A bright idea to spread...
We've seen the power of DailyKos, and the "netroots" generally, in their ability to mobilize new activists, raise money, and push issues into the national spotlight. Let's continue this, BUT let's also move BEYOND DAILYKOS to sprinkle progressive ideas across the Internet.
What do I mean?
Simply, there are little bits and pieces of each of us across the Internet. From the votes we make on various MSNBC articles, to our Amazon.com reviews, to discussion boards of individual stocks on finance.yahoo.com. For many of us, much of the content we generate is on DailyKos. That's great! But, at times, discussing things here is a bit like preaching to the choir...
Why don't we try to shift some of our progressive voices to the other places where we generate content. If we all tilt a little bit to inserting reasonable, responsible, and informed comments elsewhere, well, we can do a world of good. Indeed, more and more sites have adopted a wikipedia like model of relying on their readers to generate their content. And, as we generate their content, we are collectively afforded a powerful opportunity to spread progressive ideas into corners of the Internet where such things don't normally exist.
For example, I travel a lot. And, as such, I use Tripadvisor.com to read reviews. And, increasingly, I've been posting my own reviews. When I do, I honestly appraise the room/grounds, etc., but I also make sure to comment on sustainability and energy-use in my reviews. Does the hotel use compact fluorescents? Do they offer any sort of recycling? By regularly making such energy-use observations in all of the hotels I stay, I help push the notion of wise energy use, global warming, and sustainability to regular folks who might not have seriously thought about these issues before.
Here are some general points to keep in mind:
- Avoid conflict and conflict-oriented sites. There's no benefit to going to sites that thrive on a continuous left/right battle. Instead, find "neutral" sites where political commentary is absent. You'll find that the occasional well-placed comment can help shape other readers opinions far more on these sites.
- Don't be political! Labeling anything as Democrat/Republican is usually pointless, as people are already in one camp or the other. Instead, use progressive issues and ideas as talking points. As I mentioned before, does the hotel use CFLs? Does the hardware store offer certified sustainable wood? Does the car rental agency offer carbon offsets? The more we introduce these ideas, the more other people will research/remember/reuse these same ideas... and the more that corporate management will notice the sway in consumer thinking.
- Present "controversial" ideas as fait accompli. Instead of getting into any debate about, for example, whether global warming exists, present your comment as if everyone already knows that it exists (because 99% of people do!) So, you might say something like, "With global warming really impacting just about everything, it's unfortunate to not see this major hotel be a bit more proactive about energy use."
- Find long-lived comment areas. Comments on hotels on tripadvisor.com stay relevant for a long, long time. I still have people commenting on my comments. But a comment on a news story, while perhaps generating a heat of interest, won't last long. Both are worthwhile, but long-lived comments are incredibly powerful.
- Be reasonable, informed, polite, and appropriate.
Here are some places to consider extending your progressive voice (just go to Yahoo.com or MSN.com:
Travel review sites: Tripadvisor.com, Yahoo Travel, and probably all the other major travel sites such as travelocity, orbitz, etc etc. Great places to comment on the ecological footprint of travel operations.
General product sites: Epinions.com, Amazon.com. Are the products produced in worker friendly conditions? Environmentally sound?
Movie sites: IMDB.com, Netflix.com.
And on and on and on. (Nowadays, it is the rare site that doesn't have some way to publicly comment. Even commenting on photos in Flickr is great!)
Spread the gospel of progressivism! In my own attempt at such, I have posted this diary also at DailyKos Environmentalists (consider joining! And for that matter, consider joining any number of Yahoo Groups... another great place to present progressive points... I've done so carefully and repeatedly on several jogging related groups that I belong too.)