Introvert Action Advice

Action Advice for Introverts

and the Anxious and Overwhelmed

(Last updated 3/9/25. If you find this document helpful, please share it. You can use link http://tiny.cc/fina001.)

If you’re an introvert, or anxious, or feeling completely overwhelmed by the scale of problems we’re facing, how can you get yourself to take action? How can you baby-step your way into this, if it feels impossible? Because you have to do something.

When it seemed impossible to me, I went looking for “what you can do” guides. I read a lot of them. While I did find some useful things, I always felt profoundly discouraged after reading them. “Join a local group and get involved.” “Start a resistance book club.” “Run for office.” We need those things, but the guides might as well have told me to go to the moon. I remember throwing my laptop to the side in frustration and venting to my husband. It felt hopeless.

I’ve wondered over the past couple of weeks if people aren’t doing more in part because these guides are (understandably) too vague. They’re general guides, but we want to be told exactly what to do. And it seems to me, too, that these guides assume we’re extroverts.

So this is what I did, and maybe it will be helpful for you, too, if you are very introverted, or anxious, or overwhelmed, or feel you don’t have the ability to take action. (But you do!)

In this document, I’ve outlined what I've learned about how to:

stay informed without getting overwhelmed,
make calls to your representatives,
find community without going to social groups or meetings,
use your social media accounts to make meaningful difference,
and go to protests, even if that seems like something you could never do.

Remember: the only action guaranteed to do nothing – guaranteed to make the situation worse! – is doing nothing at all. Absolutely anything else has the potential to create meaningful change. So let’s get started. (And if you need to get more fired up, read this short and wonderful post from Techdirt. I agree 100%.)

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TL;DR

I wrote this document for introverts and anxious overthinkers – people who have a lot of questions and want reassurance (like me). I love to be thorough, so this document is long!

I provide lots of concrete examples and helpful tips in the main body, but if you just want the boiled-down basics, here they are:

NEWS: Follow a few good news curators on social media (see below for specific suggestions).
CALLING: Call your representatives every day, or at least a few times a week. It’s far easier than you might imagine. These calls are not debates and in fact most often feel like customer service calls. If you don’t want to talk to a human, call at night (House reps) or select the “leave a comment” option to go to voicemail (senators).
COMMUNITY: To find community without leaving your comfort zone, regularly post about your actions on social media and consistently interact with your acquaintances’ posts about their actions. As simple as this seems, real relationships often develop from these interactions.
SAY SOMETHING: Posting memes on social media isn’t really helpful, but you can still do plenty of meaningful work sitting at your keyboard. Normalize taking action and going to protests by posting about what you’re doing. Be open and vulnerable in your writing, if you can be – make it human! Post quality journalism and/or concise commentaries that connect a Trump policy to its impact (“The stock market is falling – one major reason for this is because Trump has imposed tariffs.”). Repost invites to protests so that your acquaintances are aware of them. Encourage people to take action.
PROTESTS: Introverts might assume that protests are an extrovert activity, but I’ve found them to be remarkably easy. In fact, they have far more in common with standing in line than going to a party or networking event. You’re just there to be a body.

I have lots of advice for how introverts can accomplish all of this – read on for more. You can skip to any section by toggling on the tabs or clicking on the links above.

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NEWS

After the election, I turned off the news completely. I used to read it multiple times a day, but I was so upset and disgusted post-election that I fully disengaged. I had a lot going on personally, too. I didn’t feel I could cope with anything extra.

But after the inauguration, little bits of news found their way to me, and very quickly I realized that it would be unconscionable to do nothing. So. I think you do need to grasp how bad the situation is.

Read the news. You don’t need to doomscroll for hours, but you can’t turn away completely.

Baby steps version 1: If you think you’ll be utterly paralyzed by the news, use https://5calls.org/ for now. They have short, less terrifying summaries of major problems your representative can do something about. Click on a topic that seems important to you and scan the top summary to find out where the issue currently stands. You can then use this for making calls (see below, under “CALLING”).
Baby steps version 2: Find a good news curator and follow them. I have only ever used Twitter-like apps in a professional capacity, but I signed up for a personal Bluesky account a few weeks ago. I myself follow Jamelle Bouie, Sherrilyn Ifill, and Jason Kottke – they do an excellent job of finding good reporting and commenting briefly on it. You can also just sign up for the Kottke.org newsletter, which sends out a brilliant collection of links with brief summaries every week. (Kottke.org usually covers a range of topics but has temporarily pivoted to covering mostly politics.) On Facebook, Heather Cox Richardson does fantastic write-ups about the news each day. On Instagram, I follow @jessicamalatyrivera for health-related news. (I would love your suggestions, too — these are just my favorite sources, but I know there are so many more!)

