Tag Archives: Facebook

Are Social Networkers in Fact “Disconnected”?

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The Internet and social networking were supposed to bring people together. But could it be that it “disconnects” them in certain ways?

That is what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested January 21 when answering questions after her major foreign policy speech on Internet freedom.

Near the end of her appearance at the Newseum, the secretary took a question about Muslim youth being disaffected from their own governments and that of the United States. In her answer, Clinton suggested that youth the world over suffer from this “disconnect.” The reason: the Internet!

Here’s what she said: “Young people across the world are increasingly disconnected from authority, from government, from all kinds of institutions that have been historically the foundations of society, because they are so interconnected through the Internet….”

She noted that some young people spend more time on the Internet than with their families, and she added that this phenomenon was “something my generation can’t really understand.”

Well, I’m part of Clinton’s generation, and her comment was a real shocker to me! Why? Because, as a heavy user of the Internet, I often feel “disconnected,” too. In my case the disconnect is with what I see as a somewhat befuddling world of social networking.

Clearly there is a generation gap at work here, and Clinton addressed that: “When you think about the power of this information connection to young people, I don’t think it should cause panic in people my age…. We ought to figure out how to better utilize it.”

Here at America.gov, we’ve been working hard at reaching young people via Twitter, Facebook and blogs like this one. How effective do you think these efforts are? What do you think is the best way for government to meet the information needs of and connect with young people?

Campaigning for Charity

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I’ve been hearing a lot lately about Chase Community Giving, a program sponsored by JP Morgan Chase Bank to let Facebook users “vote for local charities and non-profits, and help direct Chase corporate philanthropy dollars to eligible organizations.”

“The grassroots campaign aims to inspire a new way of corporate philanthropy,” the program’s Facebook page says. Chase says it plans to give a total of $5 million through the program.

To vote, Facebook users must first register as a “fan” of Chase Community Giving, then select up to 20 eligible charities or non-profits before the end of the first round of voting December 11. (Anyone around the world can vote after becoming a Facebook fan, but a group must be registered as a 501(c)(3) with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and have an operating budget of less than $10 million to compete for prize money.) The 100 organizations attracting the most votes will each receive $25,000 at the conclusion of the first round and will be eligible to compete in another round January 15-22, 2010, to win more money.

I’ve been thinking about how much the first stage of this program resembles a primary election. Just as people must register to vote, so must Facebook users become “fans” of Chase Community Giving to participate. Much like political candidates, the organizations competing for Chase’s money must energize their core members, get general name recognition, and persuade as many people as possible to cast votes for them before they can move on to a bigger contest. In this case, not only must a group persuade all its regular supporters to (a) get a Facebook account, (b) register as Facebook fans of Chase Community Giving, and (c) vote for the organization, but – more importantly – it must also persuade people who might not be familiar with the group to do the same.

Although this program sounds like a creative way to help Chase direct its charitable giving, I wonder if the organizations most in need of funds can campaign effectively against more prosperous ones. Without a dedicated publicity staff, can a charity get out the word to enough people to win? As a Facebook user, I’m also not thrilled about being lobbied for votes. As I have written before, I don’t like receiving campaign calls, and I don’t think receiving Facebook messages would be much better.

What do you think about Chase Community Giving?

The Health Care Debate Part 4: The Art of Persuasion

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Early one morning, I changed my Facebook status to read:

“No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.” (I actually copied this from someone else.)

A few hours later, a friend of mine on Facebook sent me a message chiding me for making a “useless gesture”:

“I agree with you about health insurance reform, but changing one’s Facebook status will not help health insurance reform get passed. Neither will joining any Facebook groups,” she wrote. “If you want to do something to see that Congress passes health care reform, volunteer with Organizing for America or another organization trying to pass the bills. … The blue dog Democrat (and probably swing Republican) districts are where the fight is. This reform is going to pass — if it does — along partisan lines with a few crossover votes, and it is going to be a messy and ugly battle. It’s not being fought on Facebook status lines.”

My purpose in changing my Facebook status was to express my opinion rather than advocate for specific legislation, but I see her point. If I do nothing to support a cause except write a note to my friends, I’m not accomplishing anything except possibly keeping the issue fresh in their minds. As my co-worker Steve has observed, in some cases using Facebook may actually backfire. My friend told me, “I just find people persuading me to change my status to something (anything) kind of rubs me the wrong way.” (I guess she feels about these types of messages the way I do about campaign calls.)

