I've been reaching young people face-to-face by going to college campuses in my area, first to help kids register, and this coming week to help them make a plan for voting. It is so fun to engage with young people and they are really appreciative that an older person wants to help them vote. I'll just pass out quarter sheets of paper with early voting opportunities, the voting website for our state, etc., and pass them out from 11am-1:30pm. Hope to go to three campuses this week.
As someone who communicates with young people for a living, I'd like to add that using these platforms to impart knowledge of these issues is important, but empowering them to do something about it must also be part of our overall strategy. Yes, it's possible to get them to watch things, to like, share, retweet, etc. We can get them to learn about just how much their world is being destroyed, their future is being stolen from them, how the blame put on them is both completely unjustified and carefully crafted to demoralize them into a life of obsessing over created wants and surface-level "connections."
But these same systems will then quickly distract them, entice them into the next fad, the next Tiger-King binge, the next bleeds-it-leads story to convince them hope is absurd or the next fanciful fiction to convince them everything is just fine, nothing to see here. In short, we need to start coupling all forms of outreach with clear steps they can take to engage.
How can they mobilize to do something about these things that make them angry? What organizations should they join? What are other young people in their state, country, or across the world doing to fight back? What are some examples of short and long term goals people their age can work toward? And how can they do this without a future that drowns them in debt and forces them to give up their morals and rationalize entering a "career" that involves helping some for-profit find increasingly creative ways to siphon off disposable income from vulnerable populations?
Information without sufficient mobilization will end up as little more than entertainment for young people who do not find ways to do something with the hard truths we are trying to get them to accept.
Thank you, Heather & Michael. In my gut, I feel it's time for all of us to start using our "spending discretion" : identify the most egregious goudgers, and then boycott their products until there is ownership of the corporate greed. Gandhi paved the way for this. Individuals actually have much more power than they realize and it's clean power, good power... rooted in personal choices. Thank you for today's klatch!
We reach young people by listening to THEM, not pressing our own views on them. They can and will think for themselves if given the facts of the current situation. I know this because I have some high school seniors and college student age great grandchildren. They know they are free to express the views they have and respectfully listen to mine. In this day of people of that age being super busy, they appreciate listening to someone who has the time to really watch what going on each day. My message has been; We have a serious political situation in our country right now that will decide if we keep our democracy or not! They invariably want to know more, why, and what can be done to prevent that. Neat thing is they pass the info on to friends and of course post on social media.
I just thank God that the newer generations are SMARTER than the old, meaning they are significantly more PROGRESSive. They give this aging man hope for the future, social media be damned. (I just turned 35 last week, but thanks to my new exercise regime I am feeling BETTER.)
Nice ads!!! I sincerely hope they reach people and convince them about the fallacies pushed by major corporations, the GOP agenda (keep 'em poor, and uneducated), and that worst economic "policy" called "Trickle Down Economics". The ONLY thing that "trickles down is the dregs.
As I've said before, "trickle-down" leaves the working classes to suck wet socks. We need to restructure our tax system to eliminate the hereditary oligarchy, and force them back into the upper middle class. Under Eisenhower, the last good Republican President, the top tax bracket paid about 91% in taxes, and not one of them had to sell a second house, yacht or mistress.
Oct 22, 2022·edited Oct 22, 2022Liked by Heather Lofthouse
Thank you, thank you, for making this so clear. I hope Gen Z and all the younger ones begin to understand how large corporations work. THEY are the ones who create most of the inflation trying to figure out how much consumers will spend before they stop buying.
And once big corps get used to those kind of profits, they will be blaming Democrats if the country tumbles into recession and people can't afford their product, or as much of it as they were buying.
platforms with youth attention are attractive, but I question the ability to 'persuade' on fast-twitch entertainment platforms. I think TikTok is better used to 'raise doubts' more than a traditional PSA medium. I don't believe in PSAs anyways.
We have to play the long game. I’m giving out democracy awareness möbius ribbons with candy and cookies this Halloween and holding arts and crafts workshops at libraries to make Stars and Stripes Möbius strips. If we can get the kids to believe in the power of voting they can persuade their parents and grandparents to vote for their future. 🇺🇸♾
I would encourage everyone to watch Jon Stewart on Apple or listen to his pod cast. He not only exposes how corrupt and broken our systems are, but also goes to the organizations and agencies to fight for the needed change and always lists other organizations you can contact to help. I wish rather than crime stories on the news, we could see more of these issues that effect all of us all.
I've been reaching young people face-to-face by going to college campuses in my area, first to help kids register, and this coming week to help them make a plan for voting. It is so fun to engage with young people and they are really appreciative that an older person wants to help them vote. I'll just pass out quarter sheets of paper with early voting opportunities, the voting website for our state, etc., and pass them out from 11am-1:30pm. Hope to go to three campuses this week.