If you’re worried about Bluesky politics posts drowning out non-politics posts, be aware that you can easily create two accounts: one for personal/non-news creators and one for politics. Switch between them by clicking on “Settings.”

Baby steps version 3: Follow the accounts of politicians who are actually speaking out. You likely already know about Bernie and AOC (who does fantastic Instagram Live sessions and often answers questions in Instagram Stories), but consider following Chris Murphy and Jasmine Crockett, too.
Baby steps version 4: Scroll down the front page of a major newspaper once or twice a day. A lot of the best and bravest reporting isn’t happening at places like the NYT, though. Wired and Rolling Stone have often been more courageous, and even glancing at their politics pages is informative. Even so, a curator — who is trustworthy! — will give you a better picture.

Support the best news. Find good news sources and pay for their work. Consider paying for accounts with ProPublica, Wired, Rolling Stone, Techdirt, local public radio, or a reliable local paper. Repost the best journalism from these sources on social media, along with your favorite passage from the piece.

Reading the news will feel terrible! Sometimes I close Bluesky and want to lie down and give up. That is the point of what the government is doing, however — to overwhelm you so profoundly that you’ll turn away and surrender. The other side of the coin here is that the news is so awful that your conscience will tell you — I hope — that lying down and giving up is not only against your values but will also put us all in a harder position later.

And good news! By taking action, you can change the news from something that feels like it’s being done to you to something you can do something about. So now it’s time to take the next step.

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CALLING

Yes, this matters — but you should only call your own representatives: 1 in the House and 2 in the Senate.

Should I call my absolutely terrible reps who will never change their minds?

Yes! Otherwise all the pressure is coming from people who support them (and those people call often). Increased pressure from constituents who disagree might eventually push their behavior, even slightly, in a better direction — every bit counts.

Should I call my reps who already agree with me?

Yes! If they’re doing something you approve of, tell them thank you! If you want them to push harder, tell them that. Tell them specifically what you want them to be doing. Your “good” rep is getting plenty of calls from angry people, and your goal should be to balance that out and help them hold the line — or have more courage to do the right thing.

How do I even know what to call about?

Use the https://5calls.org/ website. It is too much to keep track of this on your own, and the 5calls site updates regularly so that you’re not calling about issues that have already been resolved.

Don’t know your representatives?

Put in your address, and 5calls will tell you who they are, along with their numbers.

Don’t know if your representative has any control over the issues you’re concerned about?

Click on an issue, then scroll toward the bottom. 5calls only lists your reps who can do something about the issue. If their name is there, you can call them about the issue!

What will happen when I dial my representative’s number?

If you’re calling your senators, you’ll almost certainly get a menu. There will be a choice to “leave a comment about an issue” — this will take you to a voicemail, where you can record a message — and there will likely be a choice to talk to a member of staff. You can select either one. The member of staff WILL take your message, if they answer.
If you’re calling your House representative, a member of staff will often just answer the phone. Unless you call after hours, you’ll be talking to a human immediately. If you’re not comfortable speaking to a person yet, call at night.
If you decide to leave a voicemail, be aware that there’s a time limit on your message and you’ll be cut off after about a minute.

What should I say?

Pick 1-3 issues per call and focus on those.

5calls has scripts you can use. You can just read the script when you call, if you like. There’s nothing wrong with going straight to voicemail and reading a script about one issue!

When you leave a message for your senator, preface your message with your name and zip code. If you’re leaving a voicemail for your House representative, however, be aware that some zip codes are only partially in your representative’s district. If you live in one of those split zip codes, they might require both your street address and zip code to tally your call. (You can always ask a staffer about this: “Do you need my street address as well as my zip code?” or “Is my entire zip code in your district?”) When in doubt, just start your voicemail with your name, street address, and zip code.

