Know Your Neighbor (KYN): Share Your Story

From July 20th-27th, 2017, the Know Your Neighbor: Multifaith Encounters coalition shared stories on various social media platforms to demonstrate the importance of “Knowing Your Neighbor”, generating over 3 million views.

Our deep thanks to everyone who participated in this campaign. Below are some results from “Share Your Story” followed by the original campaign guidelines.

• Over 140 organizations across the nation retweeted, shared, or created posts about #KnowYourNeighbor, with countless individuals also taking part.
• #KnowYourNeighbor and #KYN had a combined reach on Twitter of 1.8 million and a total of 2.9 million impressions.
• #KnowYourNeighbor and #KYN posts and videos on the Islamic Networks Group’s (ING) Facebook Page received an additional 183,729 views.
• We can’t begin to estimate the number of views of those who created their own videos and posts on Facebook — but we’re sure that this impact is tremendous.

Social media is a powerful tool in sharing ideas and beliefs and this summer and beyond we hope to use these platforms to help encourage understanding and empathy across religious, ethical, and cultural divides as a part of our Know Your Neighbor Campaign.

Below are sample posts for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram that we hope will inspire you to share on your own social media platforms. Begin by answering one of the following questions:

• What do you want your neighbors to know about you?
• What experience changed the way you think about your neighbors or how they thought of you?
• Why is interfaith work important?

Then post about it using the hashtag #KnowYourNeighbor, or #KYN if you run out of space on Twitter. Check out these great examples of videos for ideas on how to let your neighbors know about you.

If you are a leader within your community and would like to share this campaign with others you can do so by using our Know Your Neighbor (KYN) Summer Campaign Talking Points for a Sermon which demonstrates how to share the value of interfaith engagement and ways to participate in this campaign.

What do you want your Neighbors to know about you?

What experience changed the way you think about your neighbors or how they thought of you?

Here are a few tips for creating your own #KnowYourNeighbor videos:

• You don’t need expensive movie cameras to create a good-looking video. Smartphones these days tend to have advanced video capabilities.
• Choose a location that’s well lit (but not backlit) and doesn’t have a lot of background noise. An empty park or your own home is better than a loud coffee shop.
• When recording, you can either hold the phone yourself, prop it up on something, or have a friend or family member film you. Make sure that the frame includes at least a bit of your shoulders — having your face occupy the whole frame can look a little unnerving.
• Have a good idea of what you’re going to say before you say it. Practice a few times in front of a mirror or with friends. Don’t be afraid to write your key points on notecards as a reminder. You can even tape a notecard to your phone while recording so you don’t have to look away from the camera.
• Oh, and by the way, make sure your video is not longer than 90 seconds. Shorter is better!

Our Know Your Neighbor partners at Interfaith Youth Core have some helpful storytelling resources including:

• Prompts on developing a personal story & ideas on how to do that in a group meeting context,
• Texts identifying shared values across traditions
• How to develop a personal theology/ethic of interfaith cooperation that utilizes elements from your worldview or tradition and your personal story.

Sample Facebook Post:

Sample Twitter Posts and Tips:

Twitter doesn’t allow enough characters to post a long story, so we encourage you to instead share fun facts about yourself. We suggest the approach of: “two truths and a fun fact” example below. Be sure to end your post by using the hashtag #KnowYourNeighbor. Twitter also allows video posts, but they are capped at two and a half minutes, so be mindful of how long you’ve been talking. In any case, shorter videos are usually better. Below are a few examples of potential Twitter posts using the “two truths and a fun fact” format:

Sample Instagram Post and Tips:

Instagram is a great platform for sharing images with good stories behind them. You can also post videos (and we encourage it) though you’re capped at one minute of recording. Make your words count!