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# Busting my own jargon
- URL: https://mehrankhalili.com/busting-jargon/
- Published: 2022-04-02T12:28:08.000Z
- Updated: 2023-05-16T21:38:18.000Z
- Description: An explainer of the terms I use in this newsletter. With pictures.
- Author: Mehran Khalili
- Tags: Meta, #Import 2023-05-10 22:28, #mkhalili

‌

This newsletter has been around for almost a year. In that time it has picked up some buzzwords and insidery phrases. And I notice I'm using them a lot.

So I thought it was time for an explainer of these terms.

Let's go!

\* \* \*

[A](#a) · [B](#b) · [C](#c) · [D ](#d)· [E](#e) · [F](#f) · [G](#g) · [H](#h) · [I](#i) · [J](#j) · [K](#k) · [L](#l) · [M](#m) · [N](#n) · [O](#o) · [P](#p) · [Q](#q) · [R](#r) · [S](#s) · [T](#t) · [U](#u) · [V](#v) · [W](#w) · [X Y Z](#xyz)

## A

### Activist citizen

This is you. You probably don't consider yourself "[an activist](https://mehrankhalili.com/rage/)", because activists [wave banners and shout a lot](https://mehrankhalili.com/tension/). But you want change, and you're willing to confront power to get it.

### Activist group

A group of people who come together for a [campaign](#campaign). It could be informal, or an [incorporated organisation](#incorporating).

### Advocacy

Asking power nicely for change. AKA [lobbying](https://mehrankhalili.com/lobbying). It can be very effective, [if done right](https://mehrankhalili.com/lobbying).

But if it's not complemented by other [tactics](#tactics), it's easy to get co-opted by the [Establishment](#establishment).

Advocacy can also mean simply pushing a point of view. As in '[push-button advocacy](#push-button-advocacy)'.

### Agenda mapping

Getting what you want from someone, by identifying where your wants and theirs overlap, and giving them what they're after. It's a key principle of [media relations](https://mehrankhalili.com/media-cheat-sheet). But you can also apply it to [debates](https://mehrankhalili.com/disagree-better/), lobbying, or even [organising your team](https://mehrankhalili.com/smarter-organising/).

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/d8/9bd8fd25-48d2-4fa3-a886-68d4f5a37a2b/content/images/2022/04/agendamapping-1.png)](https://mehrankhalili.com/media-cheat-sheet)

## B

### Basket of desires

[A list of things everybody is seeking](https://mehrankhalili.com/targeting#a-basket-of-desires), like adventure, power and respect. You can use this to target campaigns better, and to [grow your team](https://mehrankhalili.com/building-activist-teams/). Coined by marketing expert [Seth Godin](https://seths.blog).

### Barriers to entry

How easy your [campaign](#campaign) or group is to join or act on. For many [digital campaigns](https://mehrankhalili.com/online-public-shaming), for example, the cost of joining is a simple social media share.

### Bias-berg

The [eight biases](https://mehrankhalili.com/hacking-media-biases) of the media, as documented by journalist [Brooke Gladstone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influencing%5FMachine%5F%28book%29). Being aware of these biases means you can 'hack' them to get media coverage.

Why 'berg'? Because only one of these biases – ideological bias – is easily visible. Most campaigners ignore the rest. To their detriment.

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/d8/9bd8fd25-48d2-4fa3-a886-68d4f5a37a2b/content/images/2022/04/biasberg_subvrt-1-2-1.png)](https://mehrankhalili.com/hacking-media-biases)

## C

### Campaign

The project you're working on to achieve change. You build this with the [impact method](#impact-method). It has an [issue](#issue), an [ultimate goal](#ultimate-goal), a [target](#target), and often a [team](https://mehrankhalili.com/building-activist-teams/) behind it. AKA activist project.

### Confirmation bias

The human tendency to look for information that supports the views you already hold. You can be a more effective activist citizen if you're aware of it in yourself... and others.

### Coordinated do-ocracy

The way I recommend running a campaign with a [team](https://mehrankhalili.com/building-activist-teams/). So-called because [those who do the work make the decisions](https://mehrankhalili.com/smarter-organising/). There's a coordinator – probably you! –who guides the project, keeping it moving towards its goal.

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/d8/9bd8fd25-48d2-4fa3-a886-68d4f5a37a2b/content/images/2022/04/cd-1-1.png)](https://mehrankhalili.com/smarter-organising/)

### Core features

What participants need to see in a campaign. Core features make it attractive for people to join, and easy for you to coordinate. The campaign should:

1. Be about addressing [an injustice](https://mehrankhalili.com/ca-apply/) that members are outraged by
2. Have as its [ultimate goal](https://mehrankhalili.com/impact) something realistic and achievable
3. Give members the belief that they are part of something historic; a battle bigger than the campaign
4. Have a [plan](https://mehrankhalili.com/impact) that’s easy for members to follow. The campaign itself should be simple for new members to join

### Creative (campaigning skillset)

One of the three [essential campaigning skillsets](https://mehrankhalili.com/the-ultimate-campaigner/). The creative provides the innovative ideas to make change happen.

