Categories: uncategorized
Date: 23 July 2011 16:00:57
Don't know if you've come across Avaaz the virtual campaigning site. They update you on campaigns going on. At the moment the big campaign is the forthcoming UN vote to get recognition for the state of Palestine.
The thing with sites like this is sometime you can feel like you've joined a virtual "rent a crowd" and it can be easy to press a button without thinking or without realising you are part of much wider campaigns and a movement of like minded people. It can also become easy to get "campaign fatigue". I have gotten to the state where I sometimes scan through or just delete without properly taking note. This was bought home to me with the campaign mentioned above. I had gotten the standard Avaaz e-mail and not taken much notice, but then somebody I knew forwarded it on to me too. This person had taken the time to add a note saying she thought this was worth taking note of so I actually read it rather than just pressing delete.
The effect becomes deeper when your attention is bought by somebody who is not always ranting. There is somebody else I know who gets very worthy with FB rant statuses and links but ends up doing my head in simply because you end up thinking ok, it's x on his soapbox again. The ususal suspects are important but this has focused my attention on how bringing peoples attention to campaigns and stuff is a bit like using bad language. It should be done sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.