In communications, you have to remember that each person experiences your message through a lens of individual experience. This lens impacts the way we process incoming information and form opinions.
We use frames to set parameters around a message to help position or define it the way we wish it to be received. A teenager angling to get the car keys on Friday night might begin the conversation by reminding his parents about his good grades and clean room - we could call this the "responsibility" frame, and it has been time-tested.
In political discourse, frames are often based in longstanding ideological foundations, honed over the course of our nation's history. Those perspectives inform not only a party or individual position on an issue, but also the values and models that are used to communicate them - from the Senate floor to cable news to the dinner table.
To illustrate the way frames work on these levels, we share two resources that present framing strategies around the issue of health care reform. While they by no means encapsulate the full range of the ongoing debate, it is interesting to see how they play off each other, and how their frames have influenced the national conversation:
The Language of Healthcare
by Dr. Frank I. Luntz, Republican political consultant and pollster
Making the Public Case for Health Care Reform
from the Frameworks Institute, an independent research and strategy organization
Read more...
|
Today's online gurus love to talk about how social media is the new existence:
"Our attention is more fragmented than ever before. Those who insert themselves into as many channels as possible look set to capture the most value.
Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, Fitbit and the SenseCam give us a simple choice: participate or fade into a lonely obscurity."
And many outright deride anyone who might question the necessity of social media engagement. Essentially, they assert, if social media doesn't mesh with your strategy, then your strategy is wrong.
"Social Media is not right for your business if...
...you don't like to listen to your customers.
...you don't like to listen to your employees, and getting employees to change their thinking is impossible."
From our perspective, the single most important thing to know about social media is that it is not a communications strategy. It is a tactic that should always be employed to serve a larger strategy. Read more...
|
Cause Communications has created a quick-reference guide for anyone considering how to most effectively use the Internet to achieve your advocacy communications objectives.
We take a high-level look at the strengths and limitations of the Web tools you hear about daily - wikis, blogs, social networking sites and Twitter - and provide examples. Looking at where you want to go, which tool is going to help you get there?
Download the Online Outreach Tools Guide.
|
