The internet harbors an enormous power to mobilize people toward a cause. It becomes a vast web of learning systems and social linking networks, educating the masses on a topic and connecting individuals to other people.

Take the recent U.S. election. Highly influential political learning systems on the net included everything from YouTube to Facebook, with campaign videos and supportive messages. The Obama campaign raised $650 million–two times the amount achieved by the McCain campaign–mostly through small donations made online. It also mobilized an army of about 7 million volunteers to register new voters.

Websites for social and environmental causes become influential learning systems for potential movers and shakers. Maybe you read a newspaper story about oil drilling in the Amazon. Want to do something about it? It’s not difficult to find a group of activists fighting for your cause and donate a buck.

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