In 2025, Berlin Global Village launched the pilot campaign Sprechen Statt Spalten (“Talk Instead of Divide”), responding to one of the most pressing social challenges of our time: the growing polarization and fragmentation of society. The campaign emerged from concerns about how public discourse is increasingly shaped by exclusion, oversimplification, and hate – particularly on social media. At the same time, it reflected our belief that social cohesion can only emerge when people engage with one another instead of dehumanizing or pitting themselves against each other.

For Berlin Global Village, dialogue does not mean ignoring conflict or dissolving differences. On the contrary: social cohesion begins where different perspectives are acknowledged. Even when opinions diverge, we need spaces where constructive engagement remains possible.

With Sprechen Statt Spalten, we wanted to test a model for a sustainable, solidarity-based, and pro-democratic approach to addressing social division. At the heart of the campaign was a nationwide network of volunteer content creators who collaboratively developed social media content. What made the project unique was its tandem structure: creators intentionally worked across different lived realities, communities, and experiences of discrimination.

In this way, the campaign also reflected the reality of Berlin Global Village itself. Our strength as a center lies in the diversity of organizations, perspectives, and forms of dialogue that come together here. The campaign aimed to make this diversity visible and challenge one-sided narratives. At the same time, the project made use of the so-called “feature effect” of social media, where creators were able to reach new audiences by appearing on one another’s platforms.

The participating creators were given a high degree of creative freedom. Rather than reproducing pre-formulated messages, they developed their own formats and perspectives tailored to their communities and communication styles.

The project was supported by expert partners who provided strategic, technical, and content-related guidance together with Berlin Global Village.

These included:

 

• mediale pfade, providing technical infrastructure and media literacy expertise,
• X3 Kollektiv, contributing Eastern European and East German perspectives as well as podcast expertise,
• toneshift – Netzwerk gegen Hass im Netz und Desinformation, supporting the project in the areas of digital safety and hate speech,
• JFF – Institut für Medienpädagogik in Forschung und Praxis, offering research and consultation in media education.

 

The pilot campaign ran from September to December 2025. In total, seven tandems were formed, three of which actively produced content together with us. The resulting content critically challenged far-right and racist narratives, explained complex issues such as migration, social inequality, and climate justice in accessible ways, and amplified marginalized perspectives – with the goal of engaging especially young people in conversations about democracy, human rights, and solidarity.

Where collaboration worked well, the potential of the format became especially visible: the content achieved above-average reach and strong engagement rates. One tandem – HoneyBalecta and GuMo Laura – even went on to create their own #SprechenStattSpalten podcast.

Overall, the campaign reached around 201,000 people, including 196,000 via Instagram and 5,000 via TikTok. During the campaign period, the channel grew by 30 percent and gained 1,347 new followers.

The qualitative response was especially encouraging: more than 1,500 users saved the “How Can We Talk?” guide, and many people expressed appreciation for the campaign’s approach and content in the comments.

For us, Sprechen Statt Spalten demonstrated that constructive political dialogue on social media is possible – and that many people are looking for spaces centered not on division, but on understanding. The pilot campaign was therefore not only a communication project, but also a learning process about how digital spaces can become more solidaristic, inclusive, and democratic.

 

Zum Instagram Highlight "Sprechen Statt Spalten"

 

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