Internet tools to shake up a broken political system
NationBuilder is the essential toolkit for a new generation of leaders and creators.
act.ly is our simple, powerful, and much loved free Twitter petition tool used by everyone from moms to senators.
3dna Love
Stroke of genius.
Micah Sifry, co-founder Personal Democracy Forum
Revolutionary... this is exactly what every campaign wants.
Chris Hughes, co-Founder of Facebook and Obama for America's chief online organizer
okay. so I rlly love act.ly
Stacy Monk, Founder of Epic Change and TweetsGiving
Selected Press
May 7, 2011 -- A year ago came the opportunity to help to develop NationBuilder, a revolutionary computer package that enabled the Scottish National Party web team to integrate Facebook and Twitter within a new snp.org party platform ... The statistics are astonishing. When it launched two months ago the site had 13,031 users (almost equivalent to its party membership). It has grown to 35,879 users, signing in through social media accounts. In the past two months the SNP’s Facebook site has had 2.2 million hits. Read on.
September 8, 2009 -- But according to new-media specialists, most of the liberal action on Twitter isn't coming from the Democratic Party. Instead, it’s coming from grassroots organizers who are building a base of like-minded activists. Jim Gilliam, a Los Angeles-based Web developer, says that unlike conservatives, progressives see Twitter “more as a way to connect people with each other.” He helped found TweetProgress.us, a directory of progressive Twitter users, and is currently working on GovLuv.org, a nonpartisan governmental directory scheduled to debut in September. He and his progressive colleagues use Twitter to collate support from the bottom up, rather than send messages from the top down.
September 30, 2009 -- What act.ly makes possible, says Jim, is for anyone to pounce on an opportunity, no matter how small, without the run-up and vetting and committee meetings that traditional advocacy groups might have to churn through before they act... Read on.
April 6, 2011 -- Gilliam founded NationBuilder as a passion project and quickly realized the need for an inexpensive, easy to use platform to help political candidates (and nonprofits) build a presence on the web. He experimented with an early version of the site last Fall with a few candidates and campaigns, and is now opening NationBuilder up to the public today. With the 2012 election season ramping up, I’d say it’s pretty good timing. Read on.
March 24, 2009 -- A site called White House 2-- created in late October, before Obama won -- doesn't just invite comments and questions but brings public participation on a mock WhiteHouse.gov to another level... Read on.
July 21, 2009 -- Act.ly is one of the slickest Twitter petition sites available... Read on.
February 16, 2010 -- Act.ly brings a whole new spin to online activism. Online petitions and e-mail advocacy have been around for almost a decade, and now there is a new tool to add to your nonprofit’s arsenal – Tweet-based Petitions... Read on.