What's the best way to spread an idea on the Internet?

July 28, 2009 6:47 PM

I have what I believe to be a clever idea that requires lots of other people to take action(s) for the idea to work and achieve the desired result. What/where/when/how is the best way to spread this idea the furthest on the Internet?
posted by BeReasonable to Computers & Internet (16 answers total)

Since you want it to spread far and wide, is there any reason you can't tell us what the idea is now? It's hard to give good advice without knowing what you're talking about.
posted by jayder at 6:57 PM on July 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

Make "the desired result" something that provides a clear and immediate benefit to those who take action.
posted by rokusan at 6:59 PM on July 28, 2009

It's a matter of catching critical mass and/or meme status. If it were easy to spread ideas and get people to take action, we'd all be millionaire activists with fan clubs. The best thing you can do is start working on this idea, get as many people as you know to join in, get their friends to join in, and publicize. Get local news to notice, especially if it's one of those good-for-everyone ideas. The internet? We've got so many people clamoring for our attention, it's second nature to shut that out until the video has gone viral. Doing that, it takes talent.
posted by Saydur at 6:59 PM on July 28, 2009

Find a good graphic designer. I really dig Obama, but would he have gotten where he did without his nice fonts and web design?
posted by oinopaponton at 7:01 PM on July 28, 2009

Make a clever YouTube video and pray it goes viral.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:03 PM on July 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

As others note, it's hard to answer this question without specifics. That said, your general question is the question of (a) advertising and (b) how to get people to use something with network effects. As that Wikipedia entry notes, I think the most common (and possibly only) answers are (a) rely on extrinsic motivation (e.g., pay the early adopters) or (b) make the initial product/service/action have enough value without the network effects that early adopters want to do it anyway (e.g., rokusan's solution).
posted by pbh at 7:16 PM on July 28, 2009

Make a single serving site and start spreading it around on Digg and Reddit.
posted by twins named Lugubrious and Salubrious at 7:41 PM on July 28, 2009

Response by poster: Well, I was trying to avoid sharing the idea for fear that sharing said idea on MetaFilter, a site of some popularity and influence might be perceived as a means of trying to "use" MetaFilter (in the unwholesome whore-y sense of the word). However, I guess knowing specifics does help.

My idea involves suggesting to as many people as possible (in the US) that an effective way to influence the health care debates in Congress would be to:
Send two letters, e-mails, faxes, whatever. One would be sent to your local newspaper(s) and one to your elected representatives, especially if they are Democrats.

Letter one summarizes the actions you are taking and calls upon others to do so as well.

Letter two says simply. Dear , If you do not vote for a health care bill that has a public option I will vote for someone else, anyone else. If you do vote for a health care bill that does not have a single-payer option, I will vote for someone else, anyone else.

I would also add the admonition:
This cannot be an idle threat. If you cannot stand to vote for someone else, do not send the letters. On the other hand, if you recognize that regardless of party affiliation your needs are not being served by the current elected officials, make this promise and keep it. This is the only language your elected, non-representing officials understand.

I believe that the Internet can be used for more than porn and fucking with Time Magazine but have no idea how to go about doing it.
posted by BeReasonable at 7:53 PM on July 28, 2009

Your best bet would be to join forces with the many, many experienced organizations that are doing advocacy around health care reform online. You're certainly not the first to have this idea, and in fact there are professionals who do this sort of thing for a living. You may do best to contact some of those organizations and ask how you can volunteer to help.
posted by anildash at 8:19 PM on July 28, 2009

Facebook group and Twitter, think of a clever hashtag or name for the action on for twitter and maybe you'll make it into the rising trends on the right hand side of their page. (e.g. #publicoptionnow)
posted by bottlebrushtree at 10:09 PM on July 28, 2009

1. PledgeBank
2. Twitter
3. Facebook
4. Profit!

Basically, use Twitter and Facebook to drive people to your PledgeBank page. I suggest something hitherto unused for your hashtag, like #nohmo
posted by DarlingBri at 10:13 PM on July 28, 2009

I suggest something hitherto unused for your hashtag, like #nohmo

I suggest not using that particular tag. I read it about a dozen times, my rage increasing iteration, as "no homo".
posted by Netzapper at 10:17 PM on July 28, 2009

Best answer: Yes, grassroots online movement around getting universal health care can probably be a powerful thing if you are able to get the momentum that you need.

