Activism online

[Steve]

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Flash Campaigns: Online Activism at Warp Speed

Rebecca Fairley Raney
NY Times 6/3/99


In the swell of online political activism these days, whether the
issue is children with guns or Kosovo, cutting-edge campaigns are
posting a directive as powerful as any slogan: 

"This campaign is based solely on word of mouth. It's CRUCIAL that
you tell others. To transmit a brief letter to your e-mail circle,
just click here." 

So-called "flash campaigns," focused on hot news topics and making
use of e-mail chain letters and online petitions, are erupting on
the Internet. Though crises have always boosted the visibility of
advocacy groups, cheap online mobilization changes the equation.
With the Internet, anyone can be an advocate. 

The Internet is inspiring groups and individuals who have never run
issue-oriented campaigns before. And with the arrival of the
newcomers comes a slight fear that the role of traditional advocacy
groups could fade if they fail to keep up. 

"They could be marginalized by these independent innovators," said
Jillaine Smith, a senior associate with the Benton Foundation who
tracks online advocacy. "I would like to see the more established
organizations follow the example of the innovators. The challenge is
to break out of that box." 

One of the most visible examples of a flash campaign is an effort
called MoveOn.org. It was started last September by Joan Blades and
Wes Boyd, a married couple from Berkeley, Calif., who had been
largely uninvolved in politics. They set up an online petition
calling for Congress to censure President Clinton and move on in the
aftermath of the Monica Lewinsky affair. 

The couple sent 100 e-mail messages to friends and family asking
them to add their names to the petition and forward the message to
others. In the course of a few months, they gathered more than
500,000 names. People also pledged to donate $13 million next year to
candidates running against members of Congress who tried to impeach
the President. 

MoveOn received extensive media coverage, but even so, the couple
says that fully 90 percent of the people who added their names to the
petition heard about it through the e-mail campaign. 

After the high-school shootings in Littleton, Colo., Blades and Boyd
reactivated their list of supporters to back a gun-control campaign.
Their latest petition now has 70,000 signatures, most of them added
in the first week of the campaign. Visitors to the site can also fire
off e-mail to their representatives in Congress. For Congressional
offices that do not take e-mail, notes are sent by fax or postal mail.

During the impeachment turmoil, Blades had to start from scratch, but
this time around, she had an instant list of 300,000 people to
notify. The creation of that list cost practically nothing. 

"It really was just $89.50 to put up a Web site," Blades said. 

The Libertarian Party, which had earlier focused solely on backing
candidates, has seen similar success with issue-based online
campaigning.

As a result of the party's first online effort in March, 171,000
people sent e-mail to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
protesting a proposed rule that would allow banks to closely monitor
customers' financial transactions. That represented about 83 percent
of the e-mail that was sent to the agency on the issue. The FDIC
dropped the proposal, citing the flood of e-mail. 

Fresh from their first success, the Libertarians launched an anti-war
site at stopthewarnow.org in late April. 

Steve Dasbach, national director of the party, said that in the past,
the Libertarians had issued press releases stating their positions,
but they had no ability to do more until the Internet came along. 

In addition to building support for the party, Dasbach said, "we're
trying to provide opportunities for people who already oppose the
war." 

In the first week, 1,000 people a day were sending e-mail to their
representatives in Congress through the site, and more than 15,000
messages have been sent since the campaign's start. For constituents
whose representatives do not take e-mail, the site provides a phone
number or fax number for the local Congressional office. 

Although these newcomers have been quite successful, the traditional
advocacy organizations could still use technology to keep their edge
among the innovators. Some groups have started investing in
sophisticated technology that allows precise targeting of online
supporters. 

Ken Deutsch, vice president of Internet strategic communications at
Issue Dynamics Inc. in Washington, put his company's targeting
software into action in a recent campaign. Sponsored by education
groups, the campaign pushed for renewal of the e-rate program, a
federal subsidy for Internet connections in schools and libraries. 

Visitors to the site generated about 11,000 messages between the end
of April and last week, when the Federal Communications Commission
approved $2.25 billion in financing for the program. Traffic to the
site peaked when news outlets covered the e-rate issue. 

That interest generated a list of supporters who can be mobilized
quickly in the future. Individuals on the list will receive alerts,
including phone numbers for Congressional offices, when their
representatives are taking action on related issues. 

This potential for immediate mobilization could change the way
established advocacy groups work. 

"It changes what you can do grass-roots work on," Deutsch said. "Real
decisions get made in [Congressional] committees, and the advocacy
world never knows what's coming up until the last minute. There's no
time to create a new Web site and mobilize supporters." 

The advantage, he predicted, will lie with groups that reach a base
of online supporters quickly. 

Whether Internet campaigning ultimately strengthens or weakens the
role of established advocacy groups, the publicity surrounding flash
campaigns has definitely caught their attention. 

"You used to mobilize people to march and demonstrate," said Smith of
the Benton Foundation. "Now you mobilize them to send e-mail. It's
certainly a lot easier to participate. Is it as effective? Big
question mark." 

To Blades, the trend is healthy. During the MoveOn campaign, she
frequently received thank-you notes from single mothers who
appreciated having an easy way to get involved. 

"It's enabling the five-minute activist," she said. 

Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company 





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