Thread by @advodude

I think it’s more complicated than that, which I will explain when I’m not driving.

OK. So, climate issues, obviously, are more challenging to get eyes on. IMHO, because of the following reasons.
1. Climate Change as a concept is not about people, it's a complex and nuanced science thinger that can be hard to grasp.

2. There has been a long term effort by specific parties with their own agendas to destroy the credibility of anything considered to be a fact when it doesn't fit their narrative. People often think a scientific theory is the same as a layman's theory. Then it becomes "2 sides."

3. The way the scientific community has always handled this is with facts and data. But the science shows that thanks to things like the backfire effect, facts can actually make things worse and entrench people in their existing views.

4. On top of this, you have well intentioned orgs trying to message people about the forthcoming apocalypse with messaging that is essentially, "If you don't help right now, we're all gonna die. Everything is on your shoulders, individual human."

4.1 So a person has the choice of solving the entire world's problems while working a day job and raising 3 kids, or hoarding goods and feeling hopeless because no one person can solve it. There's no impetus to share if you will just depress everyone by doing so.

5. On top of that, most climate stories are taking the 50,000 foot view. They are large scale. They are about the science. They are not framed in a way that helps a person understand the individual impact on them.

6. The climate stories I've seen succeed do it differently.
A. They tell a really compelling story, keeping people hooked narratively at every turn.
II. They are packaged in a way that gets people to click on the story to read it.
3. They give people a place to go with emotions.

7. In fact, the talk I usually give at conferences revolves around a video about climate issues that everyone would consider completely boring. Local Municipal Power Ballot Initiatives. The video I curated ended up crushing it because the story arc was pretty perfect.

7.1 My framing on it gives me PTSD from our old clickbait days, but it's success was undeniable. Obviously, the algorithm has changed and my headline ethics have improved significantly since then, but the important part to see is the video itself. upworthy.com/a-bunch-of-you…

7.1 @neweracolorado raised 3x their fundraising goal and get millions of views on a video about local municipal power ballot initiatives. Because they told a story that kept you hooked from beginning to end. And they won at the polls against Xcel Energy by a 3 - 1 margin.

8. So, TLDR, the framing on Facebook has to sell an emotionally compelling human story. And the story itself has to humanize the issue in a way that people can connect to their back yard.

9. The New Era video does this in a lot of ways. (And I imagine it would have to be tweaked to do well today on Facebook.) But here are the big ones.

9.1. They open by setting up the characters and teasing the plot twists that come later. "This is a story that is happening in every community across America" Translation: your backyard.

9.2 They set up a solution that can be implemented on a small scale, not the world. "Here's what we did to fix our backyard and make it cleaner. and Here's the science as to why we have to."

9.3 They set up a hero and a villain, but not in a certoonish way. The corporations were acting in their interest, and this ragtag group actually beat them for once.

9.4 Then around 2:50 they bring in a rational expert to explain the nuance, and explain the economic interest for the average person. Their solution made it cleaner, but also CHEAPER in the long run than xcel could.

9.5 Then they set up the story of the new fight, and a clutch bit of surprise (which every story should have.) at 3:39 they show the literal text book xcel used to fight back and link to sources so people can verify themselves.

9.6 They frame the villain not as a cartoon villain who wants to make your life worse, but as a company that is self interested because of profit. And at 4:06, they explain how if this works here, it could make things better for everyone.

9.7 Then at around 4:30, they bust out surprise #2. In the lead up, they explain economic and climate benefits to all, explaining that it could work elsewhere. And then, surprise! In fact, others are already doing it. Gives you even more hope because you know it's worked before.

9.8 Then at the end they make it about you. And explain specifically how they are gonna fix things. And then make an ask that has been earned and is specific.

And that's how they made local municipal power ballot initiatives into something a national audience can connect with.

10. Here's an old TLDR version of my talk about that. I had food poisoning so not my best show.

11. My thinking has shifted somewhat since then thanks to @davidmcraney ruining it with his 3 part series on the backfire effect which you should listen to all of. youarenotsosmart.com/2017/01/13/yan…

12. But TLDR, climate change content can perform well if you tell the story in a way that doesn't make people feel hopeless or make their brain explode. There is a bigger challenge in Facebook framing, but I think it can be done, if you think strategically.

13. Not every story can pull it off, but find the right one, humanize it, frame it well and give people a place to go with their emotions and you can win. It's super easy as long as you have luck, timing, just the right emotional frame, endless patience, testing & more luck. /fin

Addendum: to @gabestein's original point, I don't imagine FB will punish you for putting "climate change" in a headline. I do imagine most people who see it will just scroll by if the frame doesn't offer a compelling narrative with it. Which is daunting with those words included.