Proposal to affirm the TDSA Social Media Policy
Whereas
Social media is not a replacement for on-the-ground organizing and relationship building but should serve as a platform to showcase the ongoing organizing of DSA, Triangle DSA, and other DSA chapters, as well as to offer explicitly socialist political education and analysis.
DSA is presently ascendant in the public eye, and so now more than ever is the time to boldly and proudly affirm our revolutionary socialist politics, accomplishments, and uniquely democratic and member-led structure.
Platforming NGOs and other progressive liberal organizations disconnected from any ongoing chapter organizing project or concrete strategy dilutes what is unique about DSA, undermines our ability to distinguish ourselves and make the most powerful case for joining and getting involved in DSA, and is out of step with the social media strategy of National DSA and our democratically adopted chapter program.
Like all chapter work, chapter social media should be run by members with democratic chapter direction and oversight.
Leaving chapter social media interactions up to the discretion of individual members can lead to social media presence contradicting these democratic decisions; for example, individual members have recently proposed social media engagement, or engaged on social media, with unendorsed elected officials and organizations with Zionist stances, both of which contradict chapter mandates.
Establishing democratic accountability for chapter social media necessarily involves establishing a clear and well-defined set of standards for exactly what is showcased and engaged with; these standards should be grounded in our chapter program, which we democratically adopted to concretely articulate our politics and aims, as well as to serve as a binding document for ongoing chapter work and safeguard chapter democracy.
Previously the chapter had no defined social media strategy or policy, and to address this the Administrative Committee recently chartered a Social Media Subcommittee (SMSC), which is now seeking a mandate from the general body.
Social media should be an administrative body rather than a political one; leaving social media presence up to the discretion of the members of SMSC creates a likely scenario where political
struggle over social media presence becomes a norm on SMSC, or where SMSC attracts controversy.
All members of the chapter have a right to oversight of social media and to trust that chapter social media presence is reflective of their democratic will without having to join SMSC or monitor chapter social media themselves.
General meetings are primarily for current members of the chapter to make decisions and steer the chapter and are not primarily a venue for engaging new members; publicizing them on social media before the fact may cause otherwise avoidable security concerns.
Resolved
Triangle DSA hereby affirms the Administrative Committee decision to charter a Social Media Subcommittee to include the following:
● A committee coordinator, to convene the subcommittee, call meetings as needed, and communicate with the AdComm co-chairs
● A design lead, to create a broad visual theme and templates for chapter social media
● Several social media bottom-liners, to work collaboratively on ensuring robust social media coverage
Triangle DSA affirms that the Social Media Subcommittee is directed and given a mandate to cover the following tasks:
● Publicizing chapter events, including
○ Campaign events for all chartered chapter campaigns
○ Onboarding events, e.g. NMO, Soc 101, & Soc 102
○ Political education events and reading groups
○ Skills trainings and Marxism 101, as part of the Member Leader Development curriculum or otherwise
○ Socials
○ Any other events approved by the chapter or by the Steering Committee
● Creating educational or agitational media content featuring member leaders and members engaged in action, for example:
○ Rally speeches
○ Pickets and protests
○ Interviews
● Showcasing earned press coverage
● Analyzing major local, regional, or national events, highlighting major capitalist and/or imperialist contradictions, and providing an analysis of how socialism is the solution
● Crossposting events from organizations on the auto-endorse list
● Soliciting sign-off from Steering Committee on individual posts featuring or collaborating with individuals and entities not endorsed by the chapter
● Staying apprised of major upcoming holidays, historical events, or other major milestones – for example, International Women’s Day – and producing relevant political educational content from a specifically socialist lens
● Soliciting support from the Political Education Committee (PEC) as needed for political and historical analysis of news and historical events or holidays
Triangle DSA affirms that the Social Media Subcommittee is directed to carry out their mandate with the following directives:
● Utilize a relatively consistent design scheme
● Ensure political analysis is grounded in and follows the political foundations set by the chapter program
● Prioritize chapter events and actions, with political analysis and other content utilized as needed to ensure a regular social media presence and highlight chapter politics
● Interact (like, repost, etc.) with other social media accounts as reflective of the will of general membership: allowed accounts include DSA chapters, DSA national bodies, and other accounts as approved by the general body or Steering Committee according to chapter policy
Triangle DSA affirms the following:
● It is suggested that the Social Media Subcommittee post at least once or twice a week, avoid over-posting in a given week or posting in rapid succession, ensure broad coverage of chapter bodies and events, and update pinned posts at least once a month.
● The Social Media Subcommittee is directed not to publicize general meetings on socials before the fact.
● [Redacted Member A] is appointed as the initial committee coordinator.