As a recent Californian transplant to Washington state, I had the opportunity to briefly involve myself in the campaign to define marriage as hetero-only when I was living down there in Los Angeles. A large contingent of young voters have taken to the issue on both sides. Prop 8, as it’s called, would insert wording into the California constitution that would legally define marriage as being only between a man and a woman. About 8 years ago a state referendum was passed declaring the same as state law, but the state courts later determined that it didn’t measure up to constitutional standards. So, the only way around this has become to change the state constitution completely – the checks and balances of democracy at work. And the campaigns on both sides are hard at work.
What impresses me is the extent of web-savvy we’re seeing on the ‘yes’ side. The ‘yes on 8′ folks, which most would argue fit traditionally into the conservative sphere, are using methods many have been observing working effectively for liberal campaigns, including the presidential run of Barack Obama, to energize their voting base and promote their message. These methods include an aggressive reach into social media. Facebook groups, blogs, and web videos are being implemented to spread the word and educate potential California voters, especially young ones who are generally tapped in to these on-line communities. More interesting, though, is the obvious desire of the yes campaign to concede transparency in the process. Above you have a video that not only depicts the campaign and its message, but openly shows some of the means, including the building of a website whatisprop8.com that they have utilized to continue the campaign. As Clay Shirky would point out, the web is providing for collective action through sharing and collaboration. Sharing the process openly, being transparent, helps others interested in that process to share and engage in the campaign, too. Instead of trying to control the message through traditional media (TV ads, print, etc), the message is set free and empowers social media users to negotiate it on their own terms. Considering the early TV campaigning going on in California by some ‘no on 8′ advocates during the Summer Olympics in August, it’s almost a wonder to see the liberal camp taking a conservative approach in the early going while the conservative side, who you think would be doing things the old fashioned way, was watching facebook groups and profiles cropping up through both their own efforts and spontaneously. Kudos to Kenny McNett, featured in the video and a close personal friend, for his social media efforts, as well as the rest of the plugged-in crowd in LA and Santa Monica.
It’s also no secret that these social media-savvy ‘yes on 8′ advocates down there in the southland are mostly Mormons (as am I) and that the church, which runs the site this video is hosted at, is heavily advocating ‘yes on 8′. That added level of transparency from these religious people not only forwards the campaign’s image as approachable and open, but it starkly differentiates itself from ‘no on 8′ supporters, which do not have the same kind of support from religious groups that the ‘yes’ contingent holds. This isn’t to say grassroots efforts from the ‘no’ side on-line aren’t in place; that goes without question – it’s just that the conservative side is embracing what one might think they typically wouldn’t, even if it is late in the technological game. Perhaps this all might change a mind or two when it comes to the widely held image that Latter-day Saints, or conservative religious people in general, are a little backwards for the digital times. At least the young Mormons I know are engaging in new media and making sure that their voice is heard. And thus we see that some religious people, like the Mormons, do look at the intarwebs as SERIOUS BUSINESS, too.
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Tags: politics, prop8, religion, social media