Let’s Get Together: The Web as a Social Organizer

This post marks the first in what I hope will become a new Friday series called Eye on the Web. In Eye on the Web, I’ll be highlighting interesting things I find on the web during my work week. Today I’m examining a couple of web phenomena that demonstrate how people are using the web to organize and build community.

I’ve written about how the micro-blogging service, Twitter, has opened my eyes to the social web’s potential for fostering significant real-world connections. Through my interactions on Twitter I’ve gotten to know many Knoxvillians that I probably would have never met otherwise, I’ve started participating as a contributor over at Knoxify, and I’ve even landed a couple of new clients. What’s more, I’m only scratching the surface. As I will show you, there are a lot of cool people out there using the web as a vehicle to connect people in non-conventional ways, whether for entertainment, for community building or to effect social change.

Exhibit 1: Improv Everywhere – Causing Scenes of Chaos and Joy in Urban Places
Imagine gathering hundreds of people in a public place and having them freeze on cue or having them stand in the windows of an urban department store and perform a dance for everyone on the street. Sound strange? It is, and hilariously funny and cool too.

Humor of this ilk is the domain of Improv Everywhere. Check out one of my favorites: Food Court Musical, where the improv team stages an impromptu musical for unsuspecting mall patrons:

Check out their base of operations on the web for more videos, and New York residents can even sign up to be an Improv Everywhere agent.

Exhibit 2: Carrotmob – Organizing Consumers to Help the Environment
Earlier this week, Ryan Stewart‘s post on Twitter introduced me to Carrotmob. From their website I learned that “Carrotmob organizes consumers to make purchases that give financial rewards to those companies who agree to make environmentally friendly choices.”

Their tactics are sort of like a “reverse boycott.” Rather than boycotting establishments, they use positive social pressure to encourage businesses to become more environmentally friendly. Once you watch one of their videos, you’ll understand what I’m talking about:

I really think that Carrotmob is onto a great idea. Their concept is certainly applicable to other causes as well.

The Internet Helps Make Social Movements a Reality
The ideas behind Improv Everywhere and Carrotmob could be accomplished without using the Internet. However, it’s the Internet that really helps each of these movements gain and build momentum. Both concepts take advantage of the following characteristics of the web:

Ease of Entry – Now a days, getting the word out is a simple proposition. Many web services allow you to start publishing your information (text, pictures, video, audio, etc.) in a matter of minutes.
Viral Fascination – The fresh and new nature of the web medium has everyone looking for the latest and greatest content. Original ideas like Improv Everywhere and Carrotmob are just the type of thing that other bloggers and news outlets are looking to report on (consider this post for instance ).
Social Organization – Movements like these that solicit the help and participation of your average web user can quickly gain a loyal and enthusiastic following. This allows the lone blogger with a good idea to go from concept to reality much cheaper and quicker than if she were relying on traditional media outlets.