Your network is waiting for you (26% of them!)
Peer-to-peer communication is shown to move the needle more than any other action. The biggest win for voter mobilization could happen while sitting right in your own living room.
During a legendary college football game between LSU and Auburn in 1988, the crowd’s roar was so intense that it registered as seismic activity on a nearby seismograph. The “Earthquake Game” went down in history for the sheer power of that crowd’s collective energy. With football season in full swing, it’s a timely reminder that collective action amplifies the impact that any individual can achieve alone.
Now imagine if everyone we know got that loud for climate action? It would create some pretty seismic shifts! This is where network effects come into play, and why they are the secret sauce to having an outsized impact and winning big for climate this election.
Why Network Effects Matter
Picture some of your closest friends and family. Do they care more about issues facing the US – climate action being one of them – thanks to you? Are they more likely to be civically engaged, thanks to you? Odds are the answer is yes, at least a little bit. That’s your sphere of influence at work. Now think about your broader network, the communities you’re in – your neighbors, faith group, trivia team, pickleball league, group chats… imagine the impact if you encourage all these voters to head to the polls or organize all of these people to take action, too.
Let’s face it: most people are more likely to tune out a post from an organization than they are to ignore a text from a friend. And in today’s digital age, we’re bombarded with messages. This is where all of us – you and me! – come in. Research from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication shows that 26% of Americans are willing to take political climate action if asked, yet only 2% are currently participating. That gap exists because well-intentioned people often don’t know how to get involved. Your invitation could be the nudge they need to take action.
People trust their friends and family. This makes your personal network an incredibly valuable resource for mobilizing climate action. Peer-to-peer communication is shown to move the needle more than any other action. The findings of this digital field experiment on the large effects of friend-to-friend texting on voter turnout is just one research example.
When we mobilize people we already know (often called relational organizing) we’re engaging those closest to us and in doing so are far more effective than we would be relying solely on impersonal outreach. That is the power of network effects: collective action amplifies individual efforts, creating a ripple effect that can lead to monumental change.
This illustration from Commons says it all (if you love it too, share this post on LinkedIn or Instagram).
Three Impactful Options To Inspire Collective Action
How can you tap into your network effects? It’s easier than you think! Here are three impactful ways you can turn your circle into a force for change:
Host a gathering (or bring meaningful action to upcoming get-together!): Invite a few friends over for Pizza and Phonebanking. Tacos and Textbanking. Lattes and Letter Writing. Donuts and Donating. Bagels and Ballots… you get the idea! You can host in your apartment, at a favorite local bar, or your neighborhood park. Make it adults-only, or kid-friendly. The goal is fun climate action with friends. Quick start here.
Invite a friend to a Virtual Hour of Action: Prefer to keep things virtual? No problem! You can bring your crew — whether they’re friends, colleagues, your book club, or neighbors — into an existing virtual Hour of Action. Timely: invite folks to this big special event October 25th featuring special guest Adam Met of multi-platinum band AJR and Planet Reimagined and growing list of climate communities: Environmental Voter Project, My Climate Journey, Change Climate, and more!
Reach out 1:1 to mobilize voters you know: YES, it can feel nerve-wracking to ask others if they have a voting plan, but peer-to-peer communication is shown to move the needle more than any other action. Use this playbook to send effective texts to the swing state residents in your personal network.
✨ Pep talk✨ Whether you activate an upcoming gathering, invite friends to join you at an Hour of Action, text all your old acquaintances in swing states, or bring meaningful action to a Halloween party, your outreach will likely be very well-received and will certainly have a measurable impact. You can do this and it's worth doing!
Your network is waiting. (Remember that 26% waiting for a nudge!) This is your opportunity to create a space for people to take action in a way that feels approachable and impactful. You’ll reach far more voters by activating your network to take action alongside you than you ever could alone. You’ll also hook your network on taking rewarding, meaningful action, making it more likely they’ll come back for more – this fall, next election, and beyond. Talk about punching above your weight!
Let’s be brave and do what’s worth doing.