Same-Sex Marriage and Social Media by Rhonda Gibson

Author:Rhonda Gibson [Gibson, Rhonda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781138894853
Google: Z3eLtAEACAAJ
Publisher: Routledge, Taylor & Francis group
Published: 2018-01-15T04:40:14+00:00

FIGURE 5.1 Freedom to Marry used celebrity endorsements to create buzz and increase visibility on social media. Country singer Carrie Underwood was among those who publicly stated support for same-sex marriage. (Image courtesy of Adam Polaski)

As new social media platforms emerged and existing ones were reconfigured to attract more users, FTM staffers adapted their message and delivery tactics. Adam Polaski, deputy digital director from 2012 to 2015, explains that soon after he was hired, Facebook made changes to its algorithm that resulted in visual content appearing more often in news feeds. In September 2012, Polaski designed a quote graphic of then First Lady Michelle Obama stating her support for marriage equality and posted it to Facebook, asking supporters to share the image. Even though it wasn’t the most polished graphic he designed, Polaski recalls that it was wildly popular, becoming the group’s most shared post up to that point. Polaski explains that the digital staff quickly learned to churn out visual content on the spot to take advantage of current events: “We started sharing those quote graphics and getting a lot of traction with them online, and our Facebook page really started to explode. I think it was like a perfect storm of Facebook’s algorithm beginning to favor more visual content and us being able to jump on it fast” (A. Polaski, personal communication, May 25, 2017).

Another successful component of FTM’s digital reboot involved a series of mini campaigns that focused on the stories of ordinary same-sex couples as told through videos posted to the group’s website and shared through social media (Kowal, 2015). One of the first was the 2011 Mr. President, Say ‘I Do’ campaign designed to apply (gentle) pressure and help lay the groundwork for Barack Obama to publicly announce his support for marriage equality. The campaign began with an open letter to the president signed by public officials, business leaders, high-profile activists, and celebrities. FTM also invited members of the public to participate, running Facebook ads featuring celebrities who encouraged supporters to visit the group’s website and sign the letter. FTM followed up in 2012 with Democrats: Say ‘I Do’, a campaign designed to lobby the Democratic Party to formally include a position supporting marriage equality in the party platform. Both digital campaigns gained a lot of attention online and in traditional media, not-so-subtly signaling to Democratic leaders that the time was right to publicly support same-sex marriage (Wooledge, 2012).

Subsequent FTM mini campaigns focused on specific segments of the LGBT+ population, such as Southerners, young conservatives, and African Americans. One such campaign – Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry – featured videos of LGB military service members and their families. Michael Crawford explains that FTM needed a way to demonstrate the discriminatory impact of the Defense of Marriage Act that excluded same-sex couples from receiving federal benefits, and having military personnel tell their own stories was an effective strategy. Crawford recalls that those stories weren’t always happy ones because of the harmful effects of discrimination, but

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