24 Jun
Posted by Kevin Bondelli as Text Messaging, Youth Mobilization
Last Saturday a couple of us Arizona Young Democrats went up to Payson to meet with someone interested in forming a Young Democrats chapter in rural Mogollon Rim country. During our conversations she told us something about the communication habits of young people in rural areas: text messaging is king.
While most young people in rural areas ways to access the internet, the relative difficulty of getting online and the number of youth holding outdoors jobs makes text messaging the most effective way to communicate.
Facebook may be the best communication tool available for college students and young people living in urban and suburban areas, but it is important to also utilize SMS communication to reach rural areas.
What have your experiences been in organizing rural youth? What have you learned about how to communicate effectively outside major cities? Leave a comment and share.
4 Responses
Horizontal Segmentation: Harness the Power of Multiple Media by Kevin Bondelli’s Youth Vote Blog
June 26th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
1[...] example, a couple days ago I wrote a post on how text messaging was the best way to communicate with young people in rural areas. Facebook is one of the best ways to reach college students who tend to use it for communication [...]
Lorraine Gore
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:34 am
2I stumbled on this blog from Brazen Careerist. I just wanted to thank you for posting this blog. My family is historically rural and poor and as an oppressed group are often forgotten in the political process.
I think you are absolutely right! Something that I think is an issue, especially in political/socal justice issues and trying to talk to rural folks about them is that when talking to them you can't use really academic language. We don't want to be talked down too, but we do want to be talked to on a level that we can comprehend what you're saying. I honestly think this is a big reason that rural areas are so conservative. Conservatives have gotten very good at reaching rural folks with talking points, simple language (many times talking down to us), while liberals use more academic language in our discussions. In small towns where many if not most will not attend college–academic language is pretty pointless and counterproductive.
Anyway! Thanks again for reaching out, a liberal voice in rural areas is definitely needed!
Kevin Bondelli
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
3Thank you. It is definitely important that we take the time to look at the best ways to reach out to rural communities and to actually follow through with them.
Reaching Out to Rural Youth - Kevin Bondelli’s Youth Vote Blog
July 25th, 2008 at 11:59 am
4[...] Another point that Sisto Abeyta of New Mexico made to me was that most of the communication that takes place in rural communities is done over the phone, which now also includes text messaging. [...]
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