Funferal

Organizing and the internet

There’s a fascinating and useful piece on Alternet about the interaction between the internet and on the ground organizing – the space/place debate, I suppose. I’m still wading through it, as it’s quite dense (in the good sense).
Among the interesting points was talking about new members in a group, and how daunting it can be. One thing I’ve found interesting, and laudable, in groups (primarily radical groups) since I came to the States is the process of running through introductions at the start of a meeting. This happens in Ireland too on occasion, but there have been times it would have been useful, as a way to draw in new attendees, and hasn’t happened.
Of course it’s easier in smaller groups, where you’re sitting in the round, but it’s also possible and useful in larger groups. The new person gets to be active in the first few minutes at a meeting (perhaps lowering the barrier to future input), catches the names of some of the people, and the existing members learn something (if only a name) about the new person, which can be leveraged for later interaction with them.