This morning Jake Brewer (PowerShift09) and Michael Silberman (1Sky and Echo Ditto)talked about new media strategies to enhance campaigns and online activism. It did not go unnoticed that they gave their presentation, the topic of which centered on Web 2.0 technologies, without a slideshow or any other form of audio-visual aid. It was an “old school” group discussion.
One of their main points was that the key to any online organizing is having a simple message — something you can tell someone and they’re excited to pass along to the next person they talk to. We can engage all of the exciting new online communication tools in the world to get our message across, but if the message itself is weak or overly complex, it compromises our ability to spread the word.
Not to say that the new technologies aren’t extremely powerful. As Van Jones said last night in his keynote speech, if you or I had cell phones or personal computers 20 years ago, we would have been viewed as a god. Googling information on anything in the world in milliseconds, or talking through a tiny cell phone and being understood by someone else all the way around the world — these are powerful tools. Let’s use them to communicate our urgent message. Let’s use them to mobilize our friends, families, and communities to actively support our bold federal action on clean energy and climate change.
