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General Terms and Actions

Since the mainstream media refuse to cover the majority of our work, the primary way we can share our message is through social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
We use social media for the following things:

  1. To Share the News, about our actions, effects of our work and the work of others.
  2. To Connect, with each other and with those people and organisations with power.
  3. To Organise, together in groups and creating public events to share.

Boosting Posts

Therefore, it is key to know how we can effectively boost our posts so they are seen by more people. The algorithms on social media are such that the more popular posts appear higher up on the feeds. Thus, the more we interact with posts the more they are seen by people!

In this book we will have sections on each of our main social media platforms which will cover how to be more effective in boosting posts. Eg. on Facebook a comment boosts more than a “like.”

Directing Posts at specific People or Groups

When making or sharing posts it is best to mention specific people and/or groups. This directs the post to those people as well as their following. Otherwise a post you make is only seen by your friends or followers.

In general this is done by “@-ing” or “AT-ing” a person. This means putting the “@” in front of their username or handle. Eg. if I want to direct a post at XRUK on twitter I would include @XRebellionUK.

Often when you first type the “@” symbol a drop down of popular accounts or friends will appear and as you type it will narrow down to the person you are aiming for.

HINT: keep a note of accounts you want to commonly “@” somewhere handy!

What is a Hashtag?

A “Hashtag” refers to the “#” symbol when used on social media. We have several hashtag such as #ExtinctionRebellion #WeWantToLive #ActNow the list goes on. Any phrase can be a hashtag is it starts with the “#” and has no spaces between the words. Often they will appear highlighted or in a different colour when typed correctly.

A hashtag allows you to tag a trend on social media. So instead of linking your post to the account @XRebellionUK you may instead what to include your post in the trend #ExtinctionRebellion.

A common way to browse social media is to search for hashtags or trends, so by tagging your posts with one of these trends you are adding your voice to it and your post will show up in the search. (As mentioned before the more interactions on a post the higher up it will be in the search results!)

What Tags do I use?

XR has a whole bunch of tags we use all the time: #ExtinctionRebellion #ActNow #TellTheTruth #BeyondPolitics #XR #ClimateEmergency We also have tags for the Rebellion or for specific campaigns: #WeWantToLive #StopHS2 #CEEBill #LightShipGreta #FreeTheTruth

For accounts to tag it really depends on your post and platform, but we recommend tagging: XR Accounts - like XR UK, XR Cambridge, XR Jews, XR Youth ... Politicians - Find Boris Johnson, Priti Patel, Domanic Cummings, Caroline Lucas ... Organisations - friendly or not - Greenpeace, BLM, Met Police, BBC ... Find the accounts for these on the platform you are using and make note of them!

Staying Safe & Other Questions

  • Do I need to enter my bank details?

NO NEVER, to engage on social media you should never be asked for your bank details and if you are hit that back button because you probably don’t want to be there! (There are ways to interact with money on these sites but my advice is DON’T DO IT)

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