Change has come
Monday, November 10th, 2008If there is anyone out there who still doubts the power of the Internet and the role social media has to play in changing our world then you weren’t watching the US elections last week.
Change has come to America, not just in the colour and form a new leader, but in the way he was elected. While actual figures may be disputed, Obama’s camp attribute victory to a nation of supporters who contributed in billions of small ways. From the 3.1 million who made donations, to the tens of thousands who used their own mobiles to forward text messages, post twitter updates and make campaign calls; this president, more than any other, can put his win down to the power of people to effect change.
Unlike his competitor and every candidate before him, Obama succeeded in engaging a disaffected minority and he did this largely through his use of the Internet and social media. Facebook and MySpace, email and text messaging all played a central role. Purchasing Obama merchandise via a website guaranteed you a place as a donor; so did attendance at one his rallies. Then, having secured your support, these same donors were turned into recruiters and encouraged to reach out virally to even more. In doing so Obama built not only a massive supporter base, but also a campaign fund that exceeded the combined spend of Bush and Clinton in 2004. We all know in America money = power, but when this money has itself come from millions of individual supporters, as opposed to the usual few dozen corporate donors, the power is even greater.
Some things in politics are certain. Seeing the way Obama achieved victory will inevitably lead to imitations. So while the date for Britain’s next general election is as yet unknown, it is clear the outcome is now more likely than ever to be decided online, and long before the first votes have been cast.
While the manner in which a US president achieves his success may not grab your attention; if there’s one thing that this election has taught us, it’s that by becoming engaged and adding our voice we can and do have a role in changing the world. By applying this same science and our collective imagination we can and should now address several real problems we all share.
If you doubt we can end wars, stop future global financial crisies, and clean up the planet; just repeat this mantra … yes we can.
