Tweets regarding social activism issues act in a similar manner as podcasts. Listening to the podcast, “On the Wire,” one can easily see the similar points of interest in making an effective tweet and an effective podcast. “On the Wire” is a podcast hosted by Jessica Abel in which she explores the many tips and aspects to great narrative nonfiction radio. She vibrantly works through the many stages of writing something, recognizing and acknowledging specific challenges on the way.
Abel skillfully considers the art of framing and the importance of it in telling a story. It is a key strategy in helping one flesh out and better tell their story. Framing is best utilized as a clear articulation at the beginning of the podcast to explain the objective. It lets the listener know what to look for and acts as a type of thesis statement.
Other strategies mentioned include using anecdotes. The logic is that multiple miniature stories can be more impactful than straight up numbers. The trending #ShoutYourAbortion was popularized on twitter and was attached to personal anecdotes concerning abortion. The hashtag was extremely prevalent and was successful in working against the taboo of having an abortion.
Eric Detweiler, who runs Rhetoricity, a podcast that draws on rhetoric, theory and sound effects, spoke earlier this week over Skype with us on tips for podcasts. He encourages podcasters to write how they talk. This includes the notion that people talk in sentence fragments. This concept is a critical component to how Twitter works. The clear word count cut off on tweets supports users foregoing full detailed sentences with multiple adjectives for succinct fragments that get to the point.
He also encourages podcasters to use the active voice. It forces one to attribute actions and makes for an overall more concrete narrative. On twitter this week, I’ve been more perceptive to the ways in which tweets for social activism use sentence form to create a narrative. The tweets regarding social activism have a tendency towards the active voice in order to create a clear narrative of the issue and who’s to blame for it. Many of the tweets recently dealing with reproductive rights identify specific politicians as the subjects of the sentence fragment. It helps readers and supporters of the issue to hone in on who is having a damaging effect and who has the power to make change.