Thread by @RemiAdekoya1

Morning all! I know a lot of folk out there want to change the world, or at least their country. Many wonder how mass movements for change are created. So I've decided to share some of the hows of starting a social movement as developed by those who've studied them. Good luck😃!

1) What is our goal?

What exactly are we trying to achieve here? More specific goals are easier to achieve, but more general-sounding goals like "justice" or "true democracy" tend to gather a wider tent of support.

Who doesn't want "justice"?

2) Who can give us what we want?

Who exactly has the power or resources to give us or help us achieve the goal we are trying to achieve? A government, a majority of the population?

The answer to this tells us the audience we will need to address our demands to.

3) Who is most affected by this issue?

This issue we want to talk about, who exactly does it affect on an everyday basis? These are the people most likely to be interested in what you are talking about. Identifying this groups is very important.

4) Who will be against us?

You have to assume there will be people against you. Even if it's about "justice". While theoretically everyone is for, some will know such a movement might weaken their own positions, and will covertly or openly work against it. Identify them.

5) Who are our allies?

Identify all those likely to be supportive of you, be it for ideological or even interest-based reasons.

For instance, a movement for female rights in country X can count on support from global feminist organizations, significant Western media etc.

6) Who might become an ally?

Identify those who will likely not support you immediately, but might later become allies. Perhaps if they see you become popular or if those you address your demands to react overly negatively towards you. These are your "persuadables".

7) Who can we try to keep neutral?

You want as few enemies and people actively working against you as possible. So identify those who, even if you can't count on their support, can be kept neutral and think about how to keep them that way.

8) How do we get those with us to be willing to actively support us?

You have to look into all the possible motivating arguments you have in your hand to get people from supporting you purely verbally to doing so actively, even if just on social media, which is already a lot.

9) What resources do we have right now and what are our weaknesses in resources?

What do we have? Money? People? Organizers? Popularity? What do we lack?

10) Taking all above into account, what is our best Strategy for using the resources we have to achieve our goals?

11) Now, it's time to pick a tactic that works strategically towards the goal. First of all:

What is our message?

The message needs to fit into a clear story we can tell about the issue. Keep it short, keep it memorable, keep it emotive.

12) What tone is best to take tactically?

Are we going for shaming, supportive, educational, confrontational or what?

13) When will we start acting?

Timing is important. You need to pick a moment when your message might resonate most.

14) Where do we make our stand?

Location is important too. Protesting in front of your house will not get you much, in front of a parliament or during the speech of a president, different story.

15) Counterplans for possible reactions.

What can go wrong? People don't respond. Police block our way. Rain. Police arrest us. People say our message is not new. Prepare strategies along lines of if X happens, we will do Y.

These are some of the main things to think about.

Good luck and have a nice day😃!