This election cycle great masses of people, millions who rallied behind Bernie Sanders and then Jill Stein, have built digital infrastructure that could just wither and die if we don't think and act intentionally.
There are hundreds of Facebook groups representing millions of progressives, providing essential digital territory where we can share ideas. But they have names that were relevant to the primary or the general election--usually names that include Bernie , Sanders or Jill, or anti- Hillary names.
We had an incredible hashtag, #FeelTheBern. After the primary the hashtags became more diffuse-- #NeverHillary, #JillStein, #JillnotHill to name a few.
We can keep our bottom up power going, keep our passion for change strong if we can cooperate in developing some key words and hashtags that make it easier for us all to share our ideas, convictions, actions, strategies and plans. We can use such a progressive infrastructure to help make change happen more powerfully, more effectively.
On Facebook, people are already changing group names so they will be hard to find by people looking for the old name or for kindred spirits. People find groups on Facebook by looking for a keyword, then clicking for the bottom rung of the search results, then searching for groups with that keyword.
I propose that all Bernie and Jill Stein and anti-Hillary Facebooks use the same keyword so people can find them and stay with them. To keep it short and to maintain the same one on Twitter I propose we use BRevol to represent Bernie Sanders revolution. Keeping it short allows more characters when it's being used with a tweet.
If your Facebook group was Bernie Babes, change it to BRev Babes.
I just got a notification from Facebook:
"Kyobra Davsnake changed the name of the group "Jill Stein for President" to "I hacked this group from Russia using a tor browser I love data dumps"."
Really!?!? Sure that's a cute editorial commentary, but no-one will find that group. You are throwing away your power Kyobra, and the power that the people who joined the group imparted to the group. Why not change it to Jill Stein For President BRevol group and become part of a bigger movement we have the potential to form.
People like Stephen Fox have tapped the power of these groups by posting articles to hundreds of them, getting the word out on the ND water protectors, for example, to hundreds of thousands of people.
Fox observed, commenting on the potential power of the groups, " if they disintegrate, with the kind of name changes you quoted, there goes the power out the window. What a waste!"
We should get the word on using BREVOL out, before the Facebook Group name changes happen, and start using the #BRevol hashtag starting today. Get it trending on Twitter.
Let's work together and stay together.