Let’s Tweet it for the Tigers

Posted by dakiniyearofthetiger on January 28, 2011 · 3 Comments 

If we were on FourSquare she'd have found me by now!

Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who submitted lines to the Tiger Tale. The project is now completed and you can read the full story here: www.tigercampaign.com/tigertale. As a writing experiment, it was a lot of fun and there were some very impressive entries – who could have guessed what a creative bunch you all are?

You will almost certainly have noticed that I became particularly squeally and excited over the contribution of a line from award-winning novelist and personal hero Margaret Atwood. That we managed to get hold of Atwood through Twitter shows what a great equaliser social media can be; had I attempted to speak to her through an agent the process could have taken weeks. In this case, I could fire a message to a well-respected figure I have never met in a completely different time zone – and within seconds she not only knew about what we are doing but could decide there and then if she wanted to be involved. And, by doing so, she introduced the Tiger Campaign to thousands of her own fans and followers around the world.

We all know that the internet has revolutionised the way the world works, bringing us all closer together than we could ever have imagined. One of the things that is so exciting about this is that, as the Tiger Tale demonstrates, it is now possible to communicate with just about anyone – and to make the things you are passionate about visible to the entire planet. Just using Twitter, we were able to show the Tiger Campaign to a wide array of people and groups who we would, otherwise, never have been able to speak to – and who can, if they choose to, bring the Campaign to their own extensive networks.

Now, we can’t force these people to care, or to act. For every person who listens there will be dozens who don’t. But the point is that, more than any other time in history, sites like Twitter allow you to try. 25 years ago, it would have seemed absurd that one day you would be able to look up an influential celebrity, ping them a message and know that, within a fraction of a second, your message would flash up in front of them on their computer screen or mobile phone. 25 years ago, very few people would even have heard of a mobile phone. These days, the potential for raising awareness is just phenomenal.

So, in the activist spirit of the Tiger Campaign New Year’s Resolutions, this week’s resolution is: Tell A Celebrity.

If you’re a Tweep, this one is gloriously straightforward. Pick the best (and most sympathetic!) of the slebs you follow, tell them about the campaign (@dakiniTigers on Twitter) and ask them to retweet the message to their followers. Let’s get an army of tiger tweeters spreading the campaign to the most prolific and most-followed figures we can.

Over the past week, we’ve already had individuals, famous writers, writers’ networks and Arts magazines such as MsLexia and Creative Review tweeting info about the Campaign. If we all focus hard on this task over the coming weeks, just think how much good we can do to raise awareness for the Campaign, and for the plight of tigers in the wild.

Have a lovely weekend – and happy Tweeting!

Lindsey x

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