Engaging with young people through social media A case study of The Line campaign

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

2. 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

3. The Line Social Marketing Campaign Campaign background National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (2010-2022) Primary Prevention approach Part of a broader strategy across the nation Positive & respectful attitudes support freedom from violence

4. 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 2009 2,800 online surveys Age group: 12-65 year olds Benchmarking and Tracking Research Every 6 months

5. An informed approach • Who do we want to reach? • Primary audience = boys and girls aged 12-20 years • Secondary audience = Parents, teachers, people who work with young people aged 12-20 years • How do we reach them? • Non-authoritarian and non-traditional approach • Debate and discussion through social media

6. 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.

7. 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 toassess their own relationship behaviour Encourageyoung people tochange their own behaviours where necessary Encourage discussion on relationship grey areas

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

9. 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 Website www.theline.gov.au

10. Status updates • Cross link to website FAQs and polls • Discussions tab Digital and online focus - The Line Facebook page www.facebook.com/theline

11. 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

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

13. 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 somethingpositive 76% intend to do something positive Learned that around half of 12-24 year olds have been bullied in last 6 months Long term vision

14. What’s next 2011-12 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. Other online technologies

18. 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!

19. Thank you.Any questions? Fiona SmartBranch ManagerSafety Taskforce BranchOffice for WomenDepartment of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairsfiona.smart@fahcisa.gov.au