Blogging

Social Activism vs Political Activism

I guess the line between social activism and political activism is pretty thin. I have considered myself to be a social activist for quite a long time (I have always had ’causes’ that I actively support.) But I have never considered myself to be a political activist, in fact, I have tried to avoid being involved in politics. The reason for this is simple, I don’t like to offend people, and I hate conflict.

So, it is with trepidation that I am starting to use my blog to more actively support a political candidate, and to address topics from a more political point of view. The way I am rationalizing this decision is that the candidate that I am supporting seems to support the same social values and causes that I do.

The other reason that I am interested in the Edwards ‘08 campaign is that he is the first presidential candidate that is seriously trying to exploit the Web and web 2.0 technologies in support of his campaign. I am keenly interested to see if he/his staff come up with innovative ways of using technology to unite and mobilize people to support their effort.

Post Update (02/12/2007): Edwards, it turns out, seems to have alot of good ideas, but seems to lack substance (or maybe he just has trouble articulating the details of his ideas….). His web site, and the tone of those who administrate it, is somewhat unprofessional - to the point of arrogance and incompetence at times. So, I will continue to keep an eye on Edwards, but at this point, I am fully supporting Obama as my candidate.

© 2006 Life is an Ongoing Process.