Responding to the Groundswell

A good friend recommended that I pick up the book Groundswell (Li & Bernoff, 2008). Our institution has been struggling with getting a viral marketing campaign up and running. We continue to create a buzz in the traditional sense through events and promotions. But the social networking hasn't taken off as we had hoped. As I began reading through the book I realised that we need to get our staff posting more news, comments and updates on their blogs. What the book points out is that trying to contain a viral outbreak is all but impossible. Trying to stop something from happening only makes the think happen more widely.

Li and Bernoff site three elements at the root of the current social media groundswell – people, technology and economics. Of people they say, "people have always rebel against institutional power" (p.10). This got me to thinking – do people rebel against institutional power or institutional authority? And, is there a difference?

The idea of power has popped up a few times in the last 24 hours. Last night my wife and I watched Baz Luhrmann's Australia (2008). The villain in the film says at least twice, "pride isn't power." I think I'm beginning to understand what that means. Institutions that have built and invested heavily in brands take pride in what they do. We all search for purpose in life and organisations are no different – they need a purpose to exist. The arrival of social technologies has shifted the organisational message to the hands of the consumer. This obviously presents a challenge to traditional business, and thus, is the purpose for Li and Bernoff's book.

America as a society is facing such a groundswell. The election of President Barak Obama brought great hope to millions of Americans. This hope was rooted in returning America to her former glory and greatness. There has begun a groundswell, however, and the rest of the world is questioning the 'institutional power' that has been vested in America for the last few generations. Social technologies have the capacity to not only undermine businesses, but also nations and governments. CNN carried a story this week about Iran banning Facebook – something that Iranian officials were quick to dismiss. They later reconnected the site. So we can see that the social technologies offer us some great advantages. But, should we not also be cautious about the disadvantages as well. Rebelling against power is one thing. But what if we begin rebelling against our authorities? If every human becomes the source of their own authority, who arbitrates between competing ideologies and thought? Where will the forum be for considered thinking in the future? Will we even have time to process and think things through – or will be just do things instantaneously and deal with the consequences later?

There are more questions than answers and I think there always will be. But as a living, breathing, thinking human being, I have to hold on to the hope that although life is happening as the speed of my broadband connection, I still need to consider where I fit into the world in relation to my fellow human beings and the social structures (families, organisations, etc) that have existed for centuries.

Li, C., & Bernoff, J. (2008). Groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

Luhrmann, B. (Writer) (2008). Australia. In G. M. Brown, C. Knapman, B. Luhrmann, C. Martin & P. d. Watters (Producer). Australia, USA: 20th Century Fox.