Activist Communities
Using Social Media
for Net Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Chris Bartlett
@harveymilk
Thanks Ivan and Seth

A community thrives by its
connections, not by its collections! It's
the relationships, and the prospect of
future relationships, that keep
members active and excited.
@valdiskrebs
http://www.orgnet.com/community.html

On-line community network
@valdiskrebs
http://www.orgnet.com/community.html

On-line community network
 Outer Orbit- Blue nodes- not
connected/lurkers. More than 60% of the
group.
 Middle Orbit- Connections to prior
acquaintances- no sense of belonging yet.
Likely to leave or become passive and will
do so in unison. About 20% of the group.
@valdiskrebs
http://www.orgnet.com/community.html

The core of the network
@valdiskrebs
http://www.orgnet.com/community.html

The core of the network
 “They are very involved and have formed a
connected cluster. The leaders of the OLC are
embedded in the core. The core members will stay
and build the community. Unfortunately they are in
the minority. The core nodes are usually less than
20% of most on-line groups. Although small, they
are a powerful force of attraction. It is the core that
is committed and loyal to the OLC and will work on
making it a success. They see a win-win for
themselves and the group -- better connectivity will
help the individual and the group simultaneously.”
@valdiskrebs
http://www.orgnet.com/community.html

 We are all bundles of potentiality that only
manifest in relationship.
 If we're to evoke kindness, intelligence,
accountability and learning in organizations,
we need to promote healthy relationships.
-Margaret Wheatley

What does it take to build
strongly woven networks?
 A shared ethos/sense of purpose
 Geographical proximity
 An understanding of the self-benefit of
introducing other nodes on the network to
each other
 Shared projects (back channel of events,
collection of group data, mapping of
network).

What does it take to build
strongly woven networks?
 Breaking people out of isolating clusters AND
 Reinforcing the uniqueness of the tribe
 The value of inconvenience (Clay Shirky)
 Creating opportunities for off-line connection-
mentorship, job coaching, job banking, social
meetups, dating profiles, housing, help-wanted.
 How do new members of the network feel
welcomed and appreciated?

What does it take to build
strongly woven networks
 Twitter:
– Replies
– Retweeting
– Following people, and following friends of
friends
– DM (direct message): using this tool to ramp up
connection with friends
– Requesting that your friends follow others

No on 8
 Twitter account set up to combat Proposition 8
(anti-gay proposition in California).
 Tweeting of organizing / links
 Establishing connections between No on 8
activists
 Retweeting No on 8 tweets from others
 Fundraising

Stickam
 Opportunity for video/audio connection
 Conference room set up by topic
 Opportunities to set up individual live rooms
for connections with friends / fellow activists
 Security concerns (re: taping of meetings)
need to be addressed

Radical Faerie Heart Circle
 On-line meeting of 50 Radical Faeries from around
the world
 Set up quarterly, at different time zones to
encourage worldwide participation
 Thought given to reproducing “real-life” community
rituals on-line.
 Opportunity for participation by those who
otherwise would be excluded due to geographic
distance / cost of travel
 Jump from on-line to FTF and back

Ning
 Opportunity to create and cultivate your own
social network
 Map it out- note needs (demographic /
geographic / skills)
 Aggregation of social network tools on-site

Gay Men’s Health Ning
 In two weeks, over two hundred activists from
around the world have joined
 Looking at ways to bring people into the inner
circle
 Ning’s technology “rewards” regular participation
by highlighting those who regularly participate
 Debate re: access

Gay Bar Mitzvah organizing on
Twitter

Connection
 Understand the network: encourage
connections between the people you know
and don’t know. Bring people into the inner
orbit.
 Jump from on-line to FTF and back
 Let there be something at stake- a price for
participating

Acknowledgements
and Contacts
 Thanks to Valdis Krebs for his useful
theories on social networking and on-line
communities.
 I can be reached on Twitter @harveymilk or
by email at bartlett.cd@gmail.com