| Weblog: | Some Nice Editorials on Dean and Blogs | |
| Subject: | Groups and Individuals | |
| Date: | 2004-02-02 20:11:14 | |
| From: | enkerli | |
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It's almost reassuring to see that the Internet can build movements but can't build a lasting figure. Individuals may become famous overnight but their popularity doesn't imply automatic success in other spheres of life. A major difference between MoveOn.org and Dean's campaign is that, despite the people behind him, Howard Dean represents himself as an individual candidate in a specific process while MoveOn.org represents a series of ideas held by a loose group of people. This group, however difficult to circumscribe, has a certain permanence. If an important figure in a group deviates from the group's idea, the group may still reject this person's idea and remain basically unchanged. A person's campaign depends completely on this person's ideas and actions. Real grassroots movements on the Internet aren't bottom-up, building a pyramid to promote the tip. They're many-to-many relationships which provide for more dynamism than any individual can muster. |
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