At the same time, social media tools like Facebook can spur people to take concrete action on issues as serious as voter drives or boycotts. When does awareness lead to action, I wonder? Does it depend on the size of an organization? Does it depend on how a message is worded? Or does it depend on individuals like my friend, urging others to do something specific besides talk?

If There is a Hell, I'll See You There

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(I’m listening to “Heresy” by Nine Inch Nails)

FacebookBecause of the phenomenon of social networking, autocratic regimes all over the world will either have to shut off or heavily restrict Internet access, or else prepare for their eventual doom, right? That seems to be the conventional wisdom. But I’m going to offer a contrarian view: the impersonal nature of Facebook groups, discussion boards and the like might actually make it harder for an advocacy group to coalesce over the longer term.

A reader of the blog The Daily Dish pointed out this idea in response to a comment on how the Internet has played such an important role in organizing support for recent U.S. political campaigns. The reader wrote that even though it is much easier for people who share similar goals to find each other thanks to the Web, “the internet causes fissures to appear in any mass movement at a very early stage.”

Continuing on, they said that the “[e]nforcement of ideological conformity is more difficult online than when people have to gather together on the street or in a smoke-filled room.”

This apparent heresy from the conventional wisdom actually makes sense to me when I consider the impersonal and anonymous nature of the Web. For most of us, there is a big difference in how we interact with each other online versus face to face. Normally we feel freer to be bold, terse, and apt to nitpick a word or phrase when we’re confronting a computer screen instead of a human being. We’re also missing all of the visual and sound cues that come with a normal conversation.

As a result, a conflict can easily get blown out of proportion online and cause these group fissures.

Just think about the last time you sent a badly worded e-mail message or SMS to someone close to you that was completely misinterpreted and required a face to face meeting to clear it up.

In addition, when it comes to modern activism, a writer at Newsweek has raised serious challenges to the idea that setting up a Facebook group to promote a cause will actually accomplish very much.

So, if you’re an activist, you might want to view your online activities as a complement to the work that is being done on the street. The ease of the Web makes it very tempting to use it as a substitute, but you may be limiting your longer term potential!

Does All the News Give Print a Fit?

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The recent Red Line accident on the Washington subway system, the Metro, has me thinking about how I get news these days. Even though I was in the Metro system at the time of the crash and heard announcements about a train with “mechanical difficulties,” I did not realize anything serious had happened until I got home and turned on my computer. There I saw messages from friends on Facebook expressing relief that they had not been in the accident and asking about the status of others who use the subway.

I quickly logged on Twitter, where I found tweets (140-character text messages) from the Washington Post containing links to stories, blogs and photos on its Web site, as well as a video feed from local broadcast station Channel 8. The Washington Post also used Twitter as a means of gathering information, asking anyone who had been in or knew someone in the crash to contact the newspaper and/or send photos. I also received tweets from news organizations outside the Washington area, such as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald, as well as messages from individual journalists. I found it exciting to access all this news “in real time.”

About an hour after I got on the computer, my husband arrived home and turned on the television to watch the news of the accident. I joined him, but also continued monitoring my machine. I found it amusing that I often would receive an update via Twitter just as the broadcaster would provide the same information. The next morning, I again logged on to my Twitter and Facebook accounts to get updates on the situation, then listened to the radio during my short drive to the subway.

As Michael and Tanya have asked, should this reliance on sources other than print media cause worry? At no time did I depend on a physical newspaper for news, but I did monitor many different news channels for information. Are all these types of media killing off news organizations, or are they a sign of their adaptation?

“This is not a one-time event”

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As President Obama met with King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia today, White House Press Spokesman Robert Gibbs spoke of the U.S. government’s efforts to make sure people worldwide learn of the president’s upcoming speech in Egypt.

“There’s a tremendous amount of outreach,” as the White House and America.gov make efforts to broadcast the speech online and via text message. Both organizations plan to discuss the speech’s importance on social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter.

“I think obviously the speech of tomorrow is important, but it’s also important to realize that this is one of many events in a continuing dialogue that the president believes not only should happen, but in all honesty, must happen to continue to make progress. … it is part of that continued dialogue that has to take place,” Gibbs said.

While this is a “high profile” event, Gibbs noted, it is “not a one-time event.” These outreach initiatives are an ongoing effort to connect with international audiences.