I think if you want this to work, you'll need to approach it through numerous routes and really be diligent about it. Here would be a few quick suggestions:

1. Connect with (I)people/(II)websites/(III)organizations with a bigger audience than you. I. There are many influential bloggers out there who would probably support this issue. You need to get them excited around a united cause and message. I think everyone can say “yes healthcare” but it won’t do anything. If they all say “yes #healthcareFTW”, you might see better results. II. As other have mentioned, Twitter, Digg, Reddit, etc. are essential for a movement to get big. You're looking to saturate the web market and these are places you ultimately want your message to be on. III. Like anildash said, there are tons of organizations and nonprofits already focused on this. They'd probably love to have someone really dedicated toward the cause to help push their message. While working with an organization may yeild you less recognition (as opposed to you making something from scratch), you’ll be connected to a larger organization that probably has more resources.
2. Along with this, a gimmick/hook probably would help. You want something that is simple and viral. For example, if you're on Twitter, I’m sure you have a few followers whose profile pictures are green-tinted, have a Lance Armstrong band on them, or have a breast cancer ribbon on them. Obviously, the "change my profile picture to show support" idea is a bit hackneyed but you get the idea. Having something that is simple, unique, and engaging is pretty important. Other ideas? Viral videos, single serving websites, etc.
3. If you build something from the ground up, I bet a Metafilter Projects would be a good place to post it.
4. You need to really be assiduous and put a lot of work on this. It won’t come easy and you may end up wanting to give up. You need to keep at it in order for the campaign to succeed.

Now for the Debbie Downer(tm) part of the post. Here are some things that you need to be wary of:

1. Your current idea is slightly flawed. You say, “I would also add the admonition: This cannot be an idle threat. If you cannot stand to vote for someone else, do not send the letters. On the other hand, if you recognize that regardless of party affiliation your needs are not being served by the current elected officials, make this promise and keep it. This is the only language your elected, non-representing officials understand.” Look at the turnout rate of midterm elections. They're abysmally low. Even more depressingly, look at the turnout rate for the 18-29 year old population (the demographic that would be most receptive to an internet grassroots movements). Most people don't vote so you're admonition is a pretty empty threat.
2. People are already constantly sending letters to the press, members of Congress, and members of the Senate. That isn't to say you shouldn't do it, just that it's not a new or novel idea. In fact, tons of letters, emails, and phone calls are being sent supporting/denouncing both sides of the issue every day.
3. Which leads me to my third point -- it's not as cut and dry of as issue as we'd all like to think. The US is pretty polarized even on the issue of health care. While most everyone agrees it needs to be reformed, there is a whole myriad of ideas on how to actually go about doing this. The fact that you are so rigid on the single-payer issue makes it even more polemical. Even though I agree with you that there needs to be universal health care (and it may need to be single-payer), as a pragmatist, I recognize that it's a hard sell.
4. Finally, making something "viral" is more luck than it is skill. Corporations put millions of dollars into making things viral but fail. You're facing an uphill battle on an issue that will get lots of people riled up. Again, not to say that you shouldn't try -- just to say that it's probably not the slam dunk you picture it to be. If you prepare for the worst, you'll probably be better off and will be able to handle difficulties with a better attitude.

Overall, I wish you all the best! It'd be exciting to see something like this picking up steam from one of Metafilter's Own (also TM).

Resources:
http://www.uhcan.org/
A listing of nonprofits working towards Universal Health Care

http://healthcare.change.org/
Change.org is a great website that focuses on a number of issues.
posted by carpyful at 11:46 PM on July 28, 2009 [2 favorites]

Before you set off trying to spread via Twitter etc., set up one of those old-fashioned things called a 'web site' with a catchy domain name so there's a central point everything can connect to. Just needs to be one main page clearly explaining/promoting the concept, maybe include a stream of Twitter mentions and latest mentions on the web and offline. Ideally work with someone to add ways for people to easily look up who they need to contact.

I'm not in the US and so can't accurately judge your idea, but like carpyful I reckon you need some kind of gimmick/hook, something that both clarifies the motivations/aims and grabs attention. Could you maybe make the letters into some kind of 'vote insurance' policy? It needs something.

There is an element of luck in getting things to go viral, but there's also an awful lot of skill. Think about all the ways you can refine your idea to get it over that threshold between 'meh' and 'I think I'll blog/forward/tweet that', and then think about who the well-connected people are for this kind of issue.
posted by malevolent at 12:53 AM on July 29, 2009

I might be missing something. Your clever idea is to affect public policy by writing letters to the editor and to your congressman? I think someone may have come up with this one already.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 3:26 AM on July 29, 2009

Response by poster: ActingTheGoat, it may sound remarkably unoriginal, but I believe particularly simple statements and lots of coordinated action can have an impact and what I was considering is a somewhat different approach. Similar tactics have been used, but was I was trying to figure out was a way to do this outside of currently existing groups. Something that seemed more organic and less organized by interest groups.

I think what everyone is saying is the heart of the problem. There's many sides to the health care issue and they're all represented by lobbyists and advocates which means savvy politicians know they only represent a finite bunch of people. Additionally, the other side is experienced at handling them.

What I was trying to investigate was how to have this rise up in a way that there was uncertainty about who was organizing it. If you don't know who your enemy is, you don't have as much ability to successfully counter them. Plus everybody knows writing letters to your Congresspersons and letters to the editor don't work, but what if a hell of a lot of people did it?

I've seen a lot of practical suggestions here that have given me ideas and pointed out some flaws in my ideas, so I think that my question has been fairly well answered. I am inclined to mark carpyful's answer as the best, but doing so after only a few hours seems a little premature. I will revisit this thread after work and check on things.

Thanks to all for their insights.
posted by BeReasonable at 7:51 AM on July 29, 2009