I can’t speak for all activists or content creators or climate communicators. These are just my requests, suggestions for people tagging me, sending me links, and so on. Based on my personal experience. Any of you who have other suggestions or different viewpoints to add, feel free to message me.
1) Include a sentence or two about why you are tagging the person or sending them this link. “You may already know about this trend or news item but in case you had not heard, I thought you’d be interested”; “This situation freaks me out and I don’t know what to do”; “This seems like good news; what’s your take?” etc.
2) Be sparing with tags. Really consider what your intention is. If you’re trying to raise awareness of environmental issues, don’t keep tagging your five same environmentalist buddies! (We’re already on your same page!) You might not need to tag anyone at all. Just let it organically reach your “civilian” followers.
3) Sending news links via private DM — you just wasted an opportunity to educate the public. Also, if you are doing this with an expectation that your fellow eco activist friend is going to take it upon themselves to share your privately DMed link … DON’T! You found the article, it sparked your interest; you do the work of publicly sharing it! Activists do a lot of free labor; it sort of comes with the territory. We care from our hearts, we give from the heart. Don’t impose additional demands/expectations for free labor on your fellow activists.
4) On the topic of tagging. If you’re doing it because you’re looking for someone’s professional take on something, consider scheduling a paid chat session with them instead. I wouldn’t tag my doctor or plumber looking for their free advice. Let’s not do it to each other either. More and more these days, people are sharing their Cash App, Venmo, etc. It’s there for a reason! Support activists’ livelihoods; pay them (us) for the expertise they (we) have worked hard to acquire.
tagging, links, bandwidth, attention