Continuing the discussion

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In the year and a half that this blog has been online (also previously named Campaign Trail Talk and First 100 Days) I have learned a lot from all of the readers who share their thoughts in the comments section of each and every blog entry. But there are many other great ways for us to continue this discussion about President Obama and his initiatives.

Feel free to reach out and talk to me on Twitter and Facebook! You’re always welcome to share your thoughts!

The Power of Facebook (and Chocolate)

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I have been reading a lot of stories in the media of how groups are using the popular social networking site Facebook to further their causes. In India, thousands have joined a Facebook group called “Rise Up Mumbai, Rise up India” encouraging young people to take an active role in elections that begin later this month. In Moldova last week, Facebook was one of many technological tools young people used to draw thousands to take to the streets to protest the government.  In Moldova, the scene turned violent, so the value of promoting this cause is debatable.

I decided I wanted to test out the powers of Facebook myself. At 8:40 a.m., I updated my status: “Michelle Austein Brooks needs chocolate. Could one of her lovely coworkers be so kind as to drop some off at her desk? Thank you!”

Chocolate!I figured one of my 30 or so Facebook friends who work with me at America.gov would read it and rise to action. At 10:18 a.m., Jason, of America.gov’s video team, showed up with a pile of Hershey Kisses. Great!

But that wasn’t enough. So I took my campaign a step further. I posted a note, tagging a dozen of my coworkers. “Chocolate. I really need some! Won’t somebody (besides Jason) bring me some?” I asked.

Within 20 minutes, my note had an impact! America.gov’s science writer, Cheryl , came over with a whole bag of chocolate goodies! Chocolate cookies! M&Ms! Hershey Bars!

If I can sway two people in a matter of hours for a cause as silly as this, imagine what I could do with a real Facebook group page and a real issue to promote?

Oscar Morales of Colombia did just that. His story really speaks to the power of social networking. Outraged by actions taken by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by the Spanish acronym FARC, he created a group in January 2008 called called Un Millón de Voces Contra las FARC (One Million Voices Against the FARC). He urged other Facebook users to stand up and express their anger with this group over its use of violence. 

Within a month, 150,000 joined his group. And when the group organized protests in more than 200 cities in 40 countries, about 12 million participated. You can watch Morales’ story on America.gov. And for our Spanish speaking audience, check out this article.

Perhaps next week I’ll test out the power of Twitter (and coffee.)

Technology changing convention business

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People worldwide can get up-to-date information about the 2008 conventions at a click of their computer keys. Want to know where protesters are headed or what famous person just entered a convention venue? Thousands of bloggers and journalists are providing instant updates to their readers via social networking web sites like Twitter.

Journalists are filing stories from their laptops and Blackberrys – often typing furiously while sitting on the floor of busy hallways. At an event celebrating women’s political involvement August 25, organizers gave journalists the event program on a flash drive. Organizers figured this would not only make their work easier but it would also prevent wasting paper – one of many green initiatives at the convention.

Convention followers are not the only ones benefiting from new technologies. The Women’s Campaign Forum, an organization working to elect female leaders, launched a campaign called “She Should Run.” The goal of the campaign during both conventions is to get names and contact information of 750 women who could be potential future political leaders. It looks like the campaign is going to easily meet its goal: After the first day of the Democratic convention, the group had 500 names, 300 of which they received within minutes.

One of the organizers spoke to a crowded auditorium of supporters and encouraged them to take out their cell phones and text message their suggested women. Thanks to cell phone technology, the group gained 300 new names in moments. The approach is much faster than the traditional way of sending out a field of volunteers with clipboards – although those volunteers were still on sight. In another triumph of technology, many of them had found out about the program on Facebook.

This revolution brought to you by Facebook

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Did Facebook’s U.S. creators realize their social networking site where friends shared jokes, photos and personal messages would become a powerful organizational tool for political groups worldwide?

Web sites like Facebook can be edited by anyone anywhere – one of its 69 million users worldwide can create a group to meet fans of a favorite film and invite people to a house party, while another can set up a group with a political agenda to raise funds from thousands of donors and organize mass demonstrations.

Early on a January afternoon, a young Colombian civil engineer frustrated over the violence in his country created a Facebook group to protest the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). By the time he got home that evening 1,500 people had joined his group.

Discussions in that Facebook group during the next few weeks led to the February 4 “One Million Voices Against the FARC” march that drew thousands of participants and made international headlines.

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