By Stephanie R. South, TDC National Coordinator

As part of ADP’s eCitizenship and Political Engagement Project initiatives, the American Democracy Project (ADP) and The Democracy Commitment (TDC) are planning a multi-campus digital dialogue (i.e., Tweet-Up) about the 2014 Midterm Elections during November 4-11, 2014.

As we head to the polls on Election Day (November 4^th) and throughout the rest of that week, ADP and TDC encourage students and faculty to engage in a discussion about this important election cycle—including domestic policy issues most affecting higher education—using Twitter.

In order to prompt discussion during the Tweet-Up, Illinois State University’s School of Communication will compile a primer on major national themes and domestic policy implications gleaned from commentary occurring via social media on the night of the election. Specifically, the Social Media Analytics Command Center (SMACC) will be used to analyze public conversations from social media outlets, popular discussion forums, and major blogs. By following messages as they spread and diffuse across social networks, the SMACC can help identify and begin to predict message trends related to the 2014 election cycle. The SMACC report will be made publicly available on November 5^th and will be shared with all Tweet-Up participants.

All Tweet-Up participants should use the hashtag #ADPTDCelect during this conversation. The Twitter handles for the ADP, TDC, and SMACC are:

ADP: @ADPaascu

TDC: @TDCNational

SMACC: @ISUSOC_SMACC

As the ADP and TDC are non-partisan and interested in preparing the next generation of informed, engaged citizens, we hope many of you will join us and encourage your students to do so as well. We want to encourage more students to engage in the electoral process and are not looking for a partisan battle, but for a supportive, interesting, and analytical conversation that encourages civic and political engagement.

So, just to recap:

What:  ADP/TDC 2014 Midterm Elections Tweet-Up

    When: Tuesday, November 4, 2014 – Tuesday, November 11, 2014

           How: On Twitter using the hashtag #ADPTDCelect; it only takes a few minutes for most students to learn to use Twitter, and they can create an account at https://twitter.com.