Getting blogged downGetting blogged down

Presentation to AEFPresentation to AEF11 October 200811 October 2008

Graham YoungGraham Young

Founder and Chief EditorFounder and Chief EditorOn Line OpinionOn Line Opinionwww.onlineopinion.com.auwww.onlineopinion.com.au

What’s a “blog”What’s a “blog”

• Entries reverse date order• Calendar• Blog Roll• Monthly archives

Does that really describe Does that really describe something unique?something unique?

• Newspaper articles• On Line Opinion• MySpace• FaceBook• Comments• Forum Posts

Back to basicsBack to basics

• Form follows function

• Form obscures function

Mozaic Model Mozaic Model

One

Many

Back Chat ModelBack Chat Model

One

Many

Conversational ModelConversational Model

Many Many

Cyber Space Simple ModelCyber Space Simple ModelPublisher

Audience Audience

Audience

Cyber Space ActualCyber Space Actual

Even more actualEven more actual

Characteristics of the ’netCharacteristics of the ’net

• Network theory

• 6 degrees of separation

• Hubs • A process not an object• Long-tail

Democratic “market” 50 Democratic “market” 50 years agoyears ago

Homogenous/ Mass Market Loyal/Tribal Hierarchical Relatively Passive Not mobile Community defined by geography Decentralised and small scale

Democratic “market” nowDemocratic “market” now

Differentiated/Niche Markets Volatile Flat Demanding Mobile Community defined by interest Large scale

How is internet likely to How is internet likely to change politics?change politics?

Increase market differentiation Make electors more volatile Further flatten hierarchies More demanding Increase numbers of communities of

interest Scale will be less relevant Re-engineer the back office

““Traditional” political Traditional” political organisationsorganisations

• Political Parties, Trade Unions, many NGOs

• Strong hierarchies• Exclusive membership• “Creed”

Modern political organisationsModern political organisations

• Greenpeace, WWF, GetUp, US political parties

• Membership • convenient• casual • opportunistic

• Works, not faith/Transactional not relational

Why “traditional” political Why “traditional” political organisations are witheringorganisations are withering

• Inherent conflict between a corporatist approach and a participatory structure.

• Like a Macdonalds where you have to buy a membership before you can buy a burger.

InternetInternet

• If it didn’t exist the modern political organisation would need to invent it.

• Convenient• Undemanding• Ubiquitous• Agnostic

FundraisingFundraising

• McCain• Obama• GetUp

McCain v ObamaMcCain v Obama

• Obama • 50% online (Open Secrets)

• $215 per person (Daily Kos)

• New Hampshire $500,000 in 30 mins, $4.4 M two days

GetUp – AFL GrandfinalsGetUp – AFL Grandfinals

• Ad competition• $50,000 per ad• $280,000• Five ads

Organising supportersOrganising supporters

• 287,868 supporters• Email still the killer app

Organising supportersOrganising supporters

• FaceBook

• “According to the BBC a student protest in Britain has been successful in getting HSBC to reverse its policy change on interest-free accounts for graduates.  While the protest also had a “real life” component, with a protest at the bank’s London headquarters organized by the national Union of Students, the campaign took shape on Facebook, with members calling for a boycott of the bank.  Over the time of the protest the number who had joined the protest via Facebook reached more than 4,000.” http://democracy.nationalforum.com.au/articles227.html

Organising supportersOrganising supporters• MySpace

• “Nearly 40,000 students from across SouthernCalifornia staged walkouts to protest proposed immigration legislation Monday, blocking traffic on four freeways and leaving educators concerned about how much longer the issue will disrupt schools.

• The protests are believed to eclipse in size the demonstrations that occurred during the anti-Proposition 187 campaign in 1994 and even a famous student walkout for Chicano rights in 1968.” http://articles.latimes.com/2006/mar/28/local/me-protests28

CommunityCommunity

• Jennifer Marohasy• Celebrating heroes• Sharing beliefs• Sharing information (e.g. Arthur Smith)• Rehearsing arguments• Understanding objections• Esprit de corp

More communityMore community

• Twitter• “

Twitter Saves Berkeley Student Arrested in Egypt

• mercurynews.com — Buck, 29, used the ubiquitous short messaging service to tap out a single word on his cellular phone: ARRESTED. The message went out to the cell phones and computers of a wide circle of friends in the United States and to the mostly leftist, anti-government bloggers in Egypt who are the subject of his graduate journalism project.”

Key ConsiderationsKey Considerations

• Action• Information• Community• Discussion

Blogs just one way to organise information

Form should follow function

Don’t get bogged down on blogs.

Read about it hereRead about it here