What do YOU say?

When I call, I don’t use a script. I check 5calls quickly in the morning. I decide what I want to call about — I make this decision quickly, in about thirty seconds. I click on the issues I’m calling about, if I’m not familiar with them yet, and I jot down the phrases I know I will forget or stumble over (names, job titles, department names). I have index cards — some for senators and some for my House representative — that I reuse. I take only about fifteen seconds to write down the phrases, like: “Vote NO on Kennedy for HHS Secretary. No scientific background. Not safe for me and my children.” This will remind me of what I want to say.

When I call, if I get a person on the line, I say, “Hello! My name is [blank] and I’m one of [representative’s] constituents from zip code [blank]. I’m calling to leave some comments for [representative].” Then I pause, and they say something like, “Yes, what can I pass along?” Usually I say, “I’m calling about several things today. The first is that I want [representative] to vote on/call for a subpoena/call for an investigation into/put out a release about [blank].” I give one or two reasons. (You don’t need to give any reasons — but I like to.) Then I sometimes pause to give them a chance to finish writing down the gist of my message, or I move right on and say, “Second, I’d like…” And then when I’m done, I often say, “And that’s all I have for today.” They say, “Alright! I will pass that along!” I say thank you, and then I hang up. It is 100% like a customer service call. The people who answer almost always sound like they’re fresh out of college. They’re usually friendly or neutral. I have not had a negative call since I started calling.

What if the person on the phone pushes back against something I say?

Nearly all of my calls have involved absolutely nothing remarkable at all. In only two instances has a staffer responded to me: once when I was criticizing a bill for which my representative was the sponsor (I was offered a gentle “clarification”), and another time when I brought up veterans losing their jobs (an issue of particular interest to my representative – I was asked if I had more specific information, just so the staffer could add detail to the call log). In the unlikely event that a staff member offers “a correction” or asks for more information from you, it’s okay if you don’t have anything more to offer. You could say, “I don’t have anything else to say about it, but I’d just like you to record my comment.” Or you could just repeat the principle behind your comment: “I simply believe it’s right that we look after the vulnerable.” The calls will not turn into debates – and I have yet to have an unfriendly conversation.

Baby steps version 1: Call one state senator and press the button for “leave a comment.” It’ll take you to voicemail, and you can leave a comment about one issue. You do not need to give a reason for your ask, and you will not have to speak to anyone directly.
Baby steps version 2: If the phone is too intimidating, start by emailing your representative. I quizzed my rep’s offices about whether these emails get counted, and they assured me that there’s a staff member who goes through them and “extracts” a key point. Then that’s tallied and reported. They told me they get hundreds every day. I asked if word choice matters, and they said no. Just include your city/zip code (zip code for House reps). It could truly just be a bullet point. It doesn’t have to be good or eloquent — your rep will never read it. It will just be reported as a constituent contacting them in favor of or against an issue. I have heard that calling is better, and I don’t know if that’s true! It makes sense to me that it would be, but emailing isn’t nothing.

Phone anxiety? I have this, too. Here are my ideas:

