The corporate meme vs the grassroots one - night and day difference in reach

I was in a local political group and we were trying to get people to show up to a city council meeting about a proposed waste transfer station near a school. The official city comptroller's office made a meme with clip art and a generic slogan - it got shared maybe 12 times. I spent 20 minutes making a simple one with a picture of the actual dump trucks that already roll through the neighborhood, added a caption about "your kid's bus stop" in bold red text. That one got 400 shares in 3 days and 80 people showed up to the meeting. Has anyone else noticed that hyperlocal, specific memes always outperform the polished but generic ones from official sources?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_wesley28d agoMost Upvoted

Wait wait wait. 80 people showed up? That's insane. I've been in local politics for years and if we got 15 people to a meeting we'd be thrilled. The fact that 80 random residents actually went to a city council meeting over a meme is wild to me. Your example proves exactly why official sources can't compete. They're too safe, too bland, too afraid to ruffle feathers. But a picture of actual dump trucks near a school with bold red text? That's real. That's something people can see and feel in their gut. The city's clip art nonsense might as well be invisible. People can tell when something was made by someone who actually lives there versus someone in an air conditioned office two towns over. If more groups figured this out, they'd actually get things done.

ericfox28d ago

Flip it around though: 80 people is nothing in a town of 10,000. A biased meme with bold lies can get folks riled up fast, but it usually leads to bad decisions based on half truths. Official sources are boring on purpose because they have to be accurate, and accuracy takes a lot more work than a quick photoshop.