STAY ON TOP OF THE NEWS

Planned Parenthood’s digital-advocacy staff, headed by Heather Holdridge, operates almost like a news room. It meets every morning to review developments that could hurt or help the organization’s goals and decide how to respond to them on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, coordinating with colleagues in New York. Even before she gets to work, Morgan Shoaff, who is in charge of the group’s advocacy Twitter feed, reads news stories on her smartphone while on the bus and starts thinking about how to shape the Twitter conversation that day.

She and her colleagues consider ways to highlight legislation, political activities, or support from prominent people.

Often the work has a whimsical tone. For example, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said last month that Democrats had created a phony “war on women” and compared it to a fictional “war on caterpillars.” Planned Parenthood quickly created and distributed a video highlighting “anti-women’s health measures” that had been introduced or passed in state legislatures—and promoted it on Facebook with a logo of a caterpillar carrying a sign saying “Women Are Watching.”

Many of the group’s efforts are highly political. For example, April 14 marked the one-year anniversary of a Senate vote to reject a House bill that would have ended federal spending for Planned Parenthood. The group posted a variety of messages to remind supporters of who voted for and against the bill, particularly condemning what it called the “Toxic Ten” House members who pushed for it.

At other times, the organization highlights events that promote its health mission. When Melinda Gates spoke about the importance of access to contraception at a global-health conference in April, it sent numerous tweets encouraging people to watch the presentation online and highlighting remarks that she made.