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Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Six Degrees of
Resistance
Congressman
Mike Castle (R-DE) getting an earful about Cap-and-Trade.
LET'S GET TO WORK. Are you all familiar with the concept of "Six Degrees of Separation"? It first gained publicity as a kind of stunt involving the actor Kevin Bacon. A clever mathematician posited that it was possible to link Kevin Bacon with any other Hollywood actor through a process of association -- Bacon was in Film 'A' with Actor 'X,' who was in Film 'B' with Actor 'Y,' who was in Film 'C' with Target Actor 'Z'. It turned out that this process of association invariably worked with no more than six removes from the original Bacon film. Serious scientists have since taken up this phenomenon and are using it to develop a new science of networks that has profound implications about the way communication works in our technological world.
I'm proposing that we exploit this principle in our "What to Do" formulations. Theoretically, each and every one of us is only six handshakes -- or emails -- away from the President of the United States based on our own existing networks of friendship and acquaintance. I'm not proposing that we try to reach the president himself; rather I'm suggesting that a corollary of the Six Degrees model is that one person has access to an enormous number of people without an unacceptably huge effort. The practical demonstration of this corollary is chain letters and pyramid schemes, which though they inevitably break down eventually can still affect a very large number of people and move a lot of money around.
I'm proposing this for everyone who wants to make a difference and can't manage to leverage our prior suggestions about "What to Do" -- The 'When' Question, Fighting Back, Questions for Your "Liberal" Friends, etc (thanks Apotheosis). Here's the idea. Once a week, starting vitally with this week, pick the single most persuasive counter-Obama video, op-ed, blog post, or news story you've encountered during the prior seven days and make a point of emailing it to at least six other people, not always the same ones btw, with a request that they do the same. Each such communication should also include a call to action with regard to contacting the recipient's congressman or U.S. Senator on a specific topic. You should also post the email and link on your Facebook page if you have one, with the same call to action.
Yes, it's a chain letter. Expressly so. For this reason, you should also try to say whatever you can to make them follow the included link or read the included text. There's a premium on basing your communications on products that are both amusing and relevant. We have a sample for you to try. It's about healthcare, which could not be any more relevant this week of all weeks, and though long, it is also funny, captivating and genuinely informative once you make the decision to watch it.
Here it is:
And here's the link to the YouTube video if you'd rather send or post a link than an embedded video.
Feel free to pick your own healthcare-related internet product if you find one you like better. But send it out ASAP and do whatever you can to follow up its eventual distribution. Wouldn't it be great to play some part in expanding the size of the angry audience shown up top so that those of our elected officials who participate in this systematic destruction of our country are called immediately to account or, better yet, prevented by tidal waves of angry voter communications?
The key -- the thing that makes it different from viral videos, internet jokes, and urban legends -- is the discipline. Keep doing it. Always target a group of recipients, and always explain the value of their doing the same thing. That's a formula for rapid saturation of any network.
Give it a try. Please. IT IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO.
