The Internet's Role in Gay Rights Activism

Not unlike President-Elect Barack Obama's JoinTheImpact.com and According to Reuters, "By the evening jointheimpact.com was created, it was visited 10,000 times. By Sunday, there were 50,000 visits per hour and the computer running the site crashed. It has moved computers twice since in an effort to keep up."

Then there's
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"I should add, though, that many LGBTQ people use the Internet to learn about what it means to be gay and about the queer community before coming out of the closet," Stapel continued. "It also allows gay and lesbian people who feel isolated in their community to connect with other queer people.  Unfortunately the internet can also present misinformation to these folks and others."

Of course, just as with Obama's campaign, embeddable, relevant online videos (such as the one below) also help spread the word.

Saturday's protests have come and gone, and they have apparently gone well for participants. Caitlin Powell at Kentuckians for the Commonwealth post from Saturday evening at JoinTheImpact.com says:

Today we have shown the world that we will not be victims anymore! Today, our community has risen and shown our opponents that we are MUCH MORE THAN 1 MILLION STRONG! We brought the world’s attention to the outrage that is Proposition 8. We brought the conversation of equality into the living rooms of America and around the world! Today, we took a gigantic step into the next Civil Rights Movement. We have brought the conversation to a national stage.

The national stage indeed. Not that other forms of media didn't contribute to this, but the Internet was clearly a huge factor in the organization of these protests, and continues to serve as a platform for the continued discussion, organization, and awareness for the cause. The people responsible for these things are obviously passionate about their message, and know how to utilize the tools available to them to get that message across.

Businesses could take a page out of this book when it comes to using the Internet, social media, and networking to spread their own messages. I think the true business lesson here is that organization and being passionate about your message are two of your most important assets when it comes to marketing.