### Creative protest

Innovative protest actions that give photojournalists something worth shooting ([like these](https://mehrankhalili.com/glue/)). [Not placards and crowds](https://mehrankhalili.com/tension/). A creative protest makes your campaign demands harder to ignore.

## D

### Deepfakes

Fake videos that [use AI to create a likeness of a real person.](https://www.creativebloq.com/features/deepfake-examples) They have the potential to revolutionise subversive activism. But they can also be used maliciously. We're not talking about these enough. (The longterm answer to deepfakes? [Media literacy](https://mehrankhalili.com/media-literacy/).)

### Direct action

A campaign [tactic](#tactic) to obstruct or deter contentious practices. E.g. strikes, boycotts, sabotage, blockades, sit-ins, hacktivism. Part of your toolbox.

### Do-er (campaigning skill)

One of the three [essential campaigning skillsets](https://mehrankhalili.com/the-ultimate-campaigner/). The do-er is the organiser. They make the campaign run.

## E

### Establishment

Your opponent.

The people with the power. In politics, in industry, in the media, in defence. In Silicon Valley or Wall Street or Brussels or Davos. Being targeted soon in a [campaign](#campaign) by you.

## F

### Filter bubble

An environment where you're surrounded by beliefs that conform to your own. Think social media, but also many activist groups. The Establishment uses this ideological uniformity to make you feel [part of a tribe](https://mehrankhalili.com/tribe/), and to provoke you to engage.

You can break out of it by [following people you disagree with](https://mehrankhalili.com/experts/), and [having productive conflicts](https://mehrankhalili.com/disagree-better/).

## G

### Grassroots media relations

An under-rated type of [campaign](#campaign) that can bring big results. Involves [infiltrating legacy media](https://mehrankhalili.com/media-activism-greece/) by selling in stories you want, using [agenda mapping](#agenda-mapping).

## H

### Hallin’s spheres

A concept that explains [how the media legitimises or delegitimises ideas](https://mehrankhalili.com/controversy-and-deviance/). There are three concentric spheres: consensus, legitimate controversy, and deviance. A good model to understand how to popularise radical proposals, and how the Establishment tries to control the narrative.

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/d8/9bd8fd25-48d2-4fa3-a886-68d4f5a37a2b/content/images/2022/04/hallin-2.png)](https://mehrankhalili.com/controversy-and-deviance/)

## I

### Impact

The whole point! If your [campaign](#campaign) doesn't achieve this, drop it and start another.

### Impact method

[A guide for building campaigns](https://mehrankhalili.com/impact) that I co-developed. It underpins all my campaigning work, and it could help to structure yours. Top-line, it looks like this:

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/d8/9bd8fd25-48d2-4fa3-a886-68d4f5a37a2b/content/images/2022/04/Paper.Journal.50-2-1.png)](https://mehrankhalili.com/impact)

[This campaign](https://mehrankhalili.com/demands/) should have used it.

### Incorporating

Making your activist team officially, legally recognised. For example in the form of an NGO. In most cases, it’s [better to not incorporate](https://mehrankhalili.com/making-it-official/), and keep your team informal for as long as possible.

### Infinite space

The gap between doing something as an [activist citizen](#activist-citizen), and doing nothing. The Establishment helps you cross this space easily with [push-button advocacy](#push-button-advocacy). But it's a trick – it helps you [chase your impulses instead of impact](https://mehrankhalili.com/rage/). Coined by Serbian political leader [Radomir Lazovic](https://mehrankhalili.com/radomir-lazovic-interview).

### Internal Process Optimiser

A self-appointed role that a member of your group takes on. Here, they obsess vocally over how to improve your campaign's processes. Often they do so as a substitute for helping to deliver impact or confront the establishment. They're are usually of little value to your cause. See also: [tyranny of the annoying](#tyranny-of-the-annoying).

### Issue

An injustice, an abuse of power, that outrages you. It might be at your workplace. Your child’s school. Over in City Hall. Or online.

Identifying your issue is the first step of building a [campaign](#campaign). It's vital though that it is something [you can influence](https://twitter.com/mkhalili/status/1483812555000889349).

## L

### Legacy media

The corporate-owned media organisations. So-called because they had a traditionally powerful role, but it's waning. Aka establishment media, corporate media.

### Lobbying

See [advocacy](#advocacy).

## M

### Metacognition

The skill of [thinking about thinking](https://www.activelylearn.com/post/metacognition). Effective [activist citizens](#activist-citizens) have this. Even if they can’t change reality, they can change how they perceive it, so it doesn’t hamper them. They are able to reframe crises into opportunities.

