New Tools of Change

Nick Magel had visions of becoming an environmentalist trip leader one day. But when he stumbled upon the edge of a clear cut forest, he realized he had a deeper calling. Nick started to intern with Rainforest Action Network, and today, he is a Campaign Manager at Causes.com, helping to mobilize millions of advocates for global change. Julian sat down with Nick to discuss evolution of social engagement, the pitfalls and power of ‘clicktivism’, and how to hack the online petition.

Julian: Was there anything about your childhood that you now see as influential to your career path?

Nick: I had an interesting childhood. My sister and I are both adopted from birth and my mom was a single mother — so I had a stereotypical Midwest upbringing in a nontraditional family. I was also born with one hand. If anything, it’s been a blessing. There is a little bit of adversity that comes with it, but I’ve always been accepted for who I am and accept everybody else for who they are: this was ingrained in me since day one.

Julian: What was your first experience with activism?

Nick: My high school had a rule that you couldn’t run for Student Council if you had too many demerits. I had a lot of demerits because I was doing a lot of learning outside the classroom. So I ran a campaign against this rule, stating that Student Council is about promoting a vision that the student body believes in, not about your transgressions. That was my first taste of going after decision-makers and trying to change things.

I came into activism quite late in life. I knew that I wanted to protect the earth and the environment, but I didn’t know quite what I wanted to do. It took a long time to figure out what fit and what felt right.

Julian: How did you figure it out?

Nick: I never took the responsibility of really fighting for causes until I worked with the Rainforest Action Network. I found a lot of fulfillment in my work there, and that’s why I do what I do today.

Julian: When did you first really realize the potential impact of using technology and activism together?

Nick: All of the organizations that I’ve worked for have used technology in some capacity, but nothing like what we are doing now with Causes. When I was talking with Causes before I started working here, we discussed which tools allowed people to self-organize within their social networks, and leverage those social networks. We asked ourselves, “What doesn’t exist out there right now?” That really excited me: thinking beyond a linear ladder of engagement to give people the tools to do the advocacy themselves.

Julian: What are some of your most memorable or successful campaigns with Causes.com?

Nick: One of them was around the Sandy Hook shooting. One of our users hacked the petition tool and turned it into what he called a ‘sympathy card’. It had a million signatures within days. David, the cause leader, did a great job of delivering this mass outpouring of sympathy to the community during this tragic time. This seems like a kind of ‘soft’ action, but the sympathy card linked all those people towards proactive campaigns that had started because of the shooting, like Governors for Gun Control. David used this tool to engage people around a ‘powerless moment’ and turn it into something really impactful.

Julian: Now that you are working at the epicenter of technology and activism, how do you think civic engagement is being redefined?

Nick: David’s work is a perfect case in point. He ‘hacked’ the product and totally re-imagined civic engagement. You never know what people are going to use it for, and that’s exactly what we want to happen. It’s all about giving people the tools to self-organize and leverage their social networks to achieve their goals. We are re-defining civic engagement at Causes.com by making it fit anybody’s interpretation.

Julian: What are some pitfalls of technology driven activism that you have noticed?

Nick: Authentic communication in activism used to be about meetings in a church basements but it looks very different now. When you sign a petition along with 10,000 people you don’t necessarily create a real connection. Authentic communication in this new technology world looks very different than what it looked like when I was growing up. I don’t think we’ve cracked that code yet.

Julian: Two thirds of millennials believe that they’re going to make more of an impact by signing a petition and sharing it on Facebook than by hitting the streets with a crowd of people. What do you think?

Nick: There’s some truth to that, and I’ll probably be put through the ringer for saying that! Today, you can see something you want to change, do some online research, make a few calls, send some emails and social media outreach and a few days later you could have millions of supporters. At some point in the near future you will be able to take a photo of something happening on the street on your cell and have a campaign running in five minutes!

Julian: Can you give me an example of online activism that effected real change?

Nick: That’s an interesting question, because I’ve had conversations about this regarding what Twitter did in the Middle East. There was already deep, online grassroots organizing, which was the ember to a fire of the Arab Spring. Twitter was like putting a flame thrower on those embers instead of a match. People leveraged their social networks and all of the sudden, there were tens of thousands of people occupying a square.

Julian: Looking forward, what is the next big challenge of online activism?

Nick: Understanding how we connect emotionally to a cause and to each other is something that is still lacking in the online campaign world. I am not saying that it can’t be done, we just haven’t figured it out, yet.