It's the big things that get attention on the TV news - big things like marches of hundreds of thousands of people against war. Big things are fantastic for getting mass media attention. Yet, it's easy to overestimate the power of mass media.
Sure, national TV news has a huge impact. Think, however, of the huge effort that it takes to get an activist message on TV news. Think about what it takes for hundreds of thousands of people to a single place at a single time to give a single message on a single issue. In return for all that effort, there might be 30 seconds of air time during the news on a few television networks.
There is another way to have a political impact. Embrace the small.
Consider the example of the button you see in the picture attached to this article. It's a simple button with a classic design, reading Barack Obama 2008. A few stars give it a patriotic feel.
How did it get there? Well, I work on the web site that sells that button. My partner in the web site designed the button.
We have been working on that web site for about 12 years now, small step by small step. This button was just one small step in that project. It took about an hour to design and get online.
Then someone else took a small step. They bought one of these Barack Obama buttons. In another small step, the person took a picture of the button, used that picture for the Barack Obama for President Group here on Gather. There are 61 members of that group, and many more have visited that group's web page and seen the image promoting the candidacy of Barack Obama.
Just a few people taking a few small steps got a political message out to a large number of people. Think about it - what are the chances that I would happen upon a web page with a button design from my own web page?
The chances are not good, unless you keep on taking little steps, day by day. Keep walking, and eventually you will end up someplace interesting, where good things can happen.
Last night, that little step was my decision to talk to a man from Pennsylvania, over at my very small network of contacts at Zaadz. This man, who I had never met before, started talking about his philosophy of political activism. In doing so, he mentioned his activity here at Gather.
I hopped on over here to see what he was talking about, typed in a search for materials on Barack Obama, and now, a few steps later, I am here, writing this for you to read.
Where will our small steps take us next? Don't stop walking.
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Comments: 3
I'm not here to get my articles rated 10 by trying to please everyone and say what's safe and popular.
American soldiers in Iraq aren't fighting terrorism. They're fighting in a civil war.