Electronic Grassroots Organizing

Abstract

Using principles derived from communication theory and social psychology, the authors develop and test propositions about grassroots organizing on electronic media. Three categories of users on a municipal electronic network were studied: city decision makers, activists who formed a grassroots group that developed and successfully lobbied city decision makers to establish a transitional center for the homeless, and a social group of users who later joined the system. The authors report analyses based on survey data, interviews, and extensive participant‐observation. Results showed that (1) the municipal electronic network facilitated the formation of users' ties across traditional socioeconomic boundaries and power differentials, (2) users of the system reported that their perceptions regarding a (homeless) outgroup had been positively altered, and (3) the system enhanced participation of previous nonparticipants in civic life.