Sunday, November 11, 2007

Internet and email

I became very taken by the potential in utilizing the internet and email for my tort reform advocacy activities. I was impressed with Howard Dean's success in harnessing this powerful new force. I became intrigued by chain emails and the forwarding of emails from person to person as a means to garner widespread attention to a topic of interest.

In trying to do advocacy by means of the internet, there is a divide between a "passive" use, such as a blog, in which people who have an interest come to you to read something you have to say, and an "active" use in which you send an email to someone containing your message, which is a message that is not something that the recipient, of his or her own accord, would have an interest to go looking for.

In "passive" use one will do most of one's communicating with likeminded people; in "active" use, there will be much more communication with persons who are less likeminded. To make progress in advocacy, it would seem that one needs to be trying to communicate with persons who are not likeminded, to get their attention, and to persuade them.

"Active" use is much more labor intensive than "passive" use. "Active" use entails ferreting out targets for one's message, getting email addresses, and sending emails, which may wind up being done individually.

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