Engaging with young people through social media A case study of The Line campaign Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services & Indigenous Affairs

The Line Social Marketing Campaign What is it? –4 year social marketing campaign – launched June 2010 –Targets 12 to 20 year olds and their influencers –Seeks to encourage respectful relationships and bring about change to attitudes and behaviours which support violence –Uses media and language young people relate to –It encourages young people to discuss and debate relationship behaviours and issues

The Line Social Marketing Campaign Campaign background –National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children ( ) –Primary Prevention approach –Part of a broader strategy across the nation –Positive & respectful attitudes support freedom from violence

An informed approach Developmental research determined who would benefit most from the campaign and how Qualitative Research –July 2009, 42 ‘mainstream’ focus groups, 12 CALD focus groups, and 18 Indigenous focus groups Quantitative Research –September ,800 online surveys –Age group: year olds Benchmarking and Tracking Research –Every 6 months

An informed approach Who do we want to reach? –Primary audience = boys and girls aged years –Secondary audience = Parents, teachers, people who work with young people aged years How do we reach them? –Non-authoritarian and non-traditional approach –Debate and discussion through social media

An informed approach What are the campaign’s key messages? –Australia has zero tolerance towards violence against women and children - violence and disrespectful behaviour is not acceptable –Respect is the basis of all good relationships –Verbal abuse, sexual bullying, controlling behaviour and harassment are all forms of disrespect and violence, and –Help is available if you experience violence, or if you need help to stop being violent.

An informed approach What should our engagement approach aim to achieve? –Encourage young people to realise they may personally experience unacceptable relationship behaviours –Demonstrate benefits associated with positive behaviour –Deliver personally relevant messages to encourage, motivate and support the primary target groups to reconsider the importance of respectful relationships –Encourage young people to assess their own relationship behaviour –Encourage young people to change their own behaviours where necessary –Encourage discussion on relationship grey areas

An informed approach Which channels have we used? –Heavy digital and online focus Social media Website advertising Search engine optimisation –Central website – –Magazines – advertising and integration activities –Radio – advertising and integration activities

Digital and online focus - The Line Website Share the Line (blog) Draw your own line FAQ (commonly faced issues) Separate Indigenous and CALD pages Have your say (polls) Webisodes Music and more

Digital and online focus - The Line Facebook page Status updates Cross link to website FAQs and polls Discussions tab

Digital and online focus - Webisodes Webisodes –Short animations that depict a group of characters in a range of situations that could develop in to ‘crossing the line’ –Mechanism to engage young audiences in the scenarios and encourage them to think about what their own responses in the situations would be –Provide content that can be easily shared while encouraging key behaviours and actions –Underwent concept testing and recommendations from this research were incorporated into the scripts

Digital and online focus - Webisodes We will insert the video for Party Girl in here – it will run straight through all three response options in order without stopping. Digital and online focus – Webisodes Party Girl

What’s been achieved so far? Over 65,000 Facebook fans Average of 5000 votes each week 39% of people recognise the campaign Increased recognition by males 77% done something positive 76% intend to do something positive Learned that around half of year olds have been bullied in last 6 months Long term vision

What’s next –New competitions and music –The “zine” –New ambassadors in the music industry –Weekly online discussions –“Talk the Line” –Identified topics –Linking to other players in the field

What we have learnt about using social media Open to the public Champions, detractors, graffiti, privacy, vulnerabilities Moderation is necessary and expensive Risks – reputation, responding to crises, lack of engagement Approach & hours of coverage to manage risk

What we have learnt about using social media Online risk mitigation advice Community management approach Intervention v/s self-moderation Maximising moderation hours within budget Appropriate support for vulnerable users

Other online technologies

Making social media work for you Social media can be resource intensive Great tool for engaging, especially with young people Costs proportionate to what, how much and acceptable risk Find and use what’s already out there Join the conversation!

Thank you. Any questions? Fiona Smart Branch Manager Safety Taskforce Branch Office for Women Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs