Jul
12
Digital democracy: How To
July 12, 2003 |
Another wonderful post from Britt Blaser on The Sound of Democracy and the Dean Campaign’s record setting 6/30/03 fundraising–this one “how to” in a way I think has pretty profound implications for all of us. The point, I think, is that certain forms of online interaction build a personal sense of power and connection, and allow a smart mob to build, and to become a “fun mob” — sort of a digital rave — that calls to others, and that touches all who dance together..
Here’s an excerpt from Britt Blaser’s writeup:
Wisely, the campaign posted the comments of the donors as they described the incredible power of making a difference. This campaign seems trained in Clues. They’ve set up the playing field so that people can talk about governance–money’s just the punch line. As the day rolled on, you could see that the campaign people were not driving the contribution process, they were hosting it. Every half hour, they posted updates that functioned as a scoreboard–symbolic, not financial.
It was performance art. At 1 am, the Burlington crew was wrapping up but their fans, the donors, were urging them to play a few more, at least until the donations came in from California:
12:30 AM Ok, we’ve seen the comments asking us to stay up until 3 AM (”can you guys in HQ please, please keep the posts going until 3 a.m. ET? I’m staying up with you, if that makes you feel any better. :)” but we’ve still got a thank you email to send out — so much to thank for — it’s just me, Nicco, and Joe left here, and there are still bags of letters to open. I really wish we could, but believe me, we’re doing everything we can! After 1 AM we’re going to have to check out for the night on the updates. We’ll get you a full report as quickly as we can in the morning.
That’s the sound of democracy.
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.