An important step in turning an online campaign into community development (action) is the need for campaigns to recognize their place in the three-dimensional world. Campaigns use the Internet (and its tools) to communicate to their audience, but the most critical part comes after that. They also need to use the tools to enable their audience to communicate with each other beyond the campaign. If an audience can find a reason to believe they have a personal stake in your issue, then they are more likely to become the messengers of YOUR message. As Dr. Rosenblatt said in the NCRC annual conference, “Online advocacy is not about telling people what to do and making them go do it, it’s about making them strategic partners in what you’re trying to do. And the social media, the social websites, the social networking, all these new tools that are available, they put those tools in the hands of the people you’re trying to become partners with to start doing your work for you – actually, our work, together – as they start to spread into their own personal networks.”
Building Social Capital
After Obama was inaugurated, his Obama for America Campaign turned into Organizing for America. The report, “Year One of Organizing for America: The Permanent Field Campaign in a Digital Age,” provides an internal evaluation of the unprecedented “governance organizing” model that was established once candidate Obama became President Obama. OFA underscores the need to build (and maintain) relationships and understand the value of social capital.
"For grassroots organizing online, effective campaigns tend to create social capital online, convert it to tangible action offline, and then run structured programs to maintain that capital. In a 2008 article about social capital and netroots activism, for example, political scientist Diana Cohen stresses that a key ingredient in the online “social capital framework” is “maintenance” – essentially an ongoing program to “maintain the capital so it does not deplete.” And while there is a broader debate among scholars and practitioners about whether email and Internet politics advances broader civic participation, an issue beyond the scope of this report, it is clear that in the case of the Obama campaign, new media organizing drove effective political action (fundraising, volunteering, voter registration, and event attendance)."An Evolution of Integration: Rock The Vote
In “Mobilizing Generation 2.0: A Practical Guide to Using Web 2.0,” Ben Rigby begins his book with an overview of Rock The Vote. In its 20-year history, RTV has adapted to the ever-changing political landscape by incorporating new technologies as a means to engage youth voters. In its early years (1990-1996), RTV helped pass the Motor Voter bill through a campaign of PSAs and postcards to Congress. Between 1996-2002, RTV created the first online voter registration and ultimately registered more than 200,000 new voters during the 2002 midterm election cycle. In 2004, RTV began using Web 2.0 tools to spearheaded GOTV efforts. This set the stage for a record-breaking 2006 election: more than two million more 18-29 year olds voted than in the pervious midterm election. The life cycle of RTV exemplifies the power of integrating online campaigns with offline campaigns. Their online efforts translated into offline action.
Photo credit: icrossing.com
