Practise paragraphs – criminology
AC2.2
Blogs
What is it?
Blogs are a platform where stories are told in detail. It is a place for resources and building a
community around the issue providing regular updates.
Strengths
A strength of blogs is that they cover many topics, providing detailed information which
traditional methods don’t. They explore the subject deeply allowing people to get a greater
understanding of the campaign they’re supporting which could encourage them to
contribute.
Another strength is that it is a controversial tone with a personal perspective. This creates a
sense of trust which allows the readers to want to contribute and share this campaign,
increasing the amount of people supporting it.
A final strength of blogs is that they’re updated in real time and therefore the latest
information is always available. This makes people rely on this source for information. And
therefore it is effective to supporting a campaign.
Weaknesses
A negative of a blog is that it is extremely detailed which may mean readers find it hard to
digest, limiting the audience. If people aren’t interested, then they aren’t likely to read big
chunks of information. Therefore, they may not know enough about this campaign.
Another con of blogs is that it requires constant management otherwise errors and
miscommunication could occur. Therefore, people will turn elsewhere for information.
A final weakness is blogs needed to be updated regularly, or they could lose relevance and
become outdated, and people will turn elsewhere for information. Therefore, they aren’t
always a successful method, which could make campaigns less effective.
Examples
An example of blogs is UK youth climate coalition. This was to educate young people and
was hosted on their website. This campaign was related to climate injustice and activism
hoping to make significant success in raising awareness for urgent climate change. This
campaign consisted of many strikes where 10,000 students participated in the first uk world-
wide strike and over 50,000 striked globally in march 2019.
An example of the use of blogs is the unlock campaign. This campaign highlighted legal
victory in 2019 by the government making changes to DBS making it easier for the 380,000
people who committed minor crimes earlier in life easier to find work now. This was a long-
standing campaign which used blogs.
, Viral messaging
What is it?
Viral messaging is like social media where posts can be shared, allowing people to pass
messages between people. It is effective when it reaches those with a high social network
policy.
Strengths
A strength of viral messaging is that it can access lots of people. 5.17 billion use social media
and it is easy for messages to be spread. It can result in massive exposure and has access to
a wider audience than the traditional methods. Therefore, this campaign will reach an
increased population.
Another strength is that it is free and cost effective. It is accessible to smaller campaigns as
well as larger campaigns as it spreads awareness to lots of people for no cost.
The final strength of viral messaging is that it is an extremely quick method. They can share
around the message thousands of times in minutes. This allows them to reach lots of people
within a short amount of time. This is effective for the campaign.
Weakness
A weakness is that it may struggle to reach key influencers as the algorithms may not reach
audiences in the correct way. This could cause it to be harder for them to reach their target
audience. This therefore may not be effective if they don’t reach the right audience.
Another weakness is that not everyone will connect with the campaign as they may not be
interested or may not believe it is genuine. This could reduce the amount of people who
engage.
The final weakness of viral messaging is that viral message is a less effective method for the
elderly and the young. Therefore, it could completely miss the target audience and reduce
the effectiveness of the campaign.
Examples
An example of viral messaging is the campaign share your ears. Everytime someone posted a
picture featuring mickey mouse ears $5 got sent to make a wish charity. This encourages
people to share their photos. Overall, they raised $2 million. This boosted visibility to the
global trend.
An example of the use of viral messaging was in the time to change campaign. This was a
campaign to raise awareness on mens mental health discrimination, where their
merchandise was coasters in pubs. Someone posted a picture of them in twitter and the
tweet went viral and spread the message quickly
AC2.2
Blogs
What is it?
Blogs are a platform where stories are told in detail. It is a place for resources and building a
community around the issue providing regular updates.
Strengths
A strength of blogs is that they cover many topics, providing detailed information which
traditional methods don’t. They explore the subject deeply allowing people to get a greater
understanding of the campaign they’re supporting which could encourage them to
contribute.
Another strength is that it is a controversial tone with a personal perspective. This creates a
sense of trust which allows the readers to want to contribute and share this campaign,
increasing the amount of people supporting it.
A final strength of blogs is that they’re updated in real time and therefore the latest
information is always available. This makes people rely on this source for information. And
therefore it is effective to supporting a campaign.
Weaknesses
A negative of a blog is that it is extremely detailed which may mean readers find it hard to
digest, limiting the audience. If people aren’t interested, then they aren’t likely to read big
chunks of information. Therefore, they may not know enough about this campaign.
Another con of blogs is that it requires constant management otherwise errors and
miscommunication could occur. Therefore, people will turn elsewhere for information.
A final weakness is blogs needed to be updated regularly, or they could lose relevance and
become outdated, and people will turn elsewhere for information. Therefore, they aren’t
always a successful method, which could make campaigns less effective.
Examples
An example of blogs is UK youth climate coalition. This was to educate young people and
was hosted on their website. This campaign was related to climate injustice and activism
hoping to make significant success in raising awareness for urgent climate change. This
campaign consisted of many strikes where 10,000 students participated in the first uk world-
wide strike and over 50,000 striked globally in march 2019.
An example of the use of blogs is the unlock campaign. This campaign highlighted legal
victory in 2019 by the government making changes to DBS making it easier for the 380,000
people who committed minor crimes earlier in life easier to find work now. This was a long-
standing campaign which used blogs.
, Viral messaging
What is it?
Viral messaging is like social media where posts can be shared, allowing people to pass
messages between people. It is effective when it reaches those with a high social network
policy.
Strengths
A strength of viral messaging is that it can access lots of people. 5.17 billion use social media
and it is easy for messages to be spread. It can result in massive exposure and has access to
a wider audience than the traditional methods. Therefore, this campaign will reach an
increased population.
Another strength is that it is free and cost effective. It is accessible to smaller campaigns as
well as larger campaigns as it spreads awareness to lots of people for no cost.
The final strength of viral messaging is that it is an extremely quick method. They can share
around the message thousands of times in minutes. This allows them to reach lots of people
within a short amount of time. This is effective for the campaign.
Weakness
A weakness is that it may struggle to reach key influencers as the algorithms may not reach
audiences in the correct way. This could cause it to be harder for them to reach their target
audience. This therefore may not be effective if they don’t reach the right audience.
Another weakness is that not everyone will connect with the campaign as they may not be
interested or may not believe it is genuine. This could reduce the amount of people who
engage.
The final weakness of viral messaging is that viral message is a less effective method for the
elderly and the young. Therefore, it could completely miss the target audience and reduce
the effectiveness of the campaign.
Examples
An example of viral messaging is the campaign share your ears. Everytime someone posted a
picture featuring mickey mouse ears $5 got sent to make a wish charity. This encourages
people to share their photos. Overall, they raised $2 million. This boosted visibility to the
global trend.
An example of the use of viral messaging was in the time to change campaign. This was a
campaign to raise awareness on mens mental health discrimination, where their
merchandise was coasters in pubs. Someone posted a picture of them in twitter and the
tweet went viral and spread the message quickly
