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Michael Silberman: Creating an Online Strategy

Michael Silberman (original image: NetSquared)

Today I “attended” a webinar on online strategy hosted by the New Organizing Institute.  The presenter was Michael Silberman, a partner and co-founder of EchoDitto, a communications firm founded by the techies of the Howard Dean campaign.  Below are Michael’s steps to building an online strategy.  I’ve presented his ideas, which are aimed at American non-profits, and then given commentary on how the steps relate to grassroots activists in other countries.  I’ve also added examples from international digital activism.

1)  Choose your moment:  It’s best to link the launch of a campaign to the news cycle so it is relevant.  This can be particularly challenging for activists that work on longterm issues, like the environment, public health, and or women’s rights.  It is common for these kinds of campaigns to link their actions to planned holidays like Earth Day or International Women’s Day, but smart organizations will also be attuned to the news for unforeseen opportunities and be ready to push their environmental campaign when there is news of a toxic clean-up or their women’s rights campaign when a female celebrity is the victim of domestic violence.

An excellent example of connecting an advocacy goal to the news cycle is Syria LinkedIn fail.  Social network LinkedIn had blocked its users in Syria because of a broad interpretatation of US sanctions against that country.  In order to make the block relevant, activist Jillian York created a Twitter tag #linkedinfail, which simulated the incredibly embarrassing #amazonfail story only a few days ago.  Eager not to follow in Amazon’s path, a PR representative responded to Jillian quickly (and on Twitter) and Syrians regained most of their access to the site.

2) Create an “ask”:  An “ask” is a jargon term that campaigners use to refer to the request you will make to your supporters.  While it is tempting to post a list of several actions, in Michael’s experience the most successful asks make only one request. For example, the project Postcards for Iran makes one simple ask:  send a postcard (snail mail or digital) to an Iranian political prisoner. Read more »

Tactic: Organizing a Blogging Workshop

Description: On April 3 and 4, 2008, a blogging workshop was held in Kabul, Afghanistan. The participators were introduced to blogging and the blogosphere and learned how to use blog providers or to differentiate between a blog and a web site.

Organizer: The workshop was organized by the Afghan Association of Blog Writers, represented by the bloggers Nasim Fekrat and Masoumeh Ebrahimi.

Purpose of Action: The workshop’s goal was to introduce Afghan journalists and writers to the power of blogs. The organizers believe that blogs could help improve the quality of the Afghan print and online media, if being used as a publishing as well as an investigation tool. Another goal was to speed up the growth of the currently very small Afghan blogosphere.

Organizing Tools: Blogs

Outcome: Ten Afghan journalists, writers and academics were introduced to blogging. They learned how to use online media and subsequently founded their own blogs. The workshop was described as “may be the most important step for journalism in Afghanistan.” So far it cannot be told how many of the participants will continue their blogs.

Ease of Replication: Afghan PenLog, the Afghan Association of Blog Writers, plans to hold similar events in several other Afghan cities, but the funding will remain a serious difficulty. A workshop can be held by few (here: two) persons, but it causes relatively huge costs as for the location or technical equipment.