These call lines are there for you — use them! AOC confirmed that right-wing constituents call far more often than moderate or left-wing ones. They watch Fox News, they get worked up, they call. I tell myself every day that if they feel entitled to do this, I should feel entitled to do this, too. The line is there for exactly this reason, and I am as worthwhile as anyone else calling.
You do not have to know everything. This is not a debate. You don’t have to give reasons for your ask (though you might want to). People more uninformed – and misinformed – call these lines all the time. If they can call about their opinions, you can call about yours.
This is almost exactly like a customer service call. The people answering the phones are not your representative. They are simply taking a message.
Use notes. Sometimes, as I’m looking at 5calls, I put a few notes on index cards — quickly, in less than a minute — and then I use them day after day.
Take your time. At first, I felt like I needed to rush through my points and get off the line — nerves contributed to that, too — but then I made a point to slow down. You can ask them what they wrote down about your call (they are filling in a form on their computer). You can ask them questions. They will usually say they don’t know when you ask about a representative’s specific positions, but when I’ve asked them to explain how my calls get reported, they’ve always sounded rather pleased to tell me about that. It must be a nice break from the angry calls. (But if you’re leaving a voicemail, remember it will cut you off at about the minute mark.)
Get to know the staffers, if you like. This is fully optional, but you can ask the staffers for their names: “And can I ask your name?” I usually ask at the end of the call. Knowing them and saying hello to them might make calling less awkward for you. I think I waited a little over a week before I felt comfortable asking for the staffers’ names. Sometimes I call and say, “Is this [so-and-so]?” and it turns out I’ve gotten them mixed up, but they’ve always been nice about that.
But you don’t have to be cheerful. I was downright venomous after Kennedy was confirmed. I wasn’t abusive, but you don’t have to sound like these issues don’t matter to you. I’m nice to the staffers, always, but when I begin my comments, I often sound like I feel.
Find someone else who is also calling your representatives regularly. I felt most depressed and embarrassed about calling when I didn’t know anyone else who was calling my exact representatives. I knew I couldn’t be the only distressed person calling, but it still felt like maybe I was. This fellow caller can be your spouse or partner! Ask them how their calls went today — which staffer did you get? How did they sound? What did you say? If you don’t know anyone else calling your reps, see below (“COMMUNITY”).
Call at the same time every day, if you can. I love routine and can stick to a routine very easily once it's established. I make my calls every morning before I have my breakfast. I say, "I will get this out of the way so that I can enjoy my breakfast." And then I get it out of the way. They take no more than 10 minutes, often way less.

Okay, but what if I still stumble or panic or freak out on the phone? I think this is what we’re all worried about, at heart: We’ll make fools of ourselves. We’ll make our comments “the wrong way” and be exposed as stupid or ignorant. Three thoughts have helped me with this:

It is a near-universal feeling. Every person I’ve talked to about this has felt strange about a call they made (or all the calls they’ve made!). Almost all of us feel like we’re messing it up or stumbling over our words – sometimes or all the time. Your call won’t stand out as being particularly bad. You’ll almost surely sound like everyone else.
Even your representatives stumble over their words. Go watch some videos of your representative – or any representative – speaking on the House floor. I’ve been struck by how often they grasp for the name of a department or struggle to find an appropriate phrase. And this is their job!
Even if your call made you cringe, you were doing the right thing. Your point will come across, and it will be tallied. You didn’t need to be articulate. You simply needed to make the call, and you did.

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COMMUNITY

This is what I struggle with the most. I find social groups exquisitely painful and will do just about anything to avoid them. Many guides suggest “joining a local group,” and this seemed utterly preposterous for someone like me.

But also it is hard to take action alone. I have to get around my terror of bothering people, my horror of being awkward, my feeling that I’m doing everything wrong. So I have to be sneaky with myself! Here’s what I do (and perhaps it will work for you):

Introvert community building idea 1: If you have a partner or spouse who isn’t participating with you, consider telling them you don’t want to do this work by yourself. I think sometimes in couples, work one person does can seem to “count” for both people — and often that’s a good thing. But for me, this isn’t one of those instances. I won’t go on about this, but — it’s fair to ask that your partner also take action, if you both have similar values.
Introvert community building idea 2: On one of your social media feeds, someone you know personally is talking about activism. Someone is telling you to call, or protest, or something. Comment on that person’s posts! If they’re asking people to call, and you called, tell them. Say some version of, “I just did this! Thanks for the tip!” Or tell them, “I’m calling every day, too.” Do this regularly. And if they post an event, repost it. Maybe this advice is too obvious? But if you are thinking about someone’s post, just type out what you are thinking! No matter how simple it is. I can do this online in a way I never could in person. It sounds so stupid and simple — but if you’d like to have a friend working with you, just interact with their efforts in even the most basic way. It will often lead somewhere. (Even if you think your comment will seem random to someone you only know a little, I don’t think it will be received that way. We are all glad for allies right now.)
Introvert community building idea 3: Post about the actions you’re taking (as I do), and make these posts as honest and vulnerable and personal as you can. Do it long enough, consistently enough, and people will come out of the woodwork (I myself am a person who comes out of the woodwork!).

