How to lobby your MP on Twitter
With many public figures using Twitter, tweeting your MP is an easy and personal way to engage with your MP and really does work!
If you would like to get involved and let your parliamentary candidate know about the issues surrounding pancreatic cancer but do not want to write a letter or phone them, did you know that you can get their attention by publicly tweeting?
Top Tips:
- Show how pancreatic cancer has affected you personally
- Try to get a dialogue going by asking them a question
- Highlight the facts and statistics of pancreatic cancer and ask them to get involved
- Use links – for example our website www.panact.org or our blogs about policy and campaigning.
- Use Hashtags e.g. #PancreaticCancer and tag people
Twitter Made Simple:
Create an account
Twitter has an easy guide on how to set up your account. Click here to set one up now!
Twitter Handle (@username)
A handle is a person’s username on twitter. Pancreatic Cancer Action’s handle is @OfficialPCA
You can find out the twitter handle of any MP here: panact.org/tweetMP
The @ sign
The @ sign is used to mention people in tweets. You have to use the @ sign in front of a person’s username so they can see your tweet. You can find out your MP’s handle (username) here or use the search bar in the top right hand corner of your twitter page.
You can ‘tag’ people in your posts by putting the @ symbol before their ‘handle e.g. @OfficialPCA will tag us. We will be able to see that you have included us.
Hashtag ‘#’
beginning a word with a # will make it easier for other people to search on Twitter. If enough people tweet about it then it will ‘trend’. A good example of this is on Mondays with #MondayMotivation
Follow & Followers
When you follow someone you get updates of what they tweet, likewise when someone follows you, they will get updates of what you tweet.
You can find out your MP’s twitter page to follow and tweet them here:
Other ways of contacting your MP
Tweeting is just one way you can get in touch with your MP. You can speak to them face to face, write them an e-mail or phone.
