Why couldn't we set up a network email system in which we could all be in touch with one another? Most of the mass communication processes I know about are one to the many processes like a news program put out from a single source and watched by many, or a political candidate or group does a mass emailing, or the many go to a single website to get information. Blogs seem to be an exception to this, but because comments and diaries disappear in a short time, continuity is lost.
How bout a many to the many email network?
More below the fold
Each one of us could be a node in the network, getting email as part of a group from a "sponsor", and then forwarding that email to a group of his own. Then each one of those forwards the email to a group of his own, which includes the sponsor or person that one got the original email from, and so on. Say Suzanne is the one of the first group of 18 who has a group of 5 of her own. Her forwarding goes off to 4 new people and back to me. Then her 4 new people send it groups of their own, including her. This makes for two way communication. Each sponsor not only knows who in his group has forwarded the email to other groups, but also each person can originate an email, send it to their group, and through all the nodes communicate to everyone in the network. We are all equal and connected, which is really what democracy is all about.
What would be the purpose of this: 1. to spread information (A democracy requires an enlightened citizenry, and we all know that the media for the most part is not playing its role in this process.) 2. to provide a basis for taking action (What if a huge number of us are networked this way and decided to take action on some issue where the elected government was not acting in the common good? I suspect that if thousand of calls and emails came to our elected officials in a short time span about a particular issue, it would be noticed.) 3. to provide a means to explore issues (Kind of an electronic town hall, where a swarm of us could come up with ideas better than any of us can do individually.)
What would it take from each of us to set up such a network? Essentially all it would take is each node, each one of us, setting up a group to send these network emails to, and then forwarding emails received and sending the ones she originates. There could come a time when the networks started merging, creating larger and larger swarms of politically active citizens.
What are the dangers of this network? I can't think of very many. All the people in my group are my friends and would have chosen to participate. They are the only ones who would get my email address. We would of course have to be sure in forwarding to our own groups that we weren't forwarding addresses of the group of which we are a part. I think we would be a self-correcting, self-monitoring group in that we just wouldn't forward any objectionable emails if any came to us. Since we are getting our emails from friends who have agreed to participate, that would be a very strong protection.
Why couldn't we make this work?