Is Political Action Getting Through to People in Social Networks?

In the short time that social network sites have been on the internet, they have already made a huge impact. People are using them to stay connected to friends, meet new people, and promote online businesses. It is the hope of activists that the every day person would use these sites for political action, but this is not always the case.

There are so many opportunities to speak your mind through social sites and really let people know what you think on certain issues. The problem is far too many people are interested in talking about their weekend with friends or meeting singles. The question at hand is why people would rather discuss these types of matters than talk about politics.

Instead of trying to make a difference in the world, everyone appears to be status-obsessed and worried about what the next person is doing. The problem is people are far more interested in exhibitionism, what is happening in the lives of others, and displaying what is going on in their own lives.

Everyone wants to be a celebrity and put their lives in front of everyone else and social sites allow you to do so. You can get your name on the internet and inform everyone with what is going on in your life. If you are the type of person demanding attention, sites like Facebook and MySpace give you the opportunity to do just that.

To date the most active people on these sites appear to be politicians and marketers. But these are the type of people that use sites like Facebook and Twitter for a completely different purpose than the every day person.

Instead of writing a message on Facebook about their friend getting heavily intoxicated the night before, they are actually proposing a comment that has actual meaning. Using these sites for political action gives you a tremendous opportunity to introduce your ideas and thoughts to millions.

While the telephone allows you to connect to people all over the world, it is going to cost you an arm and a leg for a conversation on the other side of the world. The internet and social sites allow you to interact with multiple people at once from all over the world at the price of nothing.

What many political dreamers realize is the fact that people pay attention to what interests them. You can certainly make a post on Facebook and send it to millions, but people do not have to read the message or reply. Therefore, you have to learn to demonstrate intriguing content to lure people in.

The difference between chat rooms and social network sites today is people go to social sites typically to hang out with people they already know; not to meet new people. If someone sees their friend interested in a topic, they are going to check it out. If the content is of interest, it will be spread.

The infrastructure is there for people to take advantage of. The only thing left to make the most of political action thru social networks is to generate enticing topics and get them to spread.

Author; Joseph McEvoy

I have started setting up and organizing the site and would like to have more input from others.
The site was created to network liberal minded people and their websites together. Forming a stronger voice to affect positive change in many areas of our lives and others.
If you are interested in helping develop our sites content, have any ideas or would like more information please, check out the site over50hippie.com and send us a message through the site.
I will post more information there as we grow and develop.

Joseph
http://www.over50hippie.com ADMIN.

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