Introduction
What type of software should we create to help a sociopolitical movement grow and succeed? While some might suggest building a traditional social network, the typical structure of such networks is not ideal for this purpose. In this document, we propose a novel software platform designed specifically to facilitate sociopolitical mass movements. This platform aims to enable communication that aligns with the movement’s ideology, while also maximizing its expansion.
Leader-Follower Model
In the platform, every connection between two users follows a Leader-Follower structure. Each Leader recruits a set of Followers, who can, in turn, recruit their own followers, and so on. This creates a hierarchical structure, similar to a tree in computer science, rather than a traditional network. The benefits of this model will become clearer as we explore it further.
Mass Movements and Root Leaders
The software platform serves multiple Mass Movements, each with a clearly defined statement of purpose. At the heart of each movement are the Root Leaders, who initiate the movement by recruiting followers. Root Leaders are the only users not following any other user — the Root Leaders set the direction for the movement.
A Root Leader should be an individual with demonstrated ideological commitment and political acumen. While users are typically individuals, they can also represent preexisting political organizations or roles within such organizations.
Follower Trees and Leader Lines
Each user has a Follower Tree, which consists of their followers, the followers of those followers, and so on, extending through the movement. Conversely, a user’s Leader Line includes their Leader, the Leader of that Leader, and so on, extending all the way up to one of the Root Leaders.
Communication Strategy
The goal of communication on this platform is not to maximize the volume of messages, but to facilitate effective communication that reinforces the movement’s ideology while minimizing irrelevant or counterproductive messages. Messaging serves three primary purposes: spreading the ideology, organizing political action, and recruiting new followers.
Leaders can send messages to all or part of their Follower Tree, while also having the ability to send messages to recipients in their Leader Line. However, recipients in the Leader Line may opt to auto-reply. If user X is in the Leader Line of user Y and Y sends a message to the Follower Tree of Y, then user X has the right to delay that message and propose edits, ensuring that the message remains consistent with the movement’s goals.
Incentives for Recruitment
Recruitment is crucial for the growth of any mass movement, so the platform should incentivize recruitment efforts. Leaders who successfully recruit the most followers will receive recognition and awards within the platform. Recruitment is automatically tracked through several metrics, including: 1) the number of direct followers a user has; and 2) the size of the user’s Follower Tree.
To provide a more nuanced measure of recruitment success, the software can assign weights to different levels of the Follower Tree. For instance, a user’s recruitment score might be calculated as follows: the number of direct followers, plus half the number of their followers’ followers, plus one-fourth of the next level, and so on.
Features to Encourage Donations
Financial donations are crucial for the success of mass movements, but they must be approached carefully. Too many donation requests may lead to supporter fatigue or negative perceptions of the movement. Therefore, the software should introduce a subtle method for facilitating donations.
Rather than having Leaders explicitly request donations within the message text, the platform can include a standard link to donate at the bottom of each message screen. This ensures that users are aware of the option without the request becoming intrusive.
Key Metric for Success
The success of each Mass Movement depends on the average number of recruits per user. If this average exceeds one, the movement is growing. When we average this metric across all movements on the platform, it may serve as the primary indicator of the platform’s success or failure.
Conclusion
This document outlines a novel software platform designed to facilitate sociopolitical mass movements. While the platform has not yet been built, the conceptual framework has been presented. Feedback and comments are welcome and can be directed to Thomas Styles at tstyles09@proton.me.