The Web has long been a tool for social and political activists from all parts of the spectrum, and that’s especially true now that a gaggle of candidates are ratcheting up their 2008 presidential campaigns.The ability to play a role in electoral politics is not lost on industry-leading social-networking sites MySpace and Facebook. Both mega-sites are used by candidates to recruit and rally supporters, raise money and raise awareness.
Social-networking sites are also used by non-profit organizations. MySpace even gives out awards (myspace.com/impactawards) to non-profits involved in various causes.
But now there is a social network dedicated to helping people who want to effect change. San Francisco-based Change.org, which went live Wednesday, aims to “engage people in social issues and advance social and political change,” according to its 26-year-old founder, Ben Rattray.More…
Like other social networks, members can use profiles to reveal their hometown, age and other details, but unlike my MySpace and Facebook friends, I know relatively little about Rattray’s romantic and personal interests, and a lot about his political and social agenda. That’s part of the point.
“You’re excavating the knowledge of your community, people you know, for reviews of organizations and candidates,” Rattray said.
Rattray says it can also increase your influence. “We’re allowing people to create their own lobbying campaign, which radically democratizes access to the sort of tools that non-profits use.”
Change.org members can raise money and “bundle donations into a single big check.” That way, says Rattray, groups of individuals can have the same impact as political action groups, corporations, major non-profits and special-interest groups.
Rattray says Change.org is “non-partisan but biased against special interests.” From looking at the initial causes espoused by early users, there seems to be a liberal bent with issues such as “protect women’s right to choose” and “eliminate the death penalty.” Still, Rattray says he’s been reaching out to conservative activists but got some initial resistance to the site’s name. “They said, `Look, we like your site a lot, but we disagree with your basic assumption. We don’t want to change the world.’ ”
Depending on what happens next November, that too could change.
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