Journal-style posts that include your real experiences, thoughts, and feelings will often attract like-minded people who are eager not to feel alone right now. Try it and keep at it – results sometimes take time. If you feel comfortable being sincere and open, write about how you feel. Many people feel isolated and overwhelmed right now, and your openness might well encourage other people to reach out to you.
Consider writing in your posts that you are happy to be anyone’s “calling buddy” or “protest buddy.” Tell them they can text you or message you with questions about how to call or protest – or what ways they can take action. If you repost a protest, say, “I’ll be there, if you want to come find me!”
If you’ve been posting about your actions for a while, write in a post that you’d love for your friends to connect you with anyone they know who is also taking action. This could be as simple as saying, “By the way, if you know anyone who might appreciate my posts/who is doing work like this/who is on the same wavelength as I am, feel free to send them my way/connect us.”

Introvert community building idea 4: Go to a protest. You never know where something like that will lead, and you don’t actually have to talk to anyone while you’re there. If you meet some people, great! If you don’t, you’re just part of the crowd. And whether or not you meet someone, you’re working together in the same space with like-minded people, so it’s energizing in a similar way to having a friend working alongside you. More on this below (“PROTESTS”).

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SAY SOMETHING

Many people are not publicly talking about what’s going on or what they’re doing. On my feeds, only a handful of people are talking about what’s happening. What are most of my friends actually doing? I have no earthly idea.

I wonder why people are not talking about what they’re doing. Is it cringe? Does it seem preachy? Are we afraid of being disliked? Are we not informed? Are we scared to put it in writing? I am definitely worried about that, but I guess I’m also brave?

Many people will tell you to get off social media or tell you that posting is not “doing something.” I agree that posting memes or merely complaining is not meaningful activism, but my personal experience tells me that you can do useful work on social media.

Here are some ideas:

Post about the actions you’re taking. Often. Be open and vulnerable in these posts. Make your work human. You want to draw attention to the fact that taking action is possible – for anyone – and normalize it.
Write a post telling people to do something. Write a call to action and be as specific as possible. Do you want people to call about a specific issue? Link them to a place where they can find their representatives’ numbers quickly. Give them a sample script they can use when they call, or include a link to a TikTok video or reel that explains the issue quickly and clearly. Tell them how little time and effort this action takes, or detail what it was like for you to take this action.
Repost quality journalism and make the connection between the government’s policies and the impacts people are feeling in their lives. If you find a great news story, post it. Add your own commentary to the post: a particularly good quotation, for example, or, more importantly, a couple of sentences in your own words that make clear how a government policy is impacting people’s lives: “Grocery store prices are going up because of Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Consumers, not the exporting countries, pay the cost.” (Thank you to Timothy Snyder for this fantastic tip!) And if the policy is impacting you personally, write about that.
Share information about protests. It’s surprisingly hard to find out when protests are happening. If you can provide people with this information, you’re doing a real service. And don’t just post the event! Add your own commentary in the body of the post. Enthusiastically encourage people to go.

This document itself was originally a Facebook post written only for my friends – a report about my experiences. It seemed too unwieldy to read on Facebook, so I threw it into a doc and shared the link. Then the link started circulating. I hope it’s been helpful – and it’s evidence that you never know where small actions might lead you.

It seems simple to me right now: silence is complicity. I don’t see how we convince other people to take action if we are not publicly demonstrating what we are doing ourselves.

It doesn’t have to be on social media, but it should be somewhere.

I know it matters. Be brave, if you can! Say what you are doing. It is not bragging. It is motivating. It is showing it can be done. It is being supportive to the other people who are trying.

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PROTESTS

At the end of January, I didn’t think I’d be going to protests. To be honest, I think I simply talked myself into going: Are they going to listen to us if there aren’t large and widespread protests? I imagined a few people in the streets, and then I imagined millions of people in the streets. I couldn’t tell myself it wouldn’t make a difference — I believe it can — and I couldn’t tell myself that I was exempt. I live here. So it is up to me, too.

You should go to protests, and you can do it.

First things first: It can be hard to find out about the protests. Here’s how you can stay informed.

