Research, compiled (useful for copy, feature ideas, priorities)

[kwritenow]

How long HAS it been since IL had a budget?

New York Times - One State’s Struggle to Make Ends Meet: Why Illinois Is Without a Budget:

Lawmakers were deadlocked in negotiations leading up to the budget deadline of July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year.

Huffington Post - The Unfortunate Effects of Illinois' Budget Crisis:

By law, an Illinois budget for fiscal year 2016 should have been passed no later than July 1, 2015.

KMOV - No sign of an Illinois budget as state lawmakers take weekend off:

Illinois lawmakers are on vacation and the state continues to operate without a budget, two days after the start of a new fiscal year. (published 7/2/2015)

[kwritenow]

On contacting you rep:

The Borgen Project makes a pretty good case for calling your representatives. http://borgenproject.org/call-congress/

The video reminder they have on their site could fit well with the tone we're developing: https://vimeo.com/50244998

This public interest lobby also says it can be effective to contact reps, but make it personal, individualized. "Before email, most offices heard from about 2 percent of their constituents. Now the figure is closer to 4 percent to 5 percent. The challenge for each office is how to deal with the increased volume of communication in an efficient and meaningful manner." http://fcnl.org/resources/newsletter/oct07/do_emails_and_letters_to_congress_work/

[kwritenow]

12 Suggestions for ending the budget impasse

[kwritenow]

Pew stats on social media and political engagement:

Per Pew research (2012), people most likely to share and consume political content on social media are young, liberal, black, and already politically engaged: http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/09/04/politics-on-social-networking-sites/

" 25% of SNS users say they have become more active in a political issue after discussing it or reading posts about it on the sites. 16% of SNS users say they have changed their views about a political issue after discussing it or reading posts about it on the sites. 9% of SNS users say they have become less involved in a political issue after discussing it or reading posts about it on the sites."

They're more likely to see it on Twitter, but they're more likely to post it and comment on Facebook: http://www.journalism.org/2015/07/14/the-evolving-role-of-news-on-twitter-and-facebook/

For those following news via social media, it's at least as likely as not they're doing so on a mobile device: http://www.journalism.org/2013/11/14/news-use-across-social-media-platforms/

People are less likely to share their views if they feel their followers will disagree, so we might should be careful framing suggested posts as opinions, and consider providing in-person opportunities to act. http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/08/26/social-media-and-the-spiral-of-silence/

People in all demographics are increasingly on social media, but low income and rural people lag behind in usage rates. If we prioritize that audience, we could think of alternatives to social media CTAs. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/08/social-networking-usage-2005-2015/

[kwritenow]

Feedback on the prototype:

• three college students * 2 of 3 would share this, 1 doesn't share anything. He just joined twitter * all said their friends would share something like this. One: They're all students, and they care about the place where they live. They wouldn't take any action besides sharing though. * Why don't people share? They don't have reminders. They don't know this is going on. They're too busy with school. * Have you ever contacted your representatives? 2 Nos, 1 yes "I live in DC, so I've walked over to see my representatives." and "I've had some very frank conversations."
• journalist * people aren't aware of it yet because the buses are still running * affects on CPS could be a topic that would capture people's attention * maybe a map, because people care about the things that are happening in their specific neighborhood * can put us in touch with journalists to help with a twitter chat