Can Petition Tweets Change the World? An act.ly Quarterly Report

From techPresident:

What act.ly makes possible, says Jim, is for anyone to pounce on an opportunity, no matter how small, without the run-up and vetting and committee meetings that traditional advocacy groups might have to churn through before they act. Progressive groups aplenty spotted the fundraising potential of South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson's "You lie!" outburst, but Gilliam himself had an act.ly petition up and running almost immediately -- some 1,200 signatures in the first hour and a half, said Gilliam -- and once someone discovered that Wilson's opponent was on ActBlue, a short link redirect channeled outrage into campaign resources. "The stuff that works best," says Gilliam, "is anything really, really fast. It gives a lot of advantage to individuals over organizations, because organizations like to plan campaigns. They'll come up with the right messaging, coordinate with other groups. It takes time." Gilliam deemed the Wilson petition a success after the congressman indeed apologized.

And it helps if there is a specific, and colorful, hook -- and something tangible to do in response to it. Says Gilliam, "This is the MoveOn model. Take a message object that is going to get people riled up. But that can happen now in a matter of minutes on Twitter. If the first thing that people can tweet about isn't just the story, but the action that can be taken, that has a lot of potential." Beyond the Joe Wilson affair, though, act.ly's adoption and adaptation has proven most successful where the target of the petition is an organization, a company, or any other party that is worried about its reputation and is responsive to a wide swath of the population -- rather than a politician who is going to worry most about his or her particular constituents (and funders, naturally).