#nobuffer Twitter Campaign
Buffer-zone legislation will be debated again this week in Parliament and in true pro-life style we are holding a Tweetfest on Monday 23 November from 5pm - 9pm. (We’ll peak around 8 pm) I’m very grateful to the many pro-lifers from Australia and overseas who will be joining us for this campaign and especially want to welcome those who have opened new accounts or rebooted old ones just for this occasion.
***Please join the event on Facebook if you have an account there!!
(You can read all about the Abortion Reform Act here and the Amendment here.)
I want to post some ideas for tweets here and to give you some general tips for tweeting, as well as talk about scheduling.
General Tips for Twitter
- Twitter gives you 140 characters to use in each tweet, including your hashtags.
- You don’t need to send people friend requests (as happens with Facebook) - just hit ‘follow’ and it’s up to them to follow you back.
- Sharing is called ‘retweeting’ - you can add a comment (the ‘quote’ option) or just hit ‘retweet.’
- To direct a tweet to a particular person, use their @johnsmith twitter handle. You don’t need to follow them to do this. (This is useful for directing your tweet to a politician, as we will be doing in this event.)
- As well as sending your own tweet or retweeting, you can reply to someone’s tweet. This is a nice way to interact, but be aware that your interlocutor may disagree with you or just be trolling. (i.e., they get a kick out of being mean.)
- Always be polite, even to those with whom you disagree AND even if they’re insulting you.
- Always use at least one hashtag, and up to 4. You will usually be given a hashtag to use for a special event like a tweetfest. Our event will be using #safeaccesszones, #nobuffer and #springst (This last one is used by Victorian journalists to search for local stories.)
Advanced Twitter Tips
- You might like to make your tweets shorter and leave 20-40 so that someone can retweet you and add their own comment.
- Check your Twitter settings to make sure you won’t receive an email notification after every interaction - your inbox could get pretty full during a tweetfest.
- Twitter has a search function in the top right-hand corner of your screen and this can be used to search for hashtags during an event.
Scheduling your Tweets
There will be times when a Twitter event clashes with work or another commitment, or when it’s being hosted in a different timezone, and you won’t be awake during to tweet! You may want to schedule your tweets so you can still make a contribution to the event.
There are apps to use for scheduling: here are a few of them:
Specific Guidelines for the #nobuffer event
The aim of this event is to tell the Victorian Upper House MPs that we don’t want buffer zones around the state’s abortion facilities. Below are their Twitter handles. You can choose to tweet directly to them or to tweet something general about what is wrong with buffer zones.
Those marked ** are members of Emily’s List, the Greens, the Sex Party, voted for the 2008 Abortion Law Reform Bill, or have otherwise indicated that they support the exclusion zones.
Victorian Legislative Council members and parties on Twitter
Members
** Greg Barber MLC - @gregmlc
Georgie Crozier MLC - @georgiecrozier
** Philip Dalidakis MLC - @philipdalidakis
Damien Drum MLC - @ddrummp
** Samantha Dunn MLC - @samanthadunnmp
** Khalil Eideh MLC - @eidehkhalil
Margaret Fitzherbert MLC - @fitzherbertmlc
** Colleen Hartland MLC - @colleenhartland
** Steve Herbert MLC - @steveherbertmp
** Gavin Jennings MLC - @gavinjennings
** Shaun Leane MLC - @shaunleanemlc
Wendy Lovell MLC - @wendylovellmp
Cesar Melhem MLC - @cesarmelhem
** Jenny Mikakos MLC - @jennymikakos
Joshua Morris MLC - @joshuamorrismp
Edward O’Donohue MLC - @ODonohueMLC
Craig Ondarchie MLC - @craigondarchie
** Fiona Patten MLC - @fionapattenmlc
** Sue Pennicuik MLC - @suemlc
Inga Peulich MLC - @ingapeulichmp
** Jaala Pulford MLC - @jaalapulford
James Purcell MLC - @JamesPurcellMLC
Gordon Rich-Phillips MLC - @richphillipsmlc
** Harriet Shing MLC - @shingvworld
Adem Somyurek MLC - @ademsomyurek
** Nina Springle MLC - @ninaspringle
** Jaclyn Symes MLC - @jaclynsymes
** Mary Wooldridge MLC - @mary_wooldridge
Parties
Democratic Labor Party - @dlpaustralia
Liberal Victoria - @LiberalVictoria
Nationals Victoria - @thenationalsvic
Sex Party - @aussexparty
Shooters & Fishers - @sfpvictoria
Victorian Greens - @victoriangreens
Victorian Labor - @victorianlabor
Vote 1 Local Jobs - @vote1localjobs
Sample Tweets
Here are some ideas for tweets based on the main arguments against buffer zones.
Safe access zones don’t help women who are being coerced
- #safeaccesszones protect abortionists but not women who are being coerced #nobuffer #springst
Safe access zones are unworkable - even the offices of doctors who prescribe RU-486 will be included in this legislation, making it impossible for anyone to know where the zones begin or end.
- Will #safeaccesszones make it illegal to wear a #prolife t-shirt through the streets of Melbourne? #nobuffer #springst
Since PRAYER offends many people these days, it will potentially be a crime to pray quietly outside an abortion facility, even without signs, approaching mother etc. (Pro-life MP Rachel Carling-Jenkins confirmed this aspect.)
- #safeaccesszone laws target Christians who want to exercise their #freedom of religion by praying outside abortion facilities #nobuffer #springst
Over 300 babies have been saved outside Melbourne’s abortion facilities in the last two decades - the East Melbourne clinic is estimated to have lost around $300 000 in revenue do to the intervention of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants.
- #safeaccesszones are all about protecting abortion providers & criminalising prolifers #nobuffer #springst
The ALP members would normally have been given a free vote on an issue like this, but for some unknown reason, they are being told to vote as a bloc to support the bill.
- Why won’t @victorianlabor give a free vote so members can vote with their conscience against #safeaccesszones ? #nobuffer #springst
This bill reduces the number of alternatives for mothers who aren’t sure about their pregnancy
- @VicLaborWomen talk about #choice then deny choice to mothers who change their minds at the abortion facility #nobuffer #springst
These are just some ideas to get you started. I’m sure you can think of many, many more. You can retweet other pro-life graphics and tweets and add the event hashtag, too.
Thanks to Anton and Vince for their help with this.
And thanks to you all, who are so committed to standing up for life: A pro-life friend messaged me on Facebook and said that every tweet is like a little prayer going up to heaven and God the Father sees them all.
Amen to that.