Join a few online political groups:

Join your local Indivisible group on Facebook. They will post events for protests and events in your city. In my experience, they are far more engaged and post more events than my county’s Democratic party.
Search for your county’s Democratic Party Facebook page: “[Blank] County Democratic Party.” They will post upcoming events and protests. (Your local Democratic party websites likely don’t list all of their events. Protest organizing is often easier to find on Facebook.)
Sign up for the Indivisible newsletter, too – it often has concrete information in it about events happening near you.
Follow 50501 (I follow on Instagram). 50501 is still a developing movement, but they’ve organized a series of large national protests, so it’s worth keeping an eye on what they’re organizing. If you’re looking for a big, high-impact protest, the ones sponsored by 50501 are a good bet.
Comb an article about a protest for details. If you missed a protest but wish you could have gone, find an article or social media post about it. The write-up will often mention who organized the protest. Search for the organizer and follow the group where the event was originally posted.

Go with someone, if you like:

Post the event to your social media. Ask if anyone else is going, or simply state that you’ll be there in case anyone else wants to join you.
Take your kids. I took my kids with me, and they loved it. There were a number of other children there, too. For now, it seems many protests are safe for children to attend.
If you can’t go with someone, remember: It is only as hard as standing in line. You don’t have to speak to anyone. You don’t have to chant. You can stand at the back. You can linger on the outskirts. The point is to be a body. The point is to make the crowd bigger.

Start big:

A larger protest might well be easier if you’re nervous or just starting out. Look for protests co-sponsored by several local groups (like your county’s Democratic party and Indivisible) or national groups (like 50501). A protest in front of city hall or in a public park will quite possibly be bigger than one outside of your local representative’s office.

Are protests as exhausting as social gatherings for introverts? Will I have to talk to people I don’t know?

If you’re socially anxious but not averse to crowds, protests might turn out to be a revelation to you (as they have been to me). You simply walk up. You pick a place to stand. You hold your sign. Someone in charge might lead a chant, but otherwise you don’t have to make conversation with anyone. Very few people are having conversations at all! Many other people are also on their own. And when you’re ready to go, you don’t have to say goodbye to anyone. You just leave. The expectations are clear-cut, you have a job to do, and everyone there will simply be delighted you showed up.

Protests have been happening, but so far politicians have ignored them. So what’s the point of going at all? Is it a waste of time?

It’s tempting to think that if you go to a protest and nothing changes immediately, you’ve wasted a couple of hours of your life. But even if your representatives seem to be ignoring you, you’re definitely doing some real good. Simply increasing the number of participants in protests is important work. Some research has shown that if 3.5% of the population participates in nonviolent protests, political change will occur. But protests are important for lots of other reasons, too. Here are a few:

Protests are a signal to your political allies. These allies fall into at least three categories: your elected representatives, bureaucrats and officials, and fellow citizens.

Representatives. Packing protests might encourage our Democratic representatives to grow a spine and find some vision. In other words: if you won’t craft a vision for us, we’re mobilizing to create it for ourselves.
Officials and bureaucrats. We’re also relying on people within the federal bureaucracy, the judicial branch, and countless organizations to stand up to the illegal orders and corruption coming from the executive branch. To act courageously on your own is difficult, but we want them to know that regular Americans have their backs. It’s easier to take a stand if you know there’s a swell of support behind you.
Fellow citizens. Americans aren’t in the habit of regular political engagement, and many of us have never been to a protest before. By going, and being vocal about going, you’re familiarizing your friends with this mode of engagement. It’s no longer something “only other people do.” You’re also supporting the people who do regularly go to protests (and who are often very active in local politics, too). These events are a wonderful way to boost morale and inspire further action.

Protests are motivating to you. Taking action is often lonely and demoralizing – progress is slower than any of us would like, and it can be hard to tell whether your actions are having any impact at all. Simply going to a protest is reassurance that other people are working alongside you and haven’t given up. I was surprised at how much this mattered to me – I’m usually very comfortable and indeed happiest when working alone – but I’ve found that I’m less pessimistic about change after I’ve gone to protests. They motivate me to keep working.
Protests are a signal to politicians in the opposition. They’re a signal to politicians that the opposition isn’t obeying in advance and that the opposition is ready to mobilize against them. The bigger the protest, the clearer it is that the American public is eager to oppose them and vote them out at the next opportunity. Even if politicians don’t give in to our demands, this pressure might inch them toward better decisions – and every little bit helps.
Protests show that what’s happening in government isn’t normal or acceptable. I’ve heard people say that “everything will be fine” and that what’s going on in the government right now is typical when power changes hands. Protests push back against these claims and draw attention to the abuses and corruption.
Protesting now helps protect our right to protest in the future. The administration is already trying to push the idea that peaceful protests might be illegal, that protests are not a form of protected speech. Their claims are false, and asserting your right to peaceful assembly now will help us in holding the line against these assaults. Protesting is protected, it’s patriotic, and it’s something that regular citizens do. (Thank you to Timothy Snyder for this idea.)

