September 1, 2011
It's a Tweet! It's a Frame!
I've been thinking more and more about the opportunities and challenges that Twitter provides issue advocates. It's great for getting news out there, linking to interesting reports, news and opinion pieces - but there's that issue of saying it all in 140 characters. What can advocates say, in this prototypical soundbyte, that aligns with and doesn't disrupt strategic framing of issues?
The following tweet from my local public radio station really made clear how 9 little words can pack a framing punch.
What is the frame here about obesity? The catchy "one mouthful at a time" tag suggests the solution lies with personal responsibility and choice. Your physical health is in your hands, uh....mouth. I would assume from this tweet that whatever the city is doing, it is targeting individuals to make better choices about what they eat. And, in fact, that IS what the city is doing - an anti-obesity public awareness campaign including ads that will discourage people from consuming unhealthy foods. So, appropriate tweet!
But what if you were an issue advocate highlighting a new farm-to-table school lunch program in your city, would that same frame work for you(i.e. that we're tackling the problem "one mouthful at a time")? I'd suggest that would be a framing fail, because it makes individual behavior prominent, not programs and policies. But I've seen that individualism frame misapplied, and all too frequently, to policy communications that need a systems change, not a behavior change, frame. So what kind of tweet would work better for you?
Here are a few to consider.
- Anytown, USA improves the nutrition environment for kids in schools while supporting local farms
- Eating local comes to the school cafeteria. Innovative new city program provides healthier menus for kids.
- Making school environments healthy environments.
- You are what you eat. Curbing soda consumption during the school day.
You know I'm kidding about that last one, right?
I'll be writing a bit more about that never-ending tension between framing for consumer behavior change (classic in obesity framing) and framing for public policy change (perhaps less intuitive, but more efficient and with bigger pay off for ALL).
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