Sway

Getting Started With Sway

Sway aims to return power to the people — people just like you! By creating a Sway Page, no matter how big or small, you are taking the first step to rewriting democracy.

Throughout this guide, we use the example of Vote With Me on Street Safety. Any reference to the example will include the yield sign.

Now that you have that context, let’s get to it!

Creating a Sway Page

Selecting a Topic

The atomic unit of Sway is “Vote With”. When supporters visit your Sway Page, the most prominent thing they'll see is “Vote With [you] on [topic]”.

A topic on a Sway Page is the specific issue or policy area you champion. You get to define your topic in your own words — there's no one right way to do it. But, consider the following as you do:

  • If your topic is too broad (eg Vote With Me on Everything), it might be hard for people to align with you.
  • If your topic is too narrow (eg Vote With Me on Adding a Crosswalk to 10th & Elm St), it will be hard for you to grow a coalition (more on that below).

So how to solve? We suggest making topics that last over many elections, but are focused. If you have more than one topic, simply make more than one Sway Page.

  • To go back to our example, “Everything” could be separate Sway Pages on “Education”, “Business Development”, “Public Transportation”, etc.
  • The very narrow “Adding a Crosswalk to 10th & Elm St” could become “Street Safety”.

Choosing your topic is the most important decision you make on a Sway Page. Once set, it’s unchangeable. It’s also the only element of your Sway Page that is required. Every element below is an optional way to make your Sway Page as compelling as possible.

Writing a Slogan

Once you’ve selected your topic, your slogan makes your Sway Page come to life. Think of your slogan as a marketing tagline. Use action verbs like “demand”, “make”, “count”, etc. Grab our attention and tell us — briefly — why we should care. For example: Demand a crosswalk for our kids!
The character limit is 32. Your slogan can be updated at any time.

Educating Your Supporters

Your Sway Page serves as a handshake point between you and your supporters (ie you give them personalized voting recommendations while they give you leverage). Your supporters are willing to click the “Vote With Me” button on your Sway Page because they know what you’re about. They either have heard from you in person or have a sense of your values and interests based on your online activity. Your Sway Page allows you to reinforce your bona fides and values, but assume that much of your messaging happens elsewhere.

To support your storytelling, your Sway Page provides the opportunity to share why your topic is important — both to you and the world.

Extending the example above, if the crosswalk at 10th and Elm St is near an elementary school, tell us about the kids you see walking home and why that intersection needs to be safer. Snap a photo of the intersection in question. Make us get behind you.

Your Sway Page allows you to make as many sections as you like when setting up your page. We suggest balancing a rich narrative with something people want to read. If people want more information, you can link out to relevant resources.

Choosing Offices or Measures

What makes your Sway Page powerful is the ability to link your topic to the offices or ballot measures that impact it. These connections are not always obvious. In fact, Sway Pages are an incredible way to bring topics to politicians that haven’t been on their radar — until you came along.

We suggest that you start with the smallest office that could address your topic.

For our Street Safety example, it’s perhaps a local councilperson. Since it’s near a school, it might also impact the school board. As you gain leverage, you may want to also lobby larger offices like mayor. Don’t go too big unless it’s absolutely necessary. It’s unlikely that your senator or the president has much to say about individual crosswalks.

Building Leverage

Sharing Your Sway Page

Once your Sway Page is ready to share, click the “Share” button at the bottom of your page. From there, you will receive a link to be used in social sites that, when used, will contain a preview of your Sway Page.

You can also share your Sway Page via a custom created QR code. This can be a helpful tool if you’re looking for support from neighbors or others in your community.

Eg. You might want to put a sign up near the dangerous intersection.

Encouraging Your Supporters to Verify

Support is awesome, but verified support is transformative. Sway will remind your supporters to verify their voter registration, but you should, too! Let them know how you plan to address your topic and what their added leverage might mean.

For example, if you were planning to go to a city council meeting to take about the need for a crosswalk, it’s way more impactful to say that you’re speaking on behalf of a group as opposed to only yourself.

The group size that matters is captured by your Sway Score, or the number of verified voters backing you who can vote in an election for an office or measure you’re making a recommendation for. The higher the Sway Score, the more leverage you have.

Crafting Your Voter Guide

  • Creating Your Voter Guide

  • Sharing Your Voter Guide

Supporting Leaders

Aligning on a Topic

The atomic action on Sway is “Vote With.” By agreeing to “Vote With” a leader, you’re opting to receive ballot recommendations from someone you trust. In exchange, you are giving the leader and topic more leverage by backing them.

Only choose to “Vote With” leaders you trust on topics you care about. Unlike other platforms where it may be educational to follow people you disagree with, a “follow” on Sway gives that leader more power — and therefore makes it more likely that you’ll see changes in the world.

Strengthening Your Impact

Verifying your voter registration is the biggest unlock a supporter can make on Sway. You only have to verify your voter registration once, after which you will count in the Sway Score on every Sway Page that is recommending an office or measure you can vote for.

Verifying your voter registration on Sway is private and safe. We do not store any of the information you share to verifying your registration, only that you are registered.

Amplifying the Movement

There are two main ways to amplify the movement for the topic you care about.

The first is to simply share the Sway Page you supported with your network. This could be in-person or online, and remember to use the hashtag #VoteWith.

The second is to become a leader yourself. If you make a Sway Page for the same topic, you can start collecting Sway for yourself while also sharing relevant supporters with the leader you initially followed. Pretty cool, right? Making a Sway Page is easy — click Creating a Sway Page.

Voting for Change

Picture this: you support a leader on Sway, they do great work in the world, and then you don’t show up for Election Day. All of your efforts go down the drain.

Now picture this: you support a leader on Sway, you vote, and now you both have even more power to make the world a better place. Much better, right?

The most important thing you can do after clicking “Vote With Me” is to show up to the ballot box — and with Sway, you’ll be voting your values.

Updating Your Profile

Choosing Your Profile Photo

Sway is about trust. Your Sway Page will perform better if you use a headshot or a photo that is recognizable from other social accounts.

Writing Your Headline

Your headline is an opportunity to show your connection to your topic. This can be professional or personal — or a combination of both. Headlines are limited to 30 characters.