#Engager – The new place for civil society online

The #Engager is meant to become a virtual space for sharing information between civil society activists around the world. It is a great opportunity for governments and civil society organizations to increase their support and dialogue with other civil society organizations or activists, with minimal effort. 

By using the hashtag #Engager, all information is tagged and grouped together, increasing its visibility and accessibility to civil society activists, wherever they are. The goal of the #Engager is to group together all information related to activities of civil society, and allow organizations and activists to easily publish and acess information. 

How is the #Engager hashtag used?
Any organization, government, firm or person can share information on one of the social networks using the #Engager hashtag. All that is needed is to include the hashtag #Engager within the message. The information can then be found by any person searching the hashtag #Engager in the search engine of the same social network. 

What kind of information can be shared through the #Engager?

• Information about projects and grants. 
• Articles of interest, guidebooks.
• Calls for international attention / action.
• News and updates. 

What is so innovative about #Engager?
The #Engager hashtag is not yet another website or social network page. It does not require editorial efforts, technical skills or special organizational resources. The information shared through it is completely open and unlimited, and users do not need to visit a specific page or website to access it. It is a place of dialogue, where everybody gives and receives, shares and reads; not a one-directional flow of information, but a reciprocal network. It will be helpful to all who are involved with civil society: those who publish information will know that they have reached a large number of readers and have gained visibility for their projects and activities; and those who search for information will know they can get unlimited information from all over the world, and do not need to look for many different sources. 

What do you need to do?
The #Engager hashtag will be efficient only if its use is widespread. The more people use it, the more others will as well, and the number will keep on growing; this is what is called the "viral" behavior of the social networks. Therefore, all you need to do is to make use of the #Engager hashtag. There is no need for special resources or additional work – just keep doing what you were doing already until now, only add the #Engager hashtag to your message. Are you sharing on your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram or any social media page information related to civil soiety? Add the #Engager hashtag to your message! Millions of activists around the world will hear about it and be thankful!

LET'S START ENGAGING!

For further details contact Mr. Daniel Slomka, Communications Officer at the Permanent Secretariat of the Community of Democracies.