Social Media and the Planned Parenthood

Susan G. Komen Foundation Controversy

Susan G. Komen Foundation findings decreased one month after its issue over Planned Parenthood funding, and most of its sponsors and contributors departed from its activities and refused to pay them. This is seen as one of the most significant costs of participating in politics. In this situation, the organization made a significant miscalculation that enraged many who donate to its efforts. Planned Parenthood used social media to mobilize support from the various group and people across the United States and the World as a whole. It created an online site called "open letter to Congress" where people in support of their activities signed and voiced their opinion concerning the issue. This helped them to gather public support as well as raise awareness for their cause. In their social media, they published personal stories of those who have benefited from their activities and how the fund cuts would affect the society especially women.

Effective Use of Social Media by Planned Parenthood

This use of social media by Planned Parenthood was effective because of the ability to gather the support by creating a site where supporters would sign a petition to Congress against defunding them. In one weekend alone, they managed to gather more than 357,000 petitioners. Also, their method was effective as they were using personal testimonies as well as other stories that were touching to most people who felt that its defunding is ill-intentioned. The use of such stories helped to trigger an emotional reaction from the majority of the population. This was an effective way of getting support from various groups in the society.

Key Criteria for an Effective Communication Plan

What are the key criteria for an effective communication plan? What are the type of media would you use to communicate and why?

Communication Goals and Objectives

An effective communication plan should include the following;

First, the organization must develop communication goals and objectives. This will make them analyze the content of the message as far as the target audience is concerned.

Develop a Key Message

The next step will be to develop a key message that speaks to the audience they are targeting. The mistake SGK did was not to analyze their audience well and try to assess how the message will be perceived or the impact on the organization. At this point, the organization will also identify their audience and the possible reaction from them concerning the message they are about to pass across. This will help them in coming up with a strategy to deal with such reactions whether positive or negative.

Identify the Effective Channel and Techniques

The third criteria are to identify the effective channel and techniques of passing out such message. Social media messages need interaction or engaging audience on a dialogue while mass media can be effective in passing corporate message that does not require debate or conversation.

The Best Media to Use

The best media to use is social media as it engages most of the audience and also gives the organization a way to respond to most of the issues, complaints, concerns from the public. Mass media does not have such a platform to meet the individual concerns from the audience.