Stopping GMOs

The overall goal of my final project for ATLS3519 Social Media for Social Good During Crises was to spread awareness of genetically modified foods. Using social media I chose to focus on raising support for the Genetically Engineered Food Right To Know Act. This act would make it law in this country that any food product containing GMOs would require a label signifying so.

The main action I took was to create an “Event” on Facebook that would encourage people to go to a link where they could fill out their name and address and send a pre-scripted letter to their congress representatives. This letter clearly described a desire to have the GE Food Right to Know Act passed in congress. I invited all of my friends to attend this event only if they filled out the letter and submitted it. I also requested that they forward the invite to all of their friends as well since my participation on Facebook is lacking, as is my friend count. This was effective in spreading to a larger number of people than my immediate friends, almost five times the number in three days. Although only a fraction of the invitees accepted and attended the event there were still plenty of people who got the information.

On the event page itself I posted relevant articles and several videos explaining the issue being addressed. I also tweeted and blogged on my efforts and referred back to the group as well as the letter itself. My goal was to spread the word with as many platforms as I thought would work. The blog didn’t help too much but my tweet was picked up by a friend who is a regular on twitter and retweeted it out on his account

One of the ongoing tactics that I didn’t get too much time to work on but will continue is create a fact campaign using short videos. I think quick, to the point videos that address a specific topic can be effective in reaching a large audience. This is where I’ll need more time to research and create quality videos that look better than the bouncing camera phone that dominates YouTube. I want to make sure that what I create is backed up by reputable sources and is still entertaining. The video I was able to create for my presentation was a mash up of several different videos pulled from youtube. I’ll probably use this as a rough draft and elaborate on it. Looking through endless youtube and Google videos taught me a lot about the issues as well as what kind of videos have already been done.

I enjoyed immersing myself in a topic that motivates me to take some action and put some effort into it. I’m glad we were able to choose our own topics and tailor them the way we wanted. This will be something I continue to work on and enjoy spreading awareness of GMOs and their implications.