Presented by Team 9:Bryan Cotter

Tony DeCastroMatt Ellis

Curtis Goodman

Current Environment

Current Social Media Efforts

Current Social Media Efforts

Public OpinionGoogle “ExxonMobil YouTube”What happens?

ExxonMobil negativity

Social Media for Extreme IdeasFacebook and Twitter have become forums for

energy movement organizations to rally their followers with extreme ideas:Energytomorrow.com (Pro-fossil fuel organization):

Offshore drilling in North America will generate enough tax revenues to help cure all diseases, from cancer to AIDS

Greenpeace (Pro-green organization): The United States can eliminate the dependency on

foreign oil by setting up wind energy combines throughout Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota

Influencing Opinions/Thoughts/Behaviors and Ideas

Pro-Fossil Fuel MovementTheir main focus is conveying the message to the

general public that their drilling is ecologically friendly and helpful to the economy Updated news stories with a pro-fossil fuel slant

Pro-Green MovementTheir main focus is to educate their followers to

on legislation that has ecological implications Rally their troops into voting in favor of pro-green

movement legislation

Alternative Energy and Social Media

Pro-Green Movement Organizations:Posts messages regarding plans for Solar,

Wind, Bio-diesel, etc… to inform and persuade their followers

This can have positive outcomes for the alternative energy movement by persuading their growing numbers of followers Potentially millions of youth being informed right

now for future alternative energy initiatives

Influencing LegislationVoluntary vs. Compulsory Compliance

Public Opinion is the first target Public is readily accessible Public controls source of revenues

Energy Legislation is the ultimate objective More difficult to accomplish, but more powerful if

achieved Legislation has the authority to ban profitable

business or regulate profitable business to the point of extinction

Legislation has the authority to protect the general welfare even if it doesn’t make “financial sense”

Twitter & the US House of Representatives“If a party stages a protest on the House floor but no one can see

or hear it, does it make a sound?” - Ben Pershing, Washington Post (Aug ’08)

Yes, it makes a tweet!August 2008

US House of Representatives adjourns for their annual summer break without voting on a bill that would allow for increased offshore drilling

Traditional media outlets check outGOP Representatives stage a protestRep. John Culberson and several colleagues break

the story to the public using Twitter

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)January 2010

The NRDC launches a massive campaign in favor of clean energy legislation

While the NRDC boasts significant resources of their own, the “This is Our Moment” campaign is unique in its use of social media to get the public involved in lobbying for clean energy legislation

“The online community can also engage by spreading the message.  This is Our Moment is designed to create a virtual army of climate activists through an emphasis on social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, a rotating display of user-generated videos, and the video player itself, which is an embeddable widget for websites, social networking pages and blogs.”

"This is Our Moment" For Clean Energy Legislation

Nuclear Power CompaniesMajor Players: Exelon, Areva, General Electric,

Babcock & Wilcox, WestinghouseNuclear energy companies have limited

footprints in the world of social mediaTwitter, RSS and Facebook contain most of the

social media content

Content within social media forums varies widelyCompany events/activitiesProducts and servicesBlogs

Social media not used to “drive revenue” (i.e., new reactor technologies) - No coherent messaging

Nuclear Power AdvocatesMajor Players: Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) Big spenders on lobbying!!Though few large organizations exist, advocacy

groups are playing larger roles in employing social media.

Twitter, RSS, YouTube used most widelyAdvocacy groups are employing newer

techniques to build broader grassroots supportAstroturphingCASEnergy

Blogs provide an additional medium for nuclear power advocates to provide analysis and discuss the merits of nuclear power

Major Players: Environmental Groups, Professional Organizations, Direct Action Groups, Concerned IndividualsLocal, National and International level

Nuclear power opponents have leveraged a variety of social media outlets to support a steadily growing agenda.YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are

most widely used

Anti-nuclear supporters have a broader footprint in the world of social media than nuclear power companies

Social media has given a larger voice to the common protester, broadened the base of supporters, and facilitated coordination within the movement

Anti-Nuclear Power Movement

Improved Tactics

New Social Media Effort

s

New ToolsAll inclusive

AggregatorExperts only

Global outreach

Information transfer News