In the digital day and age, it seems as if the average person has access to any and all sorts of information. Just a quick Google search, and voila, there goes your results. This seems especially more true today as the global pandemic phenomenon, COVID-19, challenged our society to reconsider the ways in which we can gather, share information, connect, and build community.
Over the past few months, HOME Line’s Public Policy department has embraced this newfound challenge to connect with more Minnesota tenants and leaders in the community. HOME Line’s public policy interns: Mya Halvorson, Emily Sailors, and myself (Kayla Thompson) have spent time developing and strategizing a social media campaign for HOME Line that is expected to launch by the new year. Each intern was assigned to review and “break down” a set of policies proposed by HOME Line and create them into simple social media posts that could be used on HOME Line’s Instagram and Facebook pages. But what do social distancing, social media and tenants rights have to do with public policy?
As Erin West, HOME Line’s Lead Tenant Organizer, put it: “We have to find a better way to plug people in through advocacy. People are ready to think big and think wide and legislatively,” and these sentiments strongly resonate with our work in public policy, considering we want community leaders and renters to collaborate on these issues surrounding housing. Yet, we have to keep in mind — or at least the trying times of COVID-19 has taught us that we should keep in mind— that it can be hard for the average citizen to know what’s happening on the legislative level when they might not even know when, where, or how to access that type of information. This interesting time we are in has shown us that resources, funding, and even the internet is not easily accessible for everyone. What adds on to these complications is that we are still experiencing a global pandemic, where it is still difficult to gather community members in one place at the same time to share and discuss information and updates, particularly on topics such as housing legislation. In spite of these complications, my fellow interns and I expressed that we should continue to take advantage of this “new” digital space we are in by plugging our policy work into our social media spaces such as Instagram. Emily and Mya have also weighed in on HOME Line’s “new” social media approach by adding:
“Social media is an excellent tool for sharing information. It’s convenient because people can come across a post while they are on their phone, learn about something new, and then spread it even further to their friends and followers. Education and a widespread call to action can bring much-needed attention to social justice issues. In the case of tenants’ rights in Minnesota, people might not know what the current system for tenants is like or how it can change, but we can bring that information to them and introduce them to a community of people working for change.”-Emily Sailors
“A core part of HOME Line’s work is to give renters power, and as public policy interns, we know how impactful it can be for an informed constituent to reach out to their local legislative representative. Social media is relevant to the work we’re doing at HOME Line because social media is relevant everywhere in our lives. Social media allows us to meet people where they’re at and disseminate education in a friendly and accessible format. HOME Line can tell people, ‘What you’re experiencing is wrong. You deserve better,’ and that can be really powerful for people to read and hear across their feed. With this education, renters are more empowered to demand action from their legislators.” -Mya Halvorson
Considering all that has been said, it is clear that there is a need for HOME Line to keep social media in its toolkit for organizing and public policy work. Where there is internet, there is an audience—and for us, there is an opportunity to connect with and educate Minnesota renters. To stay up to date with our social media campaign, visit our Instagram page at @homeline_mn and our Facebook page.
Kayla Thompson is a senior in Africana Studies at DePauw University. She is interning at HOME Line through the Inequality in America program of the Higher Education Consortium on Urban Affairs (HECUA).
Mya Halvorson is part of the Class of 2023 at the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities. She is majoring in Political Science and Urban Studies and minoring in Spanish Studies and Racial Justice in Urban Schooling. She is interning at HOME Line through the Inequality in America program of the Higher Education Consortium on Urban Affairs (HECUA).
Emily Sailors is a senior International Studies student at St. Catherine University. She is interning at HOME Line through her university’s Community Leaders program.
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