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Be a Watch Dawg

University of Georgia student-built social media and poster campaign (Fall 2017) that urged students to step in as bystanders when they see a risk of sexual violence, and to cut the alcohol use that raises that risk and makes stepping in harder.

Years
2017
Country
United States
Topic
AlcoholGender based violence
Asks people to
Start
Strategy
Self efficacySocial norms
Channel
PrintSocial (organic)
Audience
Young adults
University of Georgia undergraduates, ages 18-24.

Evidence

ObservationalMixed

Pre/post campaign samples (n=244 undergraduates): bystander intervention increased significantly between the pre- and post-campaign samples, but individual campaign exposure was only marginally related to intentions to intervene and was not associated with bystander intervention. Social media analytics: 39,466 users reached, 50,854 impressions, 19,523 views (Schipani-McLaughlin 2022). The abstract does not report the alcohol-use result.

Sponsor (who paid)

Credits (who made it)

  • Anne Marie Schipani (Schipani-McLaughlin) Individual, 2017 source

Sources

  1. Schipani-McLaughlin AM, Salazar LF, Muilenburg JL et al. A Mixed Media Campaign to Promote Bystander Intervention and Reduce Alcohol Use Among College Students: A Pilot Study. Health Promot Pract 2022 evaluation · 2022 · DOI 10.1177/15248399211027542 · PMID 34338037
  2. Schipani AM. Be a Watch Dawg: Using a sexual violence campaign to increase prosocial bystander behavior. PhD dissertation, University of Georgia, 2018 evaluation · 2018

Research notes

Drafted by Claude (Claude Code) on 2026-10-28 for #130 from the PubMed study and web sources listed; unreviewed, including the cardSummary. Primarily a sexual violence prevention campaign with an alcohol component; included for the addiction edition because it targeted bystanders' drinking. Reach figures differ: the paper reports 39,466 social media users reached, the dissertation abstract 43,160 (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter); check before quoting. Whether posts were paid is not stated, so only social-organic is tagged. Relationship to UGA's Watch Dawgs bystander training (University Health Center, since 2013) is not established in the sources. No campaign site found.

Record cases/uga-be-a-watch-dawg.json, updated 2026-10-28· Link to this campaign