IN the days after the 2014 referendum, several new Facebook groups shot up in defiance of the result, often with 45% in their names.
Those groups grew exponentially and helped dedicated Yessers to keep the dream alive. Some of those groups are still active with excellent engagement levels – but many fell by the wayside, while others seemed to get embroiled in internal political fighting.
Six years on and the team behind Business for Scotland launched Believe in Scotland (BiS) as a new campaigning organisation to support local Yes groups with materials, messaging and training.
BiS launched its own Facebook group one year ago and has now hit 24,000 members, while continuing to add members at the rate of 2000 per month on average.
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Right from the start, the BiS Facebook group set out to be different from all the rest and set high standards in moderation and behaviour.
“We don’t do insults, swearing, flaming or overblown sarcasm and don’t allow internal party politics, there are plenty other groups for that,” said Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp, the founder of BiS.
He added: “We felt there was a need for a safe group where people could discuss Scotland’s future without fear of being trolled, where people could ask questions and get sensible fact-based answers and talk about their plans for Scotland.”
The BiS group has for the last year been the fastest growing Yes group on Facebook and is now the second largest, but with the highest levels of engagement and participation.
One thing that makes the BiS group different is that members get a say in how the campaign operates.
Earlier in the year, when BiS launched its 100-billboard campaign, the group’s members decided which billboard designs made the high streets by posting their favourite designs in a “share-off”.
MacIntyre-Kemp is no longer involved in the moderation of the group and says that much of the group’s success is due to the 10-person moderation team who give up their time to make sure the group remains on track, protecting it from spammers, trolls and once even a co-ordinated attack from a Unionist group that went unnoticed by the group’s members because of their hard work.
He said: “The moderators run the group, they have also taken over the job of defining the rules on what’s allowed and who gets to join, who gets muted and who gets booted.
“The resulting consistent quality of engagement is making the group a real asset to the Yes campaign as we move closer to indyref2.
“If I was to describe the Believe in Scotland group and why it works in one sentence, I would probably say: ‘We reach for the best in ourselves and in one another as we discuss Scotland’s future as an independent country and how to get there.’”
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Every new member is welcomed to the group by being tagged in a welcome message and existing group members say hello, and that helps set the tone of the group.
A message from our columnist Ruth Wishart to the group said: “Hi folks, it’s really good to have a safe space in which we can comment and reinforce each other’s commitment to Scotland regardless of party affiliation or none.”
Another from Michael Russell, president of the SNP and chief of its independence taskforce, said: “Pleased to be part of this and to share views and information. We all have the same goal...”
You can Join the Believe in Scotland Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/believeinscotland.org
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