I’d like to bring a sign to the protest, but what sorts of signs are acceptable? What if my sign doesn’t look good, or what if I don’t have time to make one?

Most protest signs are obviously handmade – that’s both fine and normal! You can write with a Sharpie or paint pen on a posterboard, or you can paint with acrylic paints on a cut-up cardboard box. Look at images of recent protests for inspiration. But if you don’t have the time or energy for that, there are lots of other options. You can bring a flag. You can purchase or reuse a plastic yard sign. You can buy large stick-on letters and attach them to a posterboard. You can print out a word or short phrase in large letters on cardstock and then attach it to a paint stirrer. You can print out words in large letters, trim around them, and then slap them on a big piece of cardboard. Someone recently handed one of my children a Ukrainian flag made of two pieces of construction paper glued onto cardstock, then fastened to a large popsicle stick – it worked brilliantly. However your sign looks, you won’t be out of place.

How else can I help with protests?

Even if you can’t attend a protest, you can repost the event in your social media feeds. Most people aren’t even on the lookout for these events, so you can help bring awareness to them.

Other bits and pieces:

If you’re planning to attend the protest, click “going” in the online event invite. Potential attendees do keep tabs on the expected turnout and might well decide to commit, too, if the turnout looks good.
You don’t need to bring a sign, but if you’re uncomfortable being around strangers, it helps to have something to do with your hands! Holding a sign feels like a “job,” and I’m more comfortable in social situations if I have a job to do. Having a sign made it feel like I belonged and I was doing something.
If your children are joining you at a protest, consider bringing noise-dampening headphones (if you have a child that is sensitive to crowd noise), snacks, water, and books for when they get bored. We’ve also brought rhythmic gymnastics ribbons, toy drums, and maracas. A flag, too, is often more fun to wave than a sign.

___

CONCLUSION

This is as far as I’ve gotten on my own. I don’t know what I’m capable of, beyond this. My plan is to keep going to protests. I would let myself down, profoundly, if I don’t go to them regularly.

And I think: If I keep going to protests, something could develop from it. Who knows where these small steps will lead us?

——

I hope this is helpful! This is what I wanted someone to say to me many weeks ago: Here are exact things you can do. Here is what it is like for someone like you to do these things. Here are the small ways you can ease or trick yourself into doing what you need to do.

– By Elspeth Rosbrook

Comments or questions? You can email me: elspethrosbrook@gmail.com

(Last updated 3/9/2025 – I will continue to update this document)

VERSION NOTES

2/24/25 Update

“NEWS” section: added and improved news sources; added section about following politicians
Added “Version Notes” section, to track changes to this document

2/26/25 Update

“CALLING” section: added information about voicemail time limits; added section about “messing up” calls
General prose editing

2/28/25 Update

“CALLING” section: added information about including zip codes/street addresses in voicemails for House representatives (see “What should I say?”)

3/3/25 Update

“PROTESTS”: added information about progressive groups often being more involved in grassroots organizing than county Democratic parties; added recommendations for bringing children to protests; created a section about the value of attending protests

3/4/25 Update

“TL;DR”: added this section
“NEWS”: added suggestions for paid accounts with sites featuring quality journalism
“SAY SOMETHING”: all the bullet point material is either fleshed out or entirely new
“PROTESTS”: added “Comb an article about an online protest for details” under “Join a few online political groups”

3/5/25 Update

Intro/throughout: added in-document links to take readers directly to sections
Intro: added link to Techdirt article (read it – it’s fabulous!)
“PROTESTS”: added “Protesting now protects helps protect our right to protest in the future” bullet point; added section with ideas for protest signs

3/9/25 Update

Intro: minor updates to format
“COMMUNITY”: expanded upon “Introvert community building idea 3”