Archives for September 2011

Following the Organizing Advice of Mao Tse-tung?

“The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.” —Marty Feldman Did you know a '60s-era campaign organizing strategy inspired by Mao Tse-tung foreshadowed social media's power? From Richard Hofstadter's 1964 essay The Paranoid Style in American Politics: "In his recent book, How to Win an Election, Stephen C.  Shadegg [Barry Goldwater 's Campaign Advisor] cites a statement attributed to Mao Tse-tung: 'Give me just two or three men … [Read more...]

HOW TO: Engage Bonafide Critics vs. Feed the ‘Trolls’

"What if somebody says something bad about us?" is a common concern stopping some institutions from using social media. After all, as the old saying goes: "You can please some of the people all of the time. You can please all of the people some of the time. But you can't please all of the people all of the time." Whether you are participating in social media or not, however, these networks are giving a megaphone to all the people who are not pleased with you, at … [Read more...]

500 Years of British & World History Sold on eBay?

Ironically, the day before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a blog post about the closing of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) library caught my eye. The post contained an unsettling quote from the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs William Hague: "Finally, as a politician and part time historian I was surprised and indeed shocked upon my arrival here by the sight of the vast expanse of empty wooden shelves … [Read more...]

Video Clip of the Month: Booker, Social Media & Irene

A tweet about diapers caught my eye during my frantic Twitter searches last weekend to find information on Hurricane Irene's impact on Long Beach Island. It read "If u have problems finding diapers please DM me your # so we can talk. @darkangel1321" and was from the "verified" account of Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker (@CoryBooker on Twitter). I took a couple of seconds to read the mayor's Twitter stream and found he was doing more than help moms find diapers. … [Read more...]