As someone who communicates with young people for a living, I'd like to add that using these platforms to impart knowledge of these issues is important, but empowering them to do something about it must also be part of our overall strategy. Yes, it's possible to get them to watch things, to like, share, retweet, etc. We can get them to learn about just how much their world is being destroyed, their future is being stolen from them, how the blame put on them is both completely unjustified and carefully crafted to demoralize them into a life of obsessing over created wants and surface-level "connections."
But these same systems will then quickly distract them, entice them into the next fad, the next Tiger-King binge, the next bleeds-it-leads story to convince them hope is absurd or the next fanciful fiction to convince them everything is just fine, nothing to see here. In short, we need to start coupling all forms of outreach with clear steps they can take to engage.
How can they mobilize to do something about these things that make them angry? What organizations should they join? What are other young people in their state, country, or across the world doing to fight back? What are some examples of short and long term goals people their age can work toward? And how can they do this without a future that drowns them in debt and forces them to give up their morals and rationalize entering a "career" that involves helping some for-profit find increasingly creative ways to siphon off disposable income from vulnerable populations?
Information without sufficient mobilization will end up as little more than entertainment for young people who do not find ways to do something with the hard truths we are trying to get them to accept.
Thank you, Heather & Michael. In my gut, I feel it's time for all of us to start using our "spending discretion" : identify the most egregious goudgers, and then boycott their products until there is ownership of the corporate greed. Gandhi paved the way for this. Individuals actually have much more power than they realize and it's clean power, good power... rooted in personal choices. Thank you for today's klatch!
How to reach young people? Give them hope!
Remind everyone what the Democrats have passed with a 50-50 split in the Senate, and why we need at least two more senators to finish the agenda.
Climate change
Voting Rights/Electoral college
Right to privacy/abortion
SCOTUS
Gun laws
Economy
Education
Health care
Taxes
We reach young people by listening to THEM, not pressing our own views on them. They can and will think for themselves if given the facts of the current situation. I know this because I have some high school seniors and college student age great grandchildren. They know they are free to express the views they have and respectfully listen to mine. In this day of people of that age being super busy, they appreciate listening to someone who has the time to really watch what going on each day. My message has been; We have a serious political situation in our country right now that will decide if we keep our democracy or not! They invariably want to know more, why, and what can be done to prevent that. Neat thing is they pass the info on to friends and of course post on social media.
I just thank God that the newer generations are SMARTER than the old, meaning they are significantly more PROGRESSive. They give this aging man hope for the future, social media be damned. (I just turned 35 last week, but thanks to my new exercise regime I am feeling BETTER.)
Nice ads!!! I sincerely hope they reach people and convince them about the fallacies pushed by major corporations, the GOP agenda (keep 'em poor, and uneducated), and that worst economic "policy" called "Trickle Down Economics". The ONLY thing that "trickles down is the dregs.
As I've said before, "trickle-down" leaves the working classes to suck wet socks. We need to restructure our tax system to eliminate the hereditary oligarchy, and force them back into the upper middle class. Under Eisenhower, the last good Republican President, the top tax bracket paid about 91% in taxes, and not one of them had to sell a second house, yacht or mistress.
Thank you, thank you, for making this so clear. I hope Gen Z and all the younger ones begin to understand how large corporations work. THEY are the ones who create most of the inflation trying to figure out how much consumers will spend before they stop buying.
And once big corps get used to those kind of profits, they will be blaming Democrats if the country tumbles into recession and people can't afford their product, or as much of it as they were buying.
platforms with youth attention are attractive, but I question the ability to 'persuade' on fast-twitch entertainment platforms. I think TikTok is better used to 'raise doubts' more than a traditional PSA medium. I don't believe in PSAs anyways.
We do need them to vote!
"How do we reach young people?"
... give them something to hope for..
We have to play the long game. I’m giving out democracy awareness möbius ribbons with candy and cookies this Halloween and holding arts and crafts workshops at libraries to make Stars and Stripes Möbius strips. If we can get the kids to believe in the power of voting they can persuade their parents and grandparents to vote for their future. 🇺🇸♾
Thank you so much for this! I am clueless about TikTok (and even Twitter), and mostly find them incomprehensible.
I would encourage everyone to watch Jon Stewart on Apple or listen to his pod cast. He not only exposes how corrupt and broken our systems are, but also goes to the organizations and agencies to fight for the needed change and always lists other organizations you can contact to help. I wish rather than crime stories on the news, we could see more of these issues that effect all of us all.