Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age

Allison Fine's Momentum is the work of a real visionary, and it sets the stage for the best of today's wired social ventures. Fine clearly understands - and respects - the demographic changes in the marketplace, especially the role of millennials in changing society. To me, Momentum is particularly important to organizations who know that change is in the wind, but need some kind of roadmap that's friendly toward existing institutions. I couldn't imagine planning for a more wired, activist future - taking advantage of social networks to expand a base of support, for example - without reading Momentum first.

Edit of 30 Mar 08 to add more links. This book, and the much more detailed book by Chip Heath & Dan Heath, "Made to Stick" are perfect partners in putting really actiionble public intelligence in the hands of social activitists and transpartisan political reformers. I have added both books to my list of transpartisan books. This book focuses on digital tools for social change, on creating connected activism, on addressing the listening and communicating deficits. The author provides a checklist of 12 points for evaluating how connected your activist organization is, another checklist of 8 points on powering the edges, and a final 95-point summary of the "Cluetrain Manifesto," another book I have reviewed. All of these are useful. The author points out that hyperlinks subvert hierarchy, and I could not agree more. Epoch B leadership is a form of swarm leadership, and the connected collective can easily bring the hierarchical authority down. I especially liked the author's focus on all of us being content managers. Sharing information, as Vint Cerf has said recently, is how we get a Return on Information. The book ends with some hard-earned "Do's and Don't's" and a chapter on the future of funding for social activism. Over-all a quick read with plenty of substance, and an excellent complement to "Made to Stick." Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Updated Edition The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World The Change Handbook: The Definitive Resource on Today's Best Methods for Engaging Whole Systems Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter One from Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organization

Momentum is inspirational and the passion that is evoked is contagious! Reading this compelling book made me excited to understand the truth about opportunities for positive social change. Fine does an excellent job of describing the value of self-determination and how social media can help make it happen. I especially like that she goes beyond simply suggesting that people use social media, and impresses upon the reader the value of altering how we think about social change. Fine reveals the value of reducing the significance of institutional barriers and developing interpersonal relationships and networks. She encourages us to stretch how we think about participation and decision-making and to "push power to the edges". This is a must read for anyone interested in a more innovative activist community!

Wow! This book is relevant, not only for existing activist organizations (all of which should run out and buy a copy immediately), but also for any "Joe Citizen" like me who has pet issues on various local levels and who wants to effect change expeditiously. Sprinkled with wry humor, this informative and well-written book was a pleasure to read. It is even more than a problem-solving roadmap embracing a new paradigm for the way activists can organize, communicate and define and reach goals; it is also an actual toolkit chock full of ideas on how to use what Ms. Fine terms "social media" (email, the web, wireless handhelds, etc.) to effect change. Even more concrete, Momentum includes websites that even a non-techie and would-be activist like me can use to start anything from an email petition campaign to a website where my kids' teachers can solicit funds for special projects. While reading this book I had no less than 5 "aha" moments where I thought: "I could use that" in order to bring about change in various areas of my civic life. In fact, in a couple of cases, the information in the book spurred me to think about change in areas I had not thought of before. I give Momentum my highest recommendation and kudos to Allison H. Fine for writing this timely book...

The social justice community is consumed with daily battles. Momentum allowed me to step back and fully absorb how technology is changing the way we wage them, with Allison Fine showing not only how we can do better, but revealing some victories that I've missed along the way. I welcomed the story telling, the "ah ha" moments, and the self-effacing humor.