What is the groundswell? And how can we use it for our benefit?

We live in the golden age of the Internet, and the power resides in our hands. This idea is held by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, the two authors of “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.” Li and Bernoff define the groundswell as “a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations” (p. 9). Essentially, the groundswell means that power has shifted from traditional institutions to people with the help of emerging technologies.

In the first four chapters of their book, Li and Bernoff discuss instances where the groundswell prevailed, and they describe ways for people to tap into the groundswell.

Digg.com and The Streisand Effect
In the first few pages of “Groundswell,” Li and Bernoff discuss a particular instance at Digg.com. Digg allows users to vote on news stories so that the popular ones will show up on the site. In 2007, a blogger uploaded the number for the HD-DVD Processing Key, which was circulated to the front page of Digg. Hollywood was not happy, and the creators of the key threatened a lawsuit against Digg and demanded that the number be removed from the site.

Digg, wishing to avoid legal consequences, took down the number. By the end of the day, however, over three thousand other blogs around the Internet posted the number. Seeing the demand for the number’s appearance on the site, Digg’s creator decided to listen to users and repost the number on the front page.

As Li and Bernoff wrote, “...Lawyers and entrepreneurs aren’t the most powerful force on the Internet. People are. And people, empowered by technology, won’t always go along” (p. 5).

Instead of listening to a powerful institution’s demands to remove the number, people kept spreading it. This represents the shift of power from institutions to people, and it also highlights an interesting phenomenon: the Streisand effect.

The Streisand effect – named after Barbara Streisand’s fruitless efforts to remove a photo of her house from the Internet –  dictates that attempts to conceal something on the Internet will only heighten the awareness of it.


This was clearly evident in the Digg example, where attempts to remove the number resulted in more notice of it.

The Groundswell Technology Test
Power inherently resides in people, but we can use technology as a means to proliferate the groundswell. Not all technology helps the groundswell, however, so Li and Bernoff developed a series of questions to test whether a technology helps the groundswell (p.36). 
  1. Does it enable people to connect with each other in new ways?
  2. Is it effortless to sign up for?
  3. Does it shift power from institutions to people?
  4. Does the community generate enough content to sustain itself?
  5. Is it an open platform that invites partnerships?
If you can answer yes to all of these questions, then the technology is useful for the groundswell. Li and Bernoff use Twitter as an example of a successful groundswell technology. Twitter clearly allows users to connect with one another, is constantly updated with new content from its users, and maintains people’s power over institutions. Twitter is an apt example, but let’s take a look at a new technology to see if it passes the test.

Citizen is an app that sends users live updates about crimes and emergencies in their area. The app – using both employees and technology – scans police scanners and public safety radio bands to find out information about crimes. The app then places the crime’s location on a map in the app, and it notifies users about the crime. Users can then send the crime to other users to warn them of potential danger. Aside from notifying users, Citizen also lets users record live videos of crimes or emergencies and post them to the app to inform others.




Though Citizen is different than a social media app like Twitter, it passes the groundswell technology test. It allows users to connect with others to easily warn them of danger (something people haven’t been able to do with such ease); it is easy to join; it gives power to people by letting them record crimes and emergencies; it constantly generates new content from its users; and it’s an open platform that invites people to participate with one another.

An Approach to Social Strategy
Li and Bernoff mention a specific way for people and businesses to tap into the groundswell. We have power and we use technology as a means to use that power, but Li and Bernoff suggest an approach that allows people to build groundswell: POST.


POST stands for People, Objectives, Strategy, and Technology. This method allows us to reflect on our strategies for using the groundswell. By using POST, regular people and businesses can think about the ways they can spread their messages.

POST is a framework for success. We can use this framework to efficiently tap into the groundswell and spread our messages effectively.

The Streisand effect, groundswell technologies, and POST illustrates ways in which the groundswell has revolutionized our world.

What do you think about the groundswell? Let me know in the comments below!

Comments

  1. The Citizen app you highlighted here is very interesting. I think you're correct that it passes the social media test, though I wonder how an app like this could be used for social media marketing for businesses. Possibly for some specialized businesses like home security systems or something like that. In any event, I think our book has made it clear how important it is to be able to evaluate these new technologies and you've done a great job of it here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Jack,

    I liked how you picked an example to run past the the groundswell technology test. Your example was twofold. It first gives us a good example of new technology that functions with the groundswell. Second it works to better support and illustrate the authors claims because we as readers can see relevance of what they are saying. The Citizen App is also timely and socially relevant. Good job.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really like your introduction to Citizen App. You provided an excellent example that passed the groundswell marketing test, which helps us to easy to understand the Groundswell. Also, I like your content with the POST that is a framework for success, and I do think so.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Jack, i really enjoyed reading your piece. Referring to the Streisand effect. many organizations still face backlash because of something that the internet never forgets. Recently H&M used a black girl model whose hair was untidy and the groundswell community came for H&M. Organizations should try as much as possible not to offend the groundswell community.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Jack , your piece was really insightful. The examples were very precise and easy to realte. You clearly demonstrate a great understanding of the groundswell.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts