Location: EFCA

Discussion: Connection to on the ground actionReported This is a featured thread

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Hwaisbren
Hwaisbren
Connection to on the ground action
May 3 2009, 2:40 PM EDT | Post edited: May 3 2009, 2:40 PM EDT
There is no greater advocate for engagement with the pubic sphere as activism as I follow Martin Luther King's dictum that "we must match actions with words" in our efforts to Break Silence. That said, so far I see EFCA #p2 efforts as focusing mostly on the verbal aspect with examples of lobbying politicians, outreach to journalists, engagement with peoples' press conference efforts, etc.

Those are all incredibly important endeavors, but I also think we need to have a focus of connecting with on the ground activism. Mainstream media does not cover such actions, yet the "progressive batsignal" is quite capable of shining a light on these events. That will have the dual effect of providing more motivation to the participants as they receive the credit they deserve while also spreading the word about what they are doing to pundits (who can further amplify their work) as well as other potential activists as well! Do you find this valuable?    
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JonPincus
JonPincus
1. RE: Connection to on the ground action
May 4 2009, 3:36 PM EDT | Post edited: May 4 2009, 3:36 PM EDT
It's a great point, Harry, and it's a place where Twitter should be especially useful. Because it's accessible via phones, it can help report (and sometimes even coordinate) ground actions. We also might be able to do a lot more in helping to publicize actions by appropriately retweeting. I'll add this to the agenda. Do you find this valuable?    
Hwaisbren
Hwaisbren
2. RE: Connection to on the ground action
May 4 2009, 4:04 PM EDT | Post edited: May 4 2009, 4:04 PM EDT
"It's a great point, Harry, and it's a place where Twitter should be especially useful. Because it's accessible via phones, it can help report (and sometimes even coordinate) ground actions. We also might be able to do a lot more in helping to publicize actions by appropriately retweeting. I'll add this to the agenda."
I hadn't though much about how twitter can be utilized during events via cell phones, but you are completely right that it fully applies! I know from experience how many frantic phone calls can come in from event participants looking for leadership, and being able to set up such an easy and concise manner of communication could be HUGE for when we hold events that (hopefully) reach the scale of Join the Impact!

However, I'm also looking at twitter usage for supporting events after the fact. As we saw with the Join the Impact rallies especially, mainstream media does not remotely adequately cover these projects (and when they do it's typically in a condescending fashion). If we can create buzz about such events both beforehand and then promote the media (web video, pictures, blog posts, etc) after the fact it could also have a major major impact. This could especially be the case if we are able to successfully engage mainstream media personalities via Twitter who could then relay that message dramatically farther than we are as of yet capable of doing. Do you find this valuable?