"Mass volunteering and coordinated distributed activism are the wave of the future," says Martin Kearns, the executive director of Green Media Toolshed. If you doubt that statement, check out his new project, MediaVolunteer, which has already harnessed the volunteer time of nearly 20,000 people to start constructing an up-to-date national media database that, when it's done, will save lots of partnering organizations tens of thousands of dollars. Kearns has been working on MediaVolunteer for a while, but it hasn't been until now that he's been ready to pull back the curtain and invite the world to participate. If you haven't already heard of "net-centric" campaigning, get ready--the future is here. Our interview follows.

PDF: What was the inspiration for MediaVolunteer?

First, MediaVolunteer.org is a mashup between my needs as an activist working to support progressive change and some big concepts from distributed labor, Firefox, NASA's Clickworkers, and Yochai Benkler.

Second, Mediavolunteer.org is an outgrowth of designing projects for networks, not for organizations or individuals. How do we swarm our networked community together to create change? What are we to do when pooling money or sending another email to Congress increasingly feels like doing the same thing, but we are expecting different results? We need to think of powerful alternative uses of our combined power of the masses.

Finally, it came out of disgust with media coverage. The non-profit community has historically had a very difficult time getting media coverage. Part of the problem is that we lack the tools to compete with giant PR firms to move messages. Mediavolunteer.org was born out of a desire to ensure that these important causes are getting their important stories out into the public sphere.

PDF: Why hasn't this been done before?

In the biggest sense, what we are doing has been done before we are only refining it for our purposes. At the core of www.mediavolunteer.org, we are looking at the scale of the internet as a platform for new organizing and new business models. The founders of eBay looked at the scale of the internet to reinvent the scope and reach of yard sales. Google's founders looked out at the internet and realized that digital content needed to be organized. We are looking out to the edges of the keyboards (the people). We use the web to aggregate skills and intelligence into projects for the common good. We are taking new advocacy, social change, and business planning to the new culture exactly like Wikipedia took the encyclopedia business plan to the web.

We may be breaking new ground because the age of connectivity has completely changed the way that people communicate with each other. It has the ability to bring to together people who may not have otherwise connected. We understand that culture shift (our staff are pretty tech savvy -- IM, Skype, cell phones, etc.) and we need volunteers for our work so we are able to connect the dots. One the other hand the sector holds very strong notions about what volunteerism is. We don’t think culture and volunteering have been brought into sync with each other.

Virtual volunteers only spend 12 minutes on the project. They aren’t going to be asked for money or personal information. Mediavolunteer.org's model doesn’t fit with the standard idea of volunteering and so I think people have almost been scared of this type of model.

On the project scale, this has not been done because it is really difficult. Most nonprofits won’t focus the money and attention it needs to make it happen. In our service model, we have been focused on solving the type of problems that fall between the gaps at the organizational level, but also effect the movement’’s success.

PDF: On average, how long does it take a volunteer to track down a reporter or

find a correct address for a news outlet?

It takes two to three minutes to get trained and, on average, it takes volunteers about five to six minutes to complete one task. Give it a try. Take twelve minutes to do a few of each at www.mediavolunteer.org.

PDF: What kind of feedback are you getting from people who Media Volunteer?

We are getting very positive feedback from volunteers. In this day and age, people are constantly strapped for both time and money. They don’t have the freedom to participate in a volunteer project that requires a ten hour, weekly commitment or something close to that volume. People forget their community service efforts in an effort to keep up with life. The volunteers that we are getting seem to enjoy the work and are grateful for an opportunity that can fit into their daily lives.

PDF: If volunteers are providing real value with their time, shouldn't they be

paid?

Yes. In a perfect world the groups would have all the money they need to tackle these important issues and would be able to hire more than enough paid staff to take care of their needs. Every volunteer, teacher aid, reporter, and fireman, along with all the folks doing valuable work for our common good, would be handsomely rewarded. Volunteers would no longer be needed.

However, we don’t live in a perfect world. Bringing about important social change and caring for those without money has never been a profitable industry. There is something unique, and quite frankly amazing and beautiful, to know that a huge sector of non-profit world thrives on the work of volunteers who are willing to give a part of themselves for something they believe in.

People come for the chance to give back and make a difference. Volunteering is about stepping away from the rat race and doing something you don't have to do. Don’t do everything in life for money. Help out because you want to. Help because it matters. Help because it makes you feel good. Think about the types of work that most volunteers are doing. They change bed pans, clean up garbage, wash dishes, handout food, shovel out a frail neighbor’s parking spot, and, now, edit and confirm media data. If you attach money to their work, it stops being a gift of one’s time for the betterment of society and becomes a chore, something they have to do because of the money. Where’s the beauty in that?

PDF: What groups are you going to give these media lists to?

Our goal is to make this available to all issue sectors in the non-profit community. We are in talks with folks from the peace movement, human rights movement, justice movement, family health and community health communications people, and others. We want to make it available to a lot of folks that are out there working on behalf of community uplift, economic and health justice, environmental protection, and fairness. We are working with leaders in these other issue areas so they can provide the lists to the people organizing at community, state, regional and national levels.

PDF: Can you think of other problems that could be solved using this method of

distributed activism?

Mass volunteering and coordinated distributed activism are the wave of the future. These actions are going to give organizations the power to confront issues and deal with problems that would have otherwise been entirely out of their reach for financial reasons. We have already lined up project ideas in health and human services, disaster relief, education, and women’s issues. This is going to be a powerful tool and strategy for approaching problems for the non-profit community for a long time to come. We are working hard to roll out www.mediavolunteer.org. We will then continue to work with the community to engage mass volunteers on countless other projects in the next few years.

PDF: Any other comments?

Thank you for covering the story. I always remember that most people never volunteer because they say they are never asked and it takes too long.

I am asking . I need everyone for twelve minute right now. Really, click the link. You don't have to give your name or email. We will not ask for money or ask you to talk to an elected official that will likely blow you off. It would be a great service if your readers go to www.mediavolunteer.org and finish as many tasks as they can. I am asking. It will make a difference. It will only take a few minutes. You can go home and know you volunteered today. Please help. Thanks.