There has never been a day when the Liberal Democrats have been happy with their media coverage. We just don’t get our fair share, and when we do our liberal ideals are often squeezed in a way that makes us uncomfortable. It has always been hard talking about liberalism. It is why we focus so much attention to get our own message out through leaflet and now via email and social media. It is amazing to now have access to channels where we can broadcast what we are doing that can get to a mass audience without the filter of a biased media.

So I am disappointed to see that another Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords announced they are pulling the plug on their social media account. As our presence in the upper chamber has grown, our ability to communicate our every day liberal deeds seems to diminish. Ex Chief Executive and communications professional Chris Fox announced the closing of his social media accounts on the day he was elevated (thanks mate!). Others have never even tried to get to grips with sending out an email, let alone new form of social media. Every day our peers are working hard and telling no one. I despair.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no time for bullies on social media, even less when those trolls are also members. But rather than work out a solution peers are just closing their accounts or deciding they can’t even be bothered to find a solution. I now question why I keep sending money to the party to help our communication efforts when those in a position of power and influence refuse to master the free channels available to them. Not only does this affect the public view of liberalism but it seems to be polarising the party further into the idea that the Lords are an ‘elite’ party member with different rules to everyone else and that long standing members shun rather than mentor new activists.

So I challenge our peers to get together and find some solutions. Here are some of my thoughts as a start:

1. Blog and tweet as a team. No one needs to run their own blog or even their own twitter account. A general peers blog site where you can write a short piece on what you have been doing and then tweet it out on a generic twitter handle is a really good start. You could start handles for specific teams if there is lots of activity. Take it in turns to keep an eye of the feed. This shares the load, develops skills and takes the personal nature out of some of these more immediate forms of communication. It is easy to do. Tweeting as an entity, rather than an individual, reduces trolling.
2. Email is still queen in this social media age. I understand that the Lords email list has only 3000 people on it. That is pathetic. What are you doing to add people to the list so the word gets out?
3. Proactively find the people you want to get your news or follow you – from journalists to opinion formers and make sure they are signed up to hear more from the team. Be proud to share what you are doing. See engaging influencers proactively as the prize for dealing with a few idiots. Give the peer who signs up the most new email subscribers a free cup of tea!
4. Write small filler pieces for our councillors and candidates leaflets/blogs and social media. They don’t have a choice as to whether to communicate or not; they have both the space and the inclination to broadcast your news. You do things every day that can help them promote liberalism, so help them.
5. Develop a policy to deal with trolls and bullies. This is not a new problem. Don’t be shy about sharing on what basis you will block and ban people who over step the mark. Allocate someone who can help deal with problems as the arise rather than after they have escalated – just as you would have done in the days of letters with green ink.
6. Separate your personal and professional profiles, so you can still benefit from the positive nurturing vibes of being in contact with friends and loved ones.

Some of our Lords are doing amazing work – it is just sad that no one ever knows about it.

There are peers who do communicate well – I have not tried to name them as I will miss a few out, and instead focused on those that have actively absented themselves from communicating.

* Laura Willoughby MBE is a Lib Dem member in Islington