Here Comes Everybody - Clay Shirky - Part 4

Here Comes Everybody - Clay Shirky

2017 Reading Challenge - Day 27

 January 27, 2017 

Book 6 - Here Comes Everybody - The Power of Organizing without Organizations
by Clay Shirky (2008)
 Part 4 - Pages 161-211

Reading Time - 60 Minutes

The thing with Collective Action is that while it might be hard to get going... it is also much harder to stop. There are several stages to go through:

1. Everyone Knows
2. Everyone Knows that Everyone Knows
3. Everyone Knows that Everyone Knows that Everyone Knows

Confusing I know... the author gives the example of how tiny little protests in Leipzig, East Germany became incrementally larger. The government did nothing to crack down on them, because the protests were so small. Other people saw this and joined the protests and by the time the government tried to act, the protests were too large. That was 1989... and East Germany folded like a house of cards.

Today, Facebook and Twitter help people to coordinate and organize. The huge number of people who participate mean that even if individuals just contribute a little bit, they can be enormously effective as an aggregate. You don't need every protestor to be a star-contributor... you just need a whole bunch to contribute below the average, and it makes a huge difference.

Back in 2000, a researcher suggested declining participation in community and group activities. This was of particular concern since they form the vehicle for creating and sustaining social change. The study was a little premature and community groups are not quite a dying breed. While bowling leagues may not be popular, people are finding each other online and meeting in the real world. MeetUp is a site that helps people find each other based on geography and affinity. Interested in hiking? Check your area and you're likely to find a group that is interested in hiking. Or maybe it's HO trains? Or writing? Anyone can start a MeetUp group and if there are people interested... you can all get together. The possibilities are endless.

The thing is... what works for protest groups also works for terrorists and criminal gangs. Wikipedia can survive vandalism because enough people care to undo it. But what about in the real world? Interesting question...