The easiest, fastest and most efficient way to stay up-to-date with most of your elected officials is through social media.

While a face-to-face meeting or a Zoom call tend to be the most effective advocacy tools, social media has an important place in an overall advocacy strategy.

To communicate about secular issues effectively, you should use all of the communications channels used by your representatives. Every member of Congress is on Facebook and Twitter. Most are on Instagram and YouTube. And some now have TikTok accounts.

Your phone is quickly becoming the easiest way to keep informed and to reach out to your representatives. You can use it to find their views on issues, legislation and explanations for their votes soon after they make them. You can also find out about events (town halls, tele-town halls, phone chats, fundraising events, etc.) that they will be holding.

Elected officials are paying attention to social media, as are their staffers. Social media monitoring enables them to quantify and understand the number and type of communications received on specific issues. Twitter is, by far, the most active platform, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Social media posts, likes and tweets are a helpful part of an overall advocacy strategy that includes in-person meetings, phone calls and email messages. Secular voters should communicate with their elected representatives in as many ways as possible, keeping in mind that social media offers some unique advantages in terms of speed and interaction.