I posted the challenge on my Southern Fried Science blog:
I’d like to invite you to participate in a Twitter hashtag campaign for the entire month. The purpose of this campaign is to bring some attention and praise to the people who are doing great conservation work. I’m calling the campaign #30EarthMonthHeroes.Half the inspiration for #30EarthMonthHeroes was a Black History Month Twitter thread by Qasim Rashid. When I stumbled across it, I asked myself how I could do something similar, and thought about either April as Earth Month or June as Ocean Month as a good time. The other inspiration came from my Twitter brand -- I spend a lot of time promoting other people on Twitter. I've done threads on Indigenous Pacific Islanders in Conservation, Micronesian Role Models, and Women in Science, so combining these two strategies I came up with #30EarthMonthHeroes.
Participation is easy. Starting on April 1, post a tweet about someone who you think is doing great work to protect the Earth or the Ocean, either someone you know or someone you would like to know. Say something nice, upload a photo, link to a story or a video, tag them, and use the hashtag #30EarthMonthHeroes.
Each subsequent day, thread one additional tweet about someone you admire. It’s important to thread your tweets, so that by the time you get to April 30, you will have one single long thread. If you thread them properly, throughout the month, as readers find your tweets they will be able to easily scroll up and down to find the people that you’ve been tweeting about. If this works the way I hope it will, even the people who find your tweets as late as April 30, will still be scrolling back to your tweets from April 1.
If all goes according to plan, we reach new audiences on a large scale and greatly impact the conversation about conservation, while building a twitter following for ourselves, as well as the people who we call out as Earth Month Heroes. Plus it’s nice to hear from your colleagues when you are doing a good job.
The response from the conservation community has been greater than I expected. In the first two days alone, more than 50 people started posting about their heroes. It's been a real joy to watch who people tag. The late Rachel Carson and Eugenie Clark have been mentioned multiple times, as have conservation heavyweights Sylvia Earle, Jane Goodall, and pretty much all of the Cousteaus. Some of the people I've met at science conferences are getting a lot of love, especially Asha Devos, Sonya Fordham, Diva Amon, and Michelle LaRue. Others are tagging big organizations (like the one that employs me). Even a few fictitious characters like Captain Planet and Smokey the Bear are getting tagged. The best posts, though, are the ones where people tag mentors, colleagues, and role models.
Ron Swanson said it best, "You chose a thankless job, you can’t be upset when nobody thanks you. Don't start chasing applause and acclaim. That way lies madness."
But still, it's nice to hear from your colleagues that you are appreciated.
Thanks to everyone who has participated so far, and if you are reading this, I encourage you to join us. The rules are very simple:
Today is the first day of #30EarthMonthHeroes
— Angelo Villagomez (@TaotaoTasi) April 1, 2019
It's simple to participate:
1. Tag someone you know (or would like to know) who does great things to protect our earth and ocean
2. Tomorrow tag/thread another person
3. Repeat for 30 days#MakeEarthDayEveryDayhttps://t.co/Ktz450aDj4