### Metrics

How you measure [whether your campaign is doing well](https://mehrankhalili.com/measurable-action/). Use numbers. Make it [SMART](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART%5Fcriteria).

## O

### Objectives

In the [impact method](https://mehrankhalili.com/impact), the smaller goals that make up your [ultimate goal](#ultimate-goal).

### Online public shaming

Trying to ban/censor people after they have done or said something considered [offensive](https://mehrankhalili.com/offence). Cancel culture. It's not activism. But there are [things we can learn from its success](https://mehrankhalili.com/online-public-shaming/).

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/d8/9bd8fd25-48d2-4fa3-a886-68d4f5a37a2b/content/images/2022/04/publicshaming-2-3-5.png)](https://mehrankhalili.com/online-public-shaming/)

### Outrage of the day

What social media platforms and legacy media [try hard to get you to focus on](https://mehrankhalili.com/offence/). Doing so makes it hard for you to see your campaigns through. And unable to oppose the [Establishment](#establishment) where it might make a difference. The opposite of:

## P

### Playing the long game

A [recipe for campaign success.](https://mehrankhalili.com/photography-and-impact/) Pick one issue you can win, and see it through. Instead of getting distracted by internal fights or other battles (even important ones). Like [MLK](http://www.folkmusicworldwide.com/martin-luther-king-jr-march.html), and pioneering [Amazon union leader](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/01/technology/amazon-union-staten-island.html) [Chris Smalls](https://mehrankhalili.com/chris-smalls-interview/). AKA 'choosing your battles'. AKA 'keeping your eyes on the prize'.

### Pressure points

Your [target](#target)'s weak spots. Pushing on these with your [tactics](#tactics) will make your [target](#target) take notice – and ideally act on your demands. Typical pressure points include the pressure for your [target](#target) to maintain a good public image. Or their pressure to keep happy those they depend on for their power. Like their electorate, donors, appointing body or shareholders.

### Push-button advocacy

The new normal of [feeling you're partaking in activism](https://mehrankhalili.com/rage/) by sharing a social media post. It sates our hunger to correct injustice by giving us junk food. It changes nothing. Don't succumb to it. [Play the long game](#playing-the-long-game) instead.

## S

### Safetyism

The damaging idea that you should always trust your feelings, and must protect them at all costs. It started with Gen Z – those born between 1995 and 2012 – and it’s [spreading to older groups](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/iGen/Jean-M-Twenge/9781501152016). Safetyism makes you [easily offended](https://mehrankhalili.com/offence/) – which means you can be easily manipulated.

### Shark

An [ideal campaigner](https://mehrankhalili.com/shark/). A *terminator* of an [activist citizen](#activist-citizen), that gives the Establishment sleepless nights. Strive to be this.

### Strict-father model

A model of managing a society, coined by linguist [George Lakoff](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19134.Moral%5FPolitics). Here, the public are disciplined, and shown how to behave through reward and punishment. The Establishment employs this regularly. And [it often backfires](https://mehrankhalili.com/vax) and creates resentment, because it involves treating the public like idiots. The opposite is the 'nurturant parent' model.

## T

### Tactics

The actions that help you achieve the [objectives](#objectives) of your [campaign](#campaign). A protest, petition, or strike are all tactics. Typically things that push your [target](#target)'s [pressure points](#pressure-points).

### Target

The person, group or organisation with the power to make your [ultimate goal](#ultimate-goal) a reality. In our [Make Amazon Pay](https://makeamazonpay.com) campaign, that was ultimately Amazon. Most of your [objectives](#objective) should relate to something the target needs to do.

If your campaign is targeting an institution, [personify it](https://mehrankhalili.com/online-public-shaming/) in your messaging (e.g. Jeff Bezos instead of Amazon). Because it's easier for people to get mad at another person, than at an organisation, or a system, or an idea.

### Twitter 

The only social media platform [worth](https://mehrankhalili.com/taming-twitter-1/) [taming](https://mehrankhalili.com/taming-twitter-2).

### Tyranny of the annoying

Refers to people who want to use precious time spouting their political concerns rather than getting to work. Coined by ex-Sanders adviser [Zack Exley](https://www.rulesforrevolutionaries.org/). They should be pushed out of your group, promptly.

## U

### Ultimate Goal

What the world would look like with your issue resolved. Something achievable. When you make this a reality, you can stop your campaign and say "I won". As per the [impact method](#impact-method).

## W

### Wonk

One of the three [essential campaigning skillsets](https://mehrankhalili.com/the-ultimate-campaigner/). The wonk understands the complex landscape of your subject matter.

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9b/d8/9bd8fd25-48d2-4fa3-a886-68d4f5a37a2b/content/images/2022/04/campaigns_profiles-1-2-2.png)](https://mehrankhalili.com/the-ultimate-campaigner/)