Why Online Social Activism Doesn't Work, Sometimes

It's hard to predict the Internet, although an entire industry of people say they can do it. The Internet, like a free market, has a habit of regulating itself by its own laws. These laws range from opaque to morally disturbing (Michelle Obama's racist pic, etc)

The Internet is also where a lot of good activist movements live and die. A Mint article tries to explain why the Facebook groups that came up after 26/11 (that's November 26 to Americans) fizzled out rather than turning into concrete activist organizations.

The 26/11 groups remind me of the groups that came up online after Hurricane Katrina, or really after any great disaster (the Haitian earthquake, etc). These groups aren't about action, they're about the group expression of emotion. They are a way for people who have experienced a tragedy to be with others who have experienced it. They come from the same urge that, when I watched the September 11 attacks on TV in a crowded high school classroom, prompted me to without asking put my arm around the person next to me. At times like this, it's better not to be alone.

In that sense, the groups are just like any other passing human contact, necessary for the healing process but later forgotten. Sometimes these groups espouse action ("the government really should have done X") but that's not what they're about. It's a mark of how much Facebook has entered our lives that we turn to strangers on the Internet in times of personal stress. But I've seen it happen time and again.

I once read that Manhattan is deceptive. In such a huge city, people still develop a sense of claustrophobia and false familiarity, like everyone they meet is part of their circle. Later I moved to Manhattan and realized how true this is. If there are six degrees of separation between normal people, there are only three between Manhattan-ites.

The same thing is true of the Internet. It is the world's biggest, smallest community. That's why we have groups like the 26/11 groups. That's also why these groups don't usually amount to anything lasting. They are the equivalent of a great conversation at a party, satisfying because it doesn't last.