Activists are quickly adapting social media to pressure lawmakers.

The social technology many members have embraced to reach voters also gives activists a way to publicize their causes. Some groups have started blanketing the Facebook walls of lawmakers to get the attention of not just the politicians, but their constituents as well.

"Because it's so visible, people have to take notice," Anugraha Palan of Women Thrive said. Her women's rights group is part of a coalition behind the latest attempt to use Facebook walls and Twitter feeds to target members of Congress.

More than 100 groups like Amnesty International and CARE have launched a concerted effort to blanket the walls and feeds of key lawmakers as a women's rights bill approaches markup.

They are trying to pass the International Violence Against Women Act (H.R. 4594 and S. 2982 ), which aims to boost America's role in ensuring women's rights are protected worldwide. It also incorporates violence prevention into U.S. foreign aid.

"The ultimate measure of success is if we achieve our ultimate goal – to have IVAWA pass," Sara Fusco of Refugees International, a member of the coalition, said.

Her group has been helping coordinate the Facebook and Twitter efforts. For two weeks, the groups have targeted a different lawmaker each day, urging tens of thousands of their members to reach out to the lawmaker via social media.

Some members have even joined Twitter just to join the campaign.

Fusco noted that Facebook and Twitter give advocacy groups an advantage because they are so public. Lawmakers can ignore e-mails, letters, and phone calls without people noticing, but a Facebook post lingers for everyone to see.

The sites also help broaden support. Many of the people who posted on Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) wall last week shared that information with their friends, urging some of them to do the same.

"Using social media, you're able to leverage multiple voices and a large amount of public support," Fusco said.

Reichert, who could not be reached for comment, has since decided to support the legislation. The groups had met with him several times beforehand, but they believe the social media effort got them across the finish line.

"This was just kind of the last push that was needed in a way, a really visible one," Palan said.

The groups have had less luck with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the ranking Republicans on the foreign-relations committees in their respective chambers.

Still, it's likely that Congressional staffers with both lawmakers are monitoring the activity on their bosses' walls. Showing that the public wants the bill is a key strategy at this point, Palan said.

The groups have already used traditional activism tactics like in-person meetings to get traction on the legislation.

"Now it's at the point where we really need public support to pass the bill," she argued.

Social media sites help in that regard, too.

When advocacy groups post to a lawmaker's wall, they make their issue visible to constituents who may have been visiting the wall for an entirely different reason.

Last week, one such user questioned the IVAWA activists on what Lugar could do for them.

"We were able to post back," Palan said, starting a conversation about why their bill should pass.

Activists are always recruiting more supporters to their cause, and social media is just one more way for them to do that – while also pressuring the lawmakers whose profile pages are hosting the conversations.

"It feels like more direct access," Fusco said of social media. "It holds members a little more accountable because this is a very public way to ask for support."

Ambreen Ali writes for Congress.org.

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