Social media?s
political coming of age can be traced to the primaries of the 2004 US
presidential election, when contender for the US democratic
candidacy Howard Dean was the first to make extensive use of online networks
such as Meetup.com to communicate ideas, spark talking points and coordinate the actions of
volunteer campaigners. Unveiled today, a
new Web 2.0-based platform expressly designed as a tool for social mobilization
gives a measure of how far things have evolved since those not-so-distant early
days.
Christened Wildfire by its developer WeTheCitizens, the new offering
aims to help non-profit, cause-oriented collaborative ventures such as
political or charitable campaigns to achieve their chosen goal. In the context where success is predicated on
the sustained goodwill and enthusiasm of sympathisers, Wildfire provides the
means to expand an organisation?s base of activists and reach out to potential
donors through the personal networks of existing supporters.
Wildfire?s ?Custom
Actions? system allows specific tasks to be assigned on the dual basis of the
organisation?s pre-set needs and individual supporters? preferred method of
providing assistance. Results can then
be assessed using the site?s patent-pending ?Personal Impact Engine,? a
functionality that quantifies the impact of each completed Custom Action,
making it possible to evaluate each supporter?s relative contribution to the
common goal.
Summing up these different tools, WeTheCitizens chief
executive officer Caleb Clark contends that, ?Wildfire changes the way
cause-oriented organisations approach communicating with, mobilizing and
tracking the actions of their supporters.
As preferences for social networking and online communications continue
to grow, organizations must leverage the power of the Internet effectively to
quickly and efficiently mobilize their supporters.?
According to the press release issued by
WeTheCitizens today, the launch of Wildfire follows several successful beta
tests with prominent US political and otherwise
tax-exempt organisations. Several non-profit
organisations, film and music production companies have expressed their
interest.