In 2014, residents of Berkeley, California launched an effort to institute the nation’s first tax on sugary drinks. We examined the social media activism surrounding the successful ‘Berkeley vs. Big Soda’ campaign on Twitter and Facebook. JSI and Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG) conducted an analysis of social media content of 1,731 tweets and 250 Facebook posts. Based on our analysis, we identified nine recommendations for advocates to refer to when conducting their own social media campaign.
Although these recommendations are specific to a sugary drink campaign, many of them likely hold true for other health issues. For more information, see the full report, “Soda tax debates: A case study of Berkeley vs. Big Soda’s social media campaign,” available from BMSG.
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