Ending DACA and deporting 700,000 Dreamers will devastate families and cripple communities. People should understand what's at stake as the Supreme Court reviews President Trump's plan to end DACA.
Background
Stories shape public sentiment and mobilize voters. But, attention spans last seconds while news cycles accelerate.
Stories have to be designed for mass consumption, distribution through social media for viewing on a phone, tablet or computer. How can complex issues like DACA be explained with these requirements? Quickly, with limited funds and few technical skills?
Pick the right tool for the job
Consider these factors in choosing the right app:
1. What is the objective? Awareness building? Advocacy? Fund raising? Get out the vote?
2. How much information has to be conveyed? How much time will readers spend reading it?
3. Will paid (ads) or earned media (viral distribution) be used to get the story exposure?
4. How much time, money and talent is available to craft the story?
Make The Road Nevada teamed with DemLabs to create this StoryMap on the Supreme Court review of the DACA program. We needed to move fast on zero budget, to craft this story that had to include text, images, videos and maps from over a dozen sources.
We chose StoryMaps a free app. It creates media-rich stories that can be read quickly and easily shared on websites, by email, Twitter or Facebook. And it looks great on phones, tablets and computers. We used bit.ly to create a simple StoryMap URL (ourdreamers).
Watch the StoryMap at bit.ly/ourdreamers
Take away
Campaigns struggle with limited time, money and skills to get their message heard. Free, innovative apps level the playing field so it's not only powerful interests that control the narrative.
DemLabs applies innovation to empower progressives and Democrats to run better campaigns for less money. We research free/affordable apps, test them in campaigns and freely share our findings. We didn't develop any of these apps nor do we have any financial stake in any of them. Get them directly for free here: Lumen5 FlipGrid Spark Infogram Canva StoryMaps
Deepak
Co-Founder, DemLabs
Please share this bulletin. DemLabs is a SF-based, progressive hub for ongoing technology and creative innovation. We focus on free and affordable apps. Donate here to support our work.