Boston Globe

Internet groups spoke in force on Election Day

IN "WHERE'S the Protest?" (Ideas, Nov. 5), Drake Bennett asks something I've often contemplated: Can a movement that has a large electronic contingent -- Internet advocacy organizations -- really be a transformative force ?

Bennett quotes Ohio State professor John Mueller as saying, "You don't need an antiwar movement for people to turn against a war. What you need is the war."

But to "turn against" implies an action. And social scientists explain that individuals are likely to engage in "free-riding" unless they are motivated otherwise . (Free-riding is the tendency for large numbers of people to minimize their costs by refraining from action in the hope that others will act on their behalf. )

Clearly, the large numbers of people who voted out the politicians who supported the war were influenced by the political discourse to which they were exposed. Internet advocacy organizations like TrueMajority and MoveOn, religious and academic institutions, and a range of other groups contributed to this discourse. Internet organizations and other groups, engaged in collective action, helped build an antiwar movement that spans the globe. It's a shame that the media are so reluctant to apprehend or acknowledge the unprecedented strength of this movement.

BEN COHEN
Burlington, Vt.
The writer is founder of TrueMajority.org and cofounder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.