Web of Ideas invitation: The Net and Democracy
This Wednesay, I’m leading another session in the “Web of Ideas” series at the Harvard Berkman house (= Baker House). The topic is something like: Has the Net made a difference in politics? Will it? How can it? And possibly: Oh, crap! Crap! Crap! (But we hope: Yaaaaay!)
It starts at 6, goes to 7:15 and yes, pizza will be served. Everyone is welcome.
I start off with a 15 min discussion opener. I’m thinking of saying something like this:
It’s clear that the Net has been a great tool for organizing the troops and for fund-raising. And we get access to all the information we can eat. Beyond that, how has the Net helped democracy? How might it help? Or will it hurt democracy?
I think there are three main ways it’s helping:
First, it’s connecting us to one another. That helps overcome the alienation built into mass democracy, the same alienation built into mass marketing.
Second, it’s getting us used to the sound of our own human voice. There will come a time when spinning seems as off-putting as lying.
Third, it’s putting our democracy in a global context…not fast enough, but it’s happening.
What will a Web-soaked democracy look like in ten years? Twenty years? What can we do now with the Net to foster democracy?
Categories: Uncategorized dw
We need to build an institution of some sort that is an umbrella organization, for two reasons.
First, in looking at the Christian Coalition and their success with organizing a culture and cultural shift, it’s apparent that a substantial part of CC’s success resulted from a uniformity of message and a common point of intersection for most members of the right. What’s our common point of intersection when we are a highly diverse group, far more so than CC? What’s our common point of intersection and our common message when we take pride in being so very diverse?
Secondly, looking at effectiveness of our GOTV efforts in the field, there is a considerable duplication of effort resulting in poll fatigue. There is a shortage of activists in numerous areas, too; there may be progressives, but they don’t elect to participate. How do we encourage more local participation and become more effective at applying our considerable potential?
“There will come a time when spinning seems as off-putting as lying”
Umm … “as off-putting as lying” … I guess that means they’ll come a time when we won’t go into a war on the sort of evidence that was used … someday, I guess … it’s a good hope … :-(
“[The Net] helps overcome the alienation built into mass democracy, …”
Actually, I don’t see it. I believe it’s almost all the illusion of overcoming that alienation, which is a very different thing. You *feel* like you’re having an effect, but it’s just hearing echoes from the like-minded (except for the money, that’s real).
I think there is no need to create another organization or formal structure but rather should utilize the forces already exist in the Net.
What is the most common activity on the internet? What places/sites are visited the most? Search engines, right?
We are working on a new project right now and will try to launch soon. In brief, it is a new concept of a search engine built on democratic and Cluetrain principles.
I think there is no need to create another organization or formal structure but rather should utilize the forces that already exist in the Net.
If this is something that can be interesting to chat about, I would like to come over.