a book about facebook organizing
I had this idea a month ago to write a handbook to Facebook organizing. I thought, hey, why not? It could be useful to some folks, plus I have the luxury of unemployment right now. Maybe make this 50 page thing and post it here or get it published, then I'll go land some real writing gigs again.
Anyway, why I'm posting this is because in the course of the writing, I've come up with a lot of ideas to help Lose the Label and launch other projects. I'll be trying some of them out, spending way too much time online, and writing about it a lot. Basically being a mad political scientist, and in the nerdiest ways imaginable. Please mind the crap.
Coca Cola Call-in Action
Continuing the trend of Facebook-related activism:
http://stolaf.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8445902539
Call Coca-Cola and ask them why they don't list the source of Dasani on the bottle.
(hint: it's tap water. purified tap water.)
Let's try an experiment.
I just edited my facebook profile. My activities section now reads:
"Waterboarding is the practice of strapping someone to a plank or board, placing a rag over their nose and mouth, and then pouring water over the rag until it is soaked and no air can get through. The person is forced to breathe water, which enters their lungs and causes intense pain, and can damage the lungs if done long enough.
It's brutal, it's cruel, and the Government of the United States thinks it's a good way to make people talk. I don't. If you don't either, add this to your profile and then spread the word."
The idea is that my friends who have no idea about what waterboarding is will see it in their mini-feed, and if they care, they'll change their profile, too. And nothing's easier than editing your Facebook profile, right?
Make the change. It's easy. Even if you only have 30 seconds, you can do this. People need to know what this is, and this is the best way I can think of to tell them.
Wednesday Evening Open Thread
Is it just me, or are Facebook applications going the way of email chain-letters? Some of the stuff is useful, or intriguing, but I really have no desire to add "bumper stickers", or Vampires vs. Zombies, or a Super Wall. The wall I have right now is satisfactory, thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an early bird special to get to before my canasta game.
Also, I bought a new MP3 player today, and it isn't an iPod. I'll have more as to why this is a big deal in terms of free speech and copyright tomorrow.
Thursday Open Thread
30 SECOND ACTIVISM OPPORTUNITY -----
Alright, so there's a riot on Facebook right now --- some folks who think it's shutting down. Obviously it's not, but there's a bigass group with 800,000 people and growing fast. So I spammed their discussion board with a note for Antiwar Tuesday to see if maybe some folks'll join. But the thing is, I don't want to reply to messages because I know it'll just encourage trolls, but if anyone here can Bump the post up (like maybe make a quick hit and run anti-Bush comment in the thread), that'd be muy helpful.
Ahem, so ok, open thread, talk about whatever...
Parents on facebook?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/fashion/07Cyber.html?ref=technology
What do you think about parents on facebook? I admit, if my parents created one I'd be a little freaked out, but I'd say, "haha, yeah right. I'm not 'friending' you." But I feel like they should be able to do what the want. Facebook is a useful tool after all- many (maybe even all) of the '08 candidates have facebooks, and it can be used to bring awareness to various events going on in your campus or city or wherever.
Anyway, I'm Ally. I've been lurking for a while and this is my first post. I finally created an account last week.
Peace.
Black Armbands -- May 1st: Chain Invite
This is a tactic meant to create explosive, exponential growth for the "Black Armbands -- May 1st" project Jerome started. I have no idea if this will work, but I'm trying anyway. There's nothing to lose.
First, the straightforward part.
- you RSVP for the event.
- I make you an admin
- you invite 100+ people
That's when it gets more complicated.
Facebook and Student Activism
Yeah, that’s right. I’m writing another serious post about Facebook. Strap yourself in, it’s gonna be sooooo exciting. …
Facebook is a mindbogglingly underused organizing tool for student activists. We’ve discussed this at LtL before, here, here and here. But I wanted to make a post that more explicitly spells out how the tool has been used, how it can be used, and also speculates on why it hasn’t been used to its maximum potential.