This week, I’ve been thinking about how difficult it is for most of us to find out about grassroots things, even those happening in our own communities.
So. I’m not as connected to grassroots networks in my own city as I used to be — these days, most of my involvement is focused on non-local movement infrastructure work rather than the local frontline stuff I did when I was younger. So it’s not surprising that I’m more out of the loop than when I was 25 or 35. But, still, I know people, I’m connected to networks at least loosely, I pay attention to this kind of stuff, so relative to most people I think I’m pretty well positioned to know what’s going on.
And yet, I still often feel like I don’t know what’s happening in my own city. It’s not that unusual for me to learn about some kinds of actions and events after they happen, for instance, or for me to have no idea if a given group that used to exist is still around. And of course for someone who has no existing connection to grassroots networks in their city, it’s going to be way, way harder.
There’s a lot that goes into creating this situation. Obviously mainstream media is rarely useful for learning about this kind of thing. Because of how algorithms have evolved, social media is considerably less useful than it used to be. Even differences among different populations in how we use social media can be a factor — for instance, some groups primarily use Instagram to share their ideas and their events, and I don’t really like Instagram, so I don’t use it much.
And then there’s the bigger question of the overall state of movements — with the exception of some pockets of labour and tenant organizing and some Palestine solidarity organizing, social movements are at a dangerously low ebb these days, which means that there’s less going on that people who aren’t already involved might be able to see, and that the grassroots networks that do exist tend to be more fragmented and harder to find and to have lower capacity. And, sadly, some groups don’t do a great job of having a findable online presence or of responding to inquiries…or even making it clear from their online presence whether they’re still functioning.
I don’t think there’s any single solution to this problem. Obviously, a generalized social movement upsurge would help. I also think it would help if we had much more robust grassroots media infrastructure, including local and offline elements, and we didn’t depend as much on mainstream media and capitalist social media. But those are pretty big things that we can’t just wish into existence.
In terms of more immediately achievable approaches…well, it won’t solve it, but I think those of us who want to learn about what grassroots things are going on nearby can make deliberate changes to how we use social media to at least modestly improve our chances of staying on top of things.
As well, while grassroots groups often have quite low capacity so it’s unfair to ask more of them, many could do a better job of letting the broader public know about their events and actions. And finally, one piece of local grassroots infrastructure that many communities lack is a central resource for publicizing grassroots events — that, crucially, includes a website and an email list, so its reach isn’t strangled by the algorithm. I think creating that infrastructure in an open, sustainable way would be both realistic and important in lots of places.
Anyway. Overall, there is no magic answer. But I am interested in learning about how other people, other communities, navigate this challenge.