photo credit: The White House Facebook page

Make your voice heard!

I have not used a guest blogger until my husband asked if he could use The Third Cup as a platform to share the following information with you. He has a lot of wisdom to share and I am encouraging him to create his own platform, but for now I am sharing this platform with him.

• The Supreme Court changes the definition of marriage.
• Planned Parenthood harvests and sells the organs of babies killed in abortions.
• Planned Parenthood counsels adolescent girls to experiment sexually in ways that are illegal, gross, and dangerous.
• Five unarmed service men are killed in Chattanooga, TN and the federal government waits five days to lower the flag to half staff.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20

Do you feel like the world is completely upside down and what is right has become wrong?

What can you do?

Well this is a social media world. We have access to policy makers and influencers in ways never dreamed of 20 years ago. Making sure they hear your voice has never been easier.

General rules of conduct when making your voice heard.

• Don’t start by threatening.
• State your concerns or position politely.
• Express yourself intelligently.
• NEVER YELL!!!!! Writing in all caps is synonymous with yelling. It doesn’t help.
• Check your facts.

If your facts are from FaceBook, check them twice or three times. Snopes.com is a good resource. Many of the outrageous stories circulating in social media are simply not true. For example, the President did not have the U.S. flag lowered to half staff when Whitney Houston died. Gov. Christy of NJ did have the flag lowered in NJ, as he has the authority to in his state.

• Tell them what you want them to do.

        Don’t just tell them what you don’t like, ask them to do something about it.

For example “@POTUS, please lower the US flag to half staff to honor the men killed in Chattanooga” (I will explain POTUS in a moment)

• Include links to articles or blogs.

Because this format is electronic you can include links to blogs or news articles.

How do I contact them?

• Twitter

Find the President, your senator, or your congressman on Twitter. Follow them.

Tweet them by using the @“sign followed by the name they use on twitter.

I think Twitter is the best way to contact the President. The Twitter name for the office is POTUS, which stands for “President of the United States”. Simply tweet “@POTUS” and then tell him what’s on your mind. Someone on his staff will read it. You will probably never hear back from them, but they will have heard from you.

Follow the same format for your congressman and let them know what you are thinking.

• Facebook

Find your congressman’s Facebook page, Like the page.

Post your comments on your own timeline, along with links to any info you want them to have and mention the congressman. As you are typing his or her name should pop up in a list below where you’re typing, click on the name. They will be notified that someone mentioned them in a comment.

How do I find them on social media?

The President

• Facebook

            https://www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse

            https://www.facebook.com/barackobama

• Twitter

            @POTUS

• Congress

     These two sites give you the social media info for the members of the House and the Senate.

     http://govsm.com/w/House

     http://govsm.com/w/Senate

Wrap Up

Now, you have the general guidelines and procedures. Let the influencers and policy makers hear your voice.

If you found this helpful and would like to hear more of what David has to say, leave him a comment encouraging him to set up his own blog site. :)