How to Blog About Prop 8

Every blog post, discussion forum post, or comment will make a difference in this vote, especially if we work together. Here are 5 steps for HOW to join the conversation on the internet, and in doing so, you'll be joining in promoting whatisprop8.com -- which means undecided people will be learning why they should vote Yes on Prop 8!

Create a New Email Account:

Come up with a new username and head over to Gmail to make a new email account. It's totally free. For most blogs or forums, you need to use an email address to be able to log in and make comments. Some especially require a Gmail account. When you make your email account, use the same username you plan to use when posting comments on blogs, etc. Don't use your real name in your username. Make up something else.

Only sign posts and comments with your first name. This is common practice on the internet, so don't feel like you're not being honest enough if you don't put your full name. If you feel like your first name isn't enough, you can use your first name and last initial (e.g. Marissa T.).

Protect Your Personal Information:

Change the settings on your Facebook, MySpace, etc., to only allow your friends to see your personal information such as your phone number and email address. You should keep your privacy settings this way in general, too, but especially since you'll be posting a lot about Prop 8, which can make some people pretty zealous. Basically, take a few minutes to reduce the amount of private information that you've made public.

Form an Opinion:

Nobody likes a know-nothing. Read some articles on www.whatisprop8.com, watch some youtube videos, and most importantly decide how YOU feel about Prop 8 and why you feel the way you do. This should take 1-2 days at most.

Learn How to Make the Backlink to What is Prop 8?:

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Each post or comment you make should include a link back to www.whatisprop8.com. This does a few things:

Points people back to a huge resource for learning more
Places www.whatisprop8.com higher up in search engines like Google and Yahoo
Ties us all together as bloggers-- it's like our badge of unity

HOW TO MAKE A BACKLINK:

At the bottom of your post or comment, simply suggest people visit www.whatisprop8.com for more information.

On most discussion forums, you can select some text in your comment and click a "hyperlink" button. In that case, you should type What is Prop 8? - Articles, Research, and Viewpoints, then highlight it and set the hyperlink as http://www.whatisprop8.com (don't forget the http:// on this one). It'll end up looking just like you see here. You can also put the link in your signature of your forum profile so it automatically shows up on every post you make.
Don't type something like "Click HERE" and hyperlink it. That's pretty much worthless to the search engines because millions of links look like that.

You're Ready!

Where you post and what you say is up to you. Usually at the bottom of an article or video there will be a "Comments" link. Just click it!

Here are some tips that will save you headaches and make your opinion effective:

SHORT. Keep your comments short, only 1-4 sentences. You don't need to exchange pleasantries or give an all-encompassing answer for everything. Just say what you think and submit it. Remember, you're part of a conversation, not making your deathbed speech. Trust me, many short posts are MUCH better than one long post. Plus, that gets our back link out there that many more times.
BE NICE. The opposition has a knack for being less than savory in their replies, but if you are mean, they've already won the argument.
WALK AWAY. You do NOT have to answer every question, comment, or response. Just walk away. Especially if their comment was mean or hateful.

SHOULD YOU START YOUR OWN BLOG?
NO. Absolutely NOT. Do not start your own blog about this. Instead, comment on other well-established blogs and forums. At this point, it's just too late in the game for you to be able to get people to visit a brand new blog. Besides, you already have a captive audience consistently viewing other blogs every day, so why not go talk to those people?

If you already have your own blog, then by all means write a post about Prop 8 and include the backlink.

Where to post:

First, post on the websites and blogs that you already visit on a regular basis. Most websites have a comment area, so look for it. After you've commented on those, you should crawl the net and post anywhere and everywhere you can. The more well-known that a website is, the better it is because more people will read your comments. Once you've found one site, you can usually click on any "Related Links" they might have listed.