an a-ha moment to share about how social media have helped you do your work?

Rinku Sen

RS: We put on a large national conference every two years called Facing Race. When the Facing Race hashtag trended on Twitter at our 2012 conference, it drew out all these race conservatives. And because we were setting the frame of how we approach racial justice, we were framing the Twitter conversation–all those people who disagree with our work had to respond to our frame. I thought, “‘Colorblindness’ can go suck it.”

MC: My a-ha moment is this: the Internet is a radical transformation, and is here to stay. The platforms for personal communication, economic communication, and media have merged online, expanding the approach to organizing and building political movements. But the fundamentals of organizing and movement-building remain the same. Building relationships remains the underlying motivation for political action.

Malkia Cyril

Movement leaders who focused on one-way communication were never successful, and that hasn’t changed. Social media sharing is a necessary platform for multi-directional communication, relationship building, and mobilization–but cannot replace direct base building and organizing to sustain relationships over time, so I couple my online activity with in-person face time when I travel.

DZ: If you’re a parent or other kind of caregiver: do you have any tricks to share for balancing a busy caregiving life with being active online?

RS: Use your mobile devices. Don’t worry as much about creating your own original content; do a lot of quote tweets and retweets/shares. It’s probably wise to pick one primary service and focus your energy there.

MC: I don’t have kids, but I have a family and a partner, plus friends. I don’t see it as a “balancing act”, but more of an integration. The same way any parent or family member used to integrate time to chat on the phone, send letters, watch TV, read–we now have to integrate our time online, where almost all of those things get done in the 21st century. Generally this involves brief online activity in moments of personal time, early morning activity, late night activity. But I also value my offline time–jumping in leaves, or in the ocean– and protect that time like my life depended on it, ’cause it does.

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