On how the blogosphere hasn’t replaced traditional Organizing
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve enjoyed contact with a group positioning itself to lead a range of environmental initiatives. Elements of the discussion have revolved around Centrism and how to get groups to focus on commonalities. Between the lines, I’ve been trying to convey and quantify for them how Social Media isn’t a panacea.
I came across a recent Harvard study1 which concludes non-violent protests have declined in their efficacy in recent years. A hypothesis is that traditional hierarchical organization is critical to success. Success – e.g. “real change” – requires action over a range of approaches; Public, Legal, and Political, for instance. And these must be conducted over long time scales.
Compare the Civil and Worker Rights movements in the 20th Century with recent street protests of limited, online origins (BLM, etc.)
The picture for leadership at this NPO is that grassroots organizing can’t simply be limited to armchair, sterile, social media campaigns. The place for structure and coordination hasn’t been replaced by ‘group thinking.’ And, since they are advocating an environmental issue, this probably means that somebody is going to have to visit communities, meet with them and design responses that they value. Their stories matter, someone has to listen. Somebody is going to have to roll up their sleeves.
For investors and donors this means that the Board of Directors must understand that assembling and operating the human resources required for success isn’t replaced by ‘going online.’ Building and conducting effective initiatives is still based on command, control and coordination. Managing the collective message simply enjoys more delivery channels, namely via social media as a platform for their voices.
#socialmedia #environmental #centrism #NPO
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