There is Nothing More Powerful Than an Engaged Community

From the Alexander van Elsas’s Weblog on new media & technologies and their effect on social behavior
11/5/08

I believe Obama, unlike McCain or the rest of the republican party, managed to do something that no other Presidential candidate could have done before. He managed to set fire to communities. He brought a message of hope and he manged to let others take that message and mobilize the American people. We see the power of communities on-line in our web 2.0 view of the word. But Obama was able to ignite that power way beyond the boundaries of the web into the physical world. He has changed the way any presidential candidate will ever campaign again. He has shown that if you have a great message and you are able to bring that message to the community, people will get involved. And he isn’t just the president of the current generation, he got the coming generation to get involved and vote.

If anything this election has shown that the effect of traditional media like TV isn’t nearly as powerful as (online) communities. The old fashioned TV campaigns that the Republicans used to discredit Obama failed because it didn’t bring involvement or hope. It merely brought fear and apathy. While the Republicans were doing the thing they are used to doing, Obama mobilised people on the streets, in stadiums, on the web. He talked of hope, of possibilities and he was able to get young and old people involved spreading the word for him. More