I’m always looking for effective tools for organizing, growing Democratic organizations, and moving people towards activism. I recently joined Facebook and see that it could potentially be useful. Last fall we discussed blogging and activism. I’ve used yahoo groups for years. And of course there are web sites. We also discussed this at the bloggers gathering at Lynne’s last spring.
Given limited resources, what brings the highest return on investment for actually moving people to activism? How would you rank these in usefulness for a Democratic Committee or any group working to promote a cause?
Now that I’m learning facebook, I keep wishing that I had joined it before this last cycle. But does it really work to actually get someone to knock on a door or pick up a phone? I heard anecdotal stories from Barack’s campaign. But was that facebook, or was it the campaign itself?
I’ve always felt that if you had a choice between investing time in maintaining a website or in sending out a regular e-mail, that a group is better off with e-mail rather than a website. Do other people feel that way?
Share your thoughts please…
Well, I posted this last night and so far no one has commented or responded. I sent an e-mail to a small group, asking them their thoughts and as of now, no response (although I expect some will be forthoming). And I posted this with my facebook status and TWO people commented. I don’t have a web site, but if I had, I would be surprised if I would have had a result.
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p>A response is not actually moving someone to an actual activity, but I thought it of interest.
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p>Here are the responses…
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p>”Hi Kate – I think a web site with all of those would really be best. Jon and Pat made good use of Facebook (as you know) but that only reaches a certain segment of voter/activists. It’d be easy enough to create a group page on FB and link to it from the web site.”
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p>”Hi Kate, I just checked off blogging but the best is a combination of a good web site, a blog (which is good for some applications but not others), facebook and other really good online tools. You know most of those :)”
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p>It sounds like my second fb-friend went to the site, but did not actually vote.
Strengthening group and individual working relationships and sense of group membership.
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p>Providing links and encouragement.
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p>Letting a small group know about life events that may impact availability, which can be important.
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p>Sharing photos.
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p>Keeping in touch with far flung family and friends, aside from the political and organizing uses.
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p>Other than that, I am still learning my way around facebook.
I think that’s Facebook’s best feature in terms of online organizing. Its social networking functions and online tools/capabilities makes it a very good place to invite people to events. If I know who’s going, I’m that much more likely to attend (or not attend LOL). Plus, if I sign up online saying that I’m going… other people will see… and it suddenly becomes a personal obligation. I have attended events I agreed to go to when I later decided I didn’t want to go out of a sense of obligation. LOL.
I’m new as I mentioned. What works? What doesn’t?
as i suggested here http://vps28478.inmotionhosting.com/~bluema24/s…
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p>also, I use facebook when I want to converse with my non blogger friends. For example, if I post a note there, I know people who are friended to me are likely to read it, because it’s posted on their news feed (or I can specifically tag them, which usually sends them an email as well).
I just realized, after I wrote the first comment, that my e-mail had not actually gone out. Let’s see if this changes anything.
It is an interesting question. Perhaps one that can be tracked a little by responses here. I’m responding because I got your message via an email to the BlogLeftMass Yahoo Group.
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p>Yet, I think there are other things to look at. First off, a communications strategy shouldn’t be either/or but both/and. I think this poll is a great example. It is on BMG. It is on Facebook. It is in an email. It isn’t on Twitter as far as I know.
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p>Some of the answer probably goes back to a basic idea, talk in the way you are most comfortable. If you are most comfortable on Facebook, then you are likely to be most effective there. If you are most comfortable on BMG, you are more likely to be effective here.
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p>Likewise, the importance of the ask and the link, probably stays the same everywhere. Get people to spread the word and link back to your primary focus. Some people will add links in places you don’t know about or think about. That’s good. That is probably the place they are most comfortable.
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p>Enough for now. I look forward to other thoughts.
for the organizing I do around LGBT issues.
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p>A website is a good HQ for the event or campaign. You can drive people to the website for more information, sign up forms, links, photos…
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p>Blogging is key is to reaching people that you don’t know yet and have not signed up for your emails.
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p>Facebook has been a great tool as well. Create a GROUP and then invite people to specific EVENTS. It can spread the word quickly and when people RSVP you can send them reminder messages. Facebook really spread the word about the Prop 8 protest on Nov 15th. We had a HUGE crowd – the largest LGBT related protest in decades. It really is an amazing tool for organizing and has done a LOT for me. But it does have it’s draw backs of course. Everyone has started using it for organizing, so people are being flooded with messages and invites to events and groups. A lot of people will RSVP Yes to an event because they like the idea of the event, but they won’t actually show up. Although, still, a lot of people WILL attend. It is incredibly valuable to getting people to attend a rally or a canvass.
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p>I think email is the most effective tool for organizing though. Getting something in an inbox is more personal than a facebook event invite (especially when people are receiving two or three event invites a day).
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p>Using all these tools together is incredibly effective.
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p>But still the most effective, by FAR, is the old fashion telephone (but Kate knows that). Personal conversation are an organizer’s secret weapon, although it is impossible to reach the 1000’s of people that you have never met on facebook by phone.
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For organizing, there is nothing like a phone call! Thanks for stressing that.
