#DrugDestroyLives

#DrugsDestroyLives

Drug abuse is a public health problem affecting almost every community and family in some way. It also plays a major role in social problems like violence, stress, and child abuse. Pregnant women who engage in this activity harm their unborn babies and the best treatment for drug abuse is to prevent it in the first place. NEWS24 has revealed in its article health24 revealed that drug such as Ecstasy and Speed are commonly used by youngsters and most crimes are committed by people who want to support their drug habits in South Africa.

Social media’s influence on the #DrugDestroyLives campaign

·         User-friendly: social media platforms such as Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram are user-friendly and interactive. Public relations practitioners can use these platforms as channels to communicate to the target audience and to pass the message in the intended way. They can have direct connectivity with the prospective clients or their target population.

·         Cost effectiveness: doing online public relations campaigns such as #DrugDestroyLives campaign, using Facebook pages and having Twitter accounts to disseminate information will not cost much. It will be better than renting a venue, paying for décor and so on to campaign.

·         Easy accessibility: social media is easily accessible for those who  have access to technology such as  internet connectivity,

Smartphones and so on. Using social media for this campaign will mean creating awareness to a larger masses since those who were not interested in the campaign may accidentally see posts about it thereby creating an impact.

SAY NO TO DRUGS

Disadvantages of social media to Public relations practitioner in campaigning on # DrugDestroyLives.

·         Difficult to manage: social media engagement can be difficult to manage as those who are highly in to drugs may take the campaign personally. Since some people are satisfied with the lives they live they would not want anyone judging their actions there creating a huge argument on social media.

·         Unwanted messages: can have as fast a distribution as messages you want to distribute. sometimes an individual against the campaign can sabotage it

Recommendations

·         For a successful campaign always know your target audience and put your message in a convincing manner to avoid conflicts

·         Those trying to quit from taking drugs should always by encouraged and motivated by those around them.

·         Rehabilitation centres should be welcoming and strict on their rules in order to help those wanting to quit.

·         More similar campaigns should be organised to get people constantly on the effects of drug abuse.

#abortion

#Abortion

Abortion refers to ending a pregnancy by removing an embryo or fetus before it can survive outside the uterus. A spontaneous abortion is known as a miscarriage. Therefore when deliberate steps are taken to end a pregnancy it is known as abortion. Marie Stopes based in the UK recognized two types of abortion that is medical abortion for early stages of pregnancy and surgical abortion for the early and later stages of abortion.

How Public relations practitioners can use social media for the #abortion campaign

·         Widespread coverage: public relations practitioner should make use of social networking sites such Facebook, twitter and YouTube to educate the public about the campaign on what they are planning to do during these campaign as the number of people who use the internet increases every day. Through social media platforms they can enlighten individuals on how plan before conceiving in order to avoid abortion.

·         Increased communication:  social media have platforms where interactive and simultaneous conversations take place. On social media hashtags can start trending thereby increasing the visibility of the post. PRPs can use social media to make the #abortion campaign go viral since everyone has equal voice on social media. Frequently used platforms can be used to promote the hashtag thereby creating awareness for the campaign. It went viral when the Tennessee House of Representatives passed a bill to ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat was detected.

·         Links and search Engine Optimization (SEO): Public relations practitioners should make use of links to relevant information and documents supporting the #abortion campaign so that bloggers and journalists can mention them on their content. In a pioneer article written by Stephen E.O how ignorant women are on abortion and contraceptive he gave a link for more information.

How social media can impact the #abortion campaign

·         Difficult to manage: social media engagement can be difficult to manage for public relations practitioners particularly if it goes viral as it requires a lot of attentions and skills to respond to it. Many have been taken to court because they talked against or for abortion.

·         Stakeholder’s responses: stakeholders can commend widely on various social media platforms as campaigning against abortion will arouse the anger of an individual who is for abortion and does not see anything wrong in committing abortion.

Recommendations

• ·         It will be recommended that the PRPs should be specific in the target audience during the next campaign
• ·         It is also advisable that the different media houses should be invited during the next campaign so that they can cover the event.
• ·         Awards or prizes can be offered to the first 200 people to tweet about the #abortion campaign