MoveOn Gets in Your Face(book)
The role of community has perhaps been most glaringly absent in recent years in the realm of political organizing. Many of us grew up experiencing politics as a solitary confessional in the ballot box every few years (if we voted at all). The internet has helped change this, exemplified in the email sharing behind MoveOn.org’s success at building an active membership numbering in the millions.
Now there is more to political engagement than checking a box, or even going door-to-door for your candidate of choice. You can engage in lively discussions on the internet, in forums like Dailykos. Or gather in a local bar with Drinking Liberally. Or you can share photos on facebook.
More below the fold.
I received an email from MoveOn yesterday showing how they want community to have an explicit place in their strategies. It was titled “Kind of a mess right now” and is about the seemingly endless nomination process of the Democratic Party. What does MoveOn want to do? Here’s what they say:
Dear MoveOn member,
We’re in a sorta crazy political moment right now, and we’d love to get a better sense of what people are thinking.
So we created some Facebook groups, to gauge opinions.
Can you join the group that best represents your current take on the election?
Wake me up when this primary’s over.
Hillary, you’re amazing, but it’s time to let it go.
Chill out, everybody—the last primary is in a week.
Barack? Just pick Hillary as VP and be done with it.
Barack, you won the primary—time to focus on McCain.
Hillary, don’t let them tell you to quit!We’ll be watching these groups closely—both their initial size and how they grow over the next week.
Feel free to invite your friends to join these groups. The more people you bring in, the better chance your opinion has of coming out on top.
Thanks for all you do.
–Peter, Marika, Matt, Tanya, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
This is no simple poll. They didn’t ask people to answer A, B, or C then send them on their way. Instead, they urged members to join social groups with one of the most successful networking technologies around.
What I like about this is the fact that it makes community-building an explicit goal. Not stirring up votes. Not getting someone elected. Not passing some key legislation. It is about bringing people together and having them get to know each other, across geographic divides and face-to-face (photo-wise, that is).
It’s as if the folks at MoveOn realize that joining people together creates a pool of wealth - valuable creations like political strength, wisdom from the crowd (such as Obama support ads), and a source of funding for their operations.
Polls are disposable. Here today, gone tomorrow. But a vibrant community just keeps on giving. This is a valuable lesson for entrepreneurs who want to change the world.
While I applaud the efforts that MoveOn and the Obama campaign are making to use these new social networking sites, I am uncomfortable beooming a member becaause of all the privacy issues. I guess if you don’t care, it’s okay, but I have read and heard too many things about them using your information to pass along to everyone of your “friends” without your permission. Let along the advertisers and who knows who else (Bush & Co for instance) If they want my info - they’re going to have to work for it, I’m not just handing it over without a whimper.