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p>Do people use facebook status for organizing? I was thinking along the lines of Kate is plannning her birthday canvass for Sunday in Nashua. Please join me. Details at…
“Hi Kate, I think using your facebook status can be quite effective. Especially if you post the website or event link along with it. I know I always check friends’ statuses to see what they’ve been up to. For what it’s worth, my campaign used facebook to a huge degree to get the word out on events, registering deadlines, etc.”
I did see this first on your Facebook and I also felt that your political facebook statuses during the election were gentle reminders to people to get out and do something.
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p>Every day more “older” (30, 40, 50 etc.) people are joining Facebook…But I still don’t think it should be used as your primary organizing site.
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p>I didn’t answer your poll because I don’t think there is one answer to the question. I think you have to do a combination.
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p>Blogging on Blue Mass gets people thinking about the issues and discussing them with each other. Facebook seems more like one sentence “good for you” type comments right now.
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p>I’d use FaceBook to push people to your website or your blog for more. You can use it to update people too or create events. But it can’t be your main source of information, because even though it seems like everyone I know in the world has joined FaceBook in the past 6 months….they really haven’t and a lot of those who have aren’t on it all the time and would miss things that they would see if you sent them an email. Some people will join any cause a friend sends them just to be nice and after joining, don’t give it another thought. Or like me they spend entirely too much time on there playing stupid games.
Your Facebook note on this reminded me that I have been wasting my time on a lot of stupid things lately and forgetting to check in with BMG!
I found myself spending a lot of time on Facebook and less on BMG. BMG was quiet, which is fine. I have a number of BMG friends now on facebook. I actually asked one of them if BMG was so quiet, because everyone was on Facebook. I think back to Doug Rubin at the BlogLeft meeting stressing how important citizen journalism is, and I think that Katie is right about the importance of checking in with BMG, and contributing to the disucssion!
People seem to feel that web site’s primary use is as a repository of information; a place where people are sent, as opposed to a place where people find you. I think this is different for a national campaign. I hear committees who stress a lot over their web site. Does anyone have an example of a Democratic Committee that actually got a new member because someone found your web site?
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p>E-mail is really only good when you have connected in some way with people. You have to have that address (or get someone to forward your information). But if you only have enough time or manpower to update your site OR send an e-mail, I would say e-mail wins, hands down.
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p>Blogs seems better suited for discussion, rather than activism.
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p>And facebook, which has no votes at this time, by my count, got me more responses than any of the other means, at least up to this point.
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is attract people – both you finding them and the other way around. Those contacts are stones thrown in the water, rippling toward a larger audience of friends’ friends, etc.
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p>I read the stalker wall Facebook newsfeed pretty much every day now, which clues me in to a lot of different events based on what friends are doing (only half of which are political – and only then because I’m “friended” with Paul, Chris, etc. who use facebook heavily for online field work). I have signed up for groups/tools/etc. because I noticed friends signed up to them and thought they seemed interesting, which in turn were things their friends invited them to, even if I was never personally sent an invitation in the first place. It’s almost like being able to read my friends’ email inbox. That’s what Facebook can do so far that email can’t – even if the gap between the two is still probably large.
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p>All that said, Facebook is an investment. You can’t just create a Facebook account, create your facebook group and expect it to magically work. You need to have a cause, particularly something that’s appealing to an often nonpolitical/apolitical base (otherwise, you’re only reaching the folks who’d be reading the blogs or emails anyway), and you need reach out and get contacts… who hopefully have contacts who have contacts.
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p>It’s not going to work unless you put in the effort – and then, at that point, you have to make the calculation of whether or not it’s worth the effort. If I was running a local election campaign right now, I’d say no. But if I were a part of the decision making on an issue-based campaign, then I may make a different calculation.
Sometimes, I think it works exceptionally well, but other times, I think it’s really far below that of email, blogging, etc.
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p>I think there’s various things that impact how effective it is. For example, it was a fantastic resource in terms of organizing all the anti-prop 8 rallies after prop 8 won in California. I know Paul used it a lot organizing the rally that took place in Boston. Etc.
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p>But I don’t think it’s a great place for detailed discussions of the like you get on blogs. I don’t know if it can or has been used to the extent that email and blogs have been used to raise funds. But maybe, when it comes to getting people to go to something specific, especially something spontaneous, it may someday replace email as the best way to do it because of the social networking aspect of it. If I suddenly see 10 of my friends attending the same event on Facebook, I’m that much more likely to go to it and at the very least, I’ll know about it. The Stalker Wall, I mean news feed, is a pretty nifty feature on facebook. Even if I’m not interested in attending a specific event – say, a meet and greet with a local politician – if I see a few friends attending, I’m that much more likely to support that person or vote for he or she, etc. So, in terms of getting people to attend locally organized events, I think Facebook is already a great resource and could one day become the leading resource for grassroot activists.
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p>In terms of a website vs. email, I think both are important. Email is still probably the most effective means of online communication, but it’s so easy to copy/paste whatever you write on an email and put that on a site… so why not? (Did I just give Kate a suggestion for a Dispatch? Oh oh. LOL)
I know how to become a politician, but how does someone get coded that way on facebook?
I am using blogs, Facebook and Craigslist to help spread the word about this:
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p>Casting the wide net, as they say.
Just as Obama embraced technology to campaign, his Admin will yoke these tools to bring the change that was promised.
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p>Of course, we have to pitch in bringing this change. We are the “We”, after all, in the “Yes We Can.”
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p>Check it: http://usaservice.org/