Your Revolution

April 25th, 2008 at 09:12pm Dylan Permalink

This year is different.

The media are calling 2008 “The Year of the Young Voter.” Whatever you want to call it, something is definitely happening. There’s a level of excitement this country hasn’t seen in a long time. We have an opportunity to show the world that students can self-organize, and actually start working toward a common goal. We don’t claim to have the answer, but if you’re interested in giving it a shot, read on.

Your Revolution is here. Imagine the power of a social utility like Facebook, combined with the ability to register to vote instantly online, and a set of dynamic tools designed for activists and organizers. Your Revolution has created a Facebook application which takes advantage of Washington and Arizona’s new online voter registration legislation. The Facebook application allows the user to register to vote in a matter of minutes directly from their profile.

The application includes a peer pressure aspect as well, as it scans your friends list and cross references the respective secretary of state website to see who is and who has not registered to vote, and puts this in a visual percentage. The application then gives you the opportunity to invite your friends to register to vote. Even if they are not from WA or AZ they can use the Rock the Vote interface which automatically generates the correct form to complete and mail in for every other U.S. state. Check it at: www.yourrevolution.org Needless to say the viral potency of this application the amount of people who will be given the opportunity to register to vote from such an easy platform will be tremendous. We’re taking advantage of the viral potential and huge user base of Facebook to really make a difference in this election, and in politics in the future. The project has already become quite popular, and it’s going to be a serious political force in the months to come, especially among student voters. We’re working successfully with lawmakers in other states to open online voter registration systems (right now, we’re co-authoring legislation in Oregon as part of a wider package of voter access proposals).

We realized, however, that we could accomplish our ultimate goals much better if we built Your Revolution into a more robust application. So, that’s what we did. It now has a full set of features designed specifically for student groups and non-profits. Many activist groups are already using Facebook to manage their projects; we looked at their needs, and developed custom features that allow them to better coordinate with volunteers, organize groups, projects and events, and—most exciting of all—the ability to assign tasks, retain communication with interested individuals, and coordinate with other groups and organizations with similar interests.

A website does not mean that you have a web presence. To be an effective marketer you need to bring the product to the crowd, not let them come you. Facebook has become the most efficient and effective space for increasing and creating visibility.

*68 million users with 250,000 new registrants all day.

*50% of Facebook users are now over the age of 25

* Average Facebook user spends 20 minutes on the site every day, more than Google, MSN, and YAHOO combined.

* Facebook has 85% market penetration in college students

Washington Caucus Example:

Washington State democratic caucuses 2008: On Facebook, one person in our group who spent 90 minutes collecting information and invited 30 people join an event to participate and motivate friends to as well.

*In 4 days over 14,000 people were invited with approximately 2,000 people listed as accepted to attend. Washington State went on to have record numbers at the caucuses all across the state.

* No external evangelism, phone calls, emails or faxes were deployed.

* Over 200 comments, pictures, videos, and testimonials posted.

Entry Filed under: participatory media, social networking, youth recruitment