"Fine outlines strategies for 'connected activism' in this idealistic, lucidly written account about using the Internet to build up networks among activists who can pool information and other resources to help create lasting solutions that address the roots of social problems. Citing organizations such as the advocacy group MoveOn.org and MeetUp.com, which promotes off-line gatherings like those that propelled the Dean for President campaign, Fine emphasizes a mind-set of self-determination among citizens and two-way rather than top-down communication from organizations. She takes a cue from the 1999 'Cluetrain Manifesto,' aimed at corporations that were out of touch with consumers, translating its promotion of digital communication to the activist sphere. Some of her rhetoric seems hyperbolic, as when she suggests that online activism provides a neutral playing field in which women can advance their causes without getting dismissed because of their gender, and she pushes hard on the readiness of 'plugged-in' Generation Y to change the world. On the whole, though, she provides activists with effective guidelines for streamlining the pursuit of social change through instant messaging, blogs, chat rooms and Blackberries." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Fine (founder of Innovation Network, Inc.) contends that in the new "Connected Age," communications and other technologies will become increasingly important as a tool of social activism. She first offers an introduction to what she has dubbed the "Connected Age" and explains how self-determination and social media are the major component parts of "connected activism." She then presents her thoughts on how thinking about leadership, fundraising, and measuring results needs to be changed in order to take full advantage of the possibilities of social activism in the "Connected Age." Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

A new and empowering way of looking at and organizing social change

Many social leaders and nonprofits are stuck in old ways of doing business– keeping constituents at arm’ s length, depending on inefficient forms of communication and relying on hierarchical forms of leadership. Allison Fine identifies the key developments that are changing the way nonprofits and social leaders do business and shows how these changes offer opportunities to use social media more effectively. She reveals how democratizing access to information and strategies, continuous learning, leveraging existing social networks, and shifting control from a few leaders at the center to many people they serve can revolutionize the way leaders create social change and make a real difference.

Allison Fine (Irvington, NY) is a social entrepreneur and most recently was CEO of E-Volve Foundation, which encourages citizen action through the use of next-generation technologies.

A new and empowering way of looking at and organizing social change! How can we move from serving soup until our elbows ache to solving chronic social ills like hunger or homelessness?  How can we break the disastrous cycle of low expectations that leads to chronic social failures?

The answers to these questions lie within "Momentum," a fresh, zestful way of thinking about and organizing social change work. Today's digital tools— including but not limited to e-mail, the Web, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), even iPods— promote interactivity and connectedness.  But as "Momentum" shows, these new social media tools are important not for their wizardry but because they connect us to one another in "inexpensive," "accessible," and "massively scalable" ways.