AAUW Tweet Chat with Sandra Fluke Inspires Voters

The AAUW Action Fund’s It’s My Vote: I Will Be Heard voter education and turnout campaign represents an unprecedented investment in making women’s voices heard in the 2012 election. Follow us on Twitter and on Tumblr for the latest updates, and check out our biweekly Campaign Update for news, resources, and ideas.

For one hour on September 18, Twitter exploded with conversation around the AAUW Action Fund’s It’s My Vote: I Will Be Heard campaign. A tweet chat hosted by AAUW and Fem2pt0 with special guests Sandra Fluke, a reproductive rights advocate, and Dan Vicuna, an attorney and Campus Vote Project coordinator with the Fair Elections Legal Network, spread the word about It’s My Vote to nearly 400,000 Twitter users’ streams.

These graphs show the social media impact that AAUW had on the Twitterverse on Tuesday. Reach refers to the number of users for whom #itsmyvote tweets appeared in their Twitter streams. Exposure refers to the total number of times those users had #itsmyvote tweets in their Twitter streams.

Nearly 400 Twitter users joined in as Fluke, Vicuna, and AAUW Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Lisa Maatz took questions on voter registration, voter-identification requirements, and how to motivate young women to vote. They offered information and inspiration to get users excited about the upcoming elections.

Participants’ passion for voting was evident in the most retweeted message from the chat. Fifty-three accounts retweeted this post from Fluke: “I wish more companies would have #Election2012 as a holiday to make voting easier for working families.” Catch up on the full chat in this Storify transcript, or check out the highlights in the three questions below.

Question: What do you think is going to drive women to ‪#vote in ‪#Election2012? ‪#itsmyvote

@SandraFluke: Young women r really mobilized by hearing not slogans but the records of candidates on issues affecting young women: health, econ ‪#itsmyvote

@SandraFluke: Young women are also really passionate about ‪#MarriageEquality and affordability of college/student loans. ‪#itsmyvote

Question: How do we keep young women engaged after #Election2012? #itsmyvote

@LisaMaatz: Ppl need 2 remember elections are only 1st step. After, we need to hold officials accountable to their promises. 1of2 ‪#aauw ‪#itsmyvote

@LisaMaatz: And you CAN hold legislators accountable when you have as big a voting bloc as millennials do. 2of2 ‪#aauw ‪#itsmyvote

Question: How can we get more female students 2 register 2 vote? ‪#itsmyvote

@fairerelections: Part 1: Empower them with info abt their right 2 vote in their college community and other election rules. ‪#itsmyvote

@fairerelections: Part 2: 2/3 of students who didn’t vote in 2010 cited reasons that had 2 do with a lack of information abt the process. ‪#itsmyvote

This post was written by AAUW Political Media Coordinator Elizabeth Owens.