Jun 3, 2009
How to start a Movement – Literally! (through the medium of dance)
by Paul Johnston
This is a great video showing exactly what happens when one man with passion (or just plain self deprecating humour) starts dancing at a festival. Psychologically it’s a great little video, because it shows a bit of how crowds can form.
So how does it work? This could easily be a Social Media campaign overview:
People have to see you
Just imagine if that person had started dancing behind the fence, down the hill, or across the valley on that mountain. Nothing would have happened (except maybe a very personal religious experience that nobody could verify).
If you’re dancing where nobody is looking, then you are only dancing for yourself (and any invisible/omnipresent beings you may or may not believe in).
Find a group that looks like it could do with livening up, and start dancing there.
Someone has to Start Dancing
As with all Social Media, there is never a plain and simple way of starting a movement. Most of the time, the person most passionate is you, and most of the people around you are either watching, laughing, deriding or ignoring you.
So, you start dancing, and people start laughing. But the key thing here is don’t stop dancing. If you stop, it means that you aren’t passionate about it. If you’re passionate, someone, somewhere will join in. Even if it’s a bad idea (and that dancing was!) it can sometimes start something else.
Initial Attraction is often to the other “Crazies”
If you listen to the guys on the video, you’ll find that they are making fun of him, but they enjoy the moment the next 2 people join in. These other two are just as odd as the first guy, and as such, they attract attention in the same way. But the key here is that more than 1 person makes it more fun for everyone. They start to engage and interact.
So, the principle is that even if they are crazy, it’s more fun with 2 than it is with 1. Engagement happens and people begin to notice more and more. Oh, and if they start doing something different with your dance, let them.
Groups are attracted to Groups
About 1:20 into, another small group of about 8 people join in. This principle is key. After the initial attraction, another group has seen the dancing fun and decided that it looks cool. They join.
You’ve got to be visible to other groups. There’s no point in building a social awareness and keeping it hidden. Other groups want to know, and they will talk about your group. The guys behind the camera are definitely laughing and enjoying the other group joining in.
The other thing to notice, is that even though they are not joining in, the watchers are becoming more engaged in the “movement”. There’s screaming and laughter. Encouragement to watch and encouragement to continue.
Growth can happen FAST
Between 1:20 and 2:10, the group grows from about 10 to about 60 or 70 people. The excitement and enjoyment of the watchers results in action, and for the rest of the video, people are joining in.
Something that looks exciting from the outside, and causes people to talk positively with each other (and not with the person who started it), will generally result in growth.
Notice that the person who started it, is now in the middle. You can hardly see him unless you get involved.
Growth Still Happens Even When It’s Over
The music stops about 2:50 and the intriguing thing is that the most enjoyable place to be is in the group. That is still attractive to everyone outside, even though there isn’t any music at that point. This dancing group has become an enjoyable entity in itself. It is a movement that is attractive and continues to grow.
Never underestimate the power of a group just enjoying itself. It doesn’t always matter what brings them together, but it can show you something very powerful. People like groups and want to be part of them, but they also want to enjoy watching them too.
Conclusion
- Go somewhere people can see you
- Start Dancing
- Hope that (or invite) 1, 2 and 3 others to join in with your dance… start small – if they’re as crazy as you, don’t worry!
- Attract and invite other small groups to join in
- Make room for growth
- Keep engaging with your new movement even if the music stops
I love this, although it has to be said, it is overtly a low impact, short-term, fun-only movement!
Take the Twitter user who is the equivalent of a semi-naked fat bloke dancing, and see whether they are successful at starting a movement (ok ok, I eat my words, it works: #3wordsaftersex being a prime example).
If you have a real movement that you are passionate about starting, not sure how you would “dance” on Twitter without getting spammy. I’m also thinking about how to balance this against some other wisdom provided by your good self, which is that social media is all about the conversation (ie listening?).
Mark, I’m really not convinced that twitter is a place to “start” a movement. Taking the analogy out of the dance, I suspect the dance would be either an event, a service, a product or something that people can look at.
Twitter could be the right group to start “dancing” in front of about your product.
In fact, the more I think about it, the less I reckon that twitter is the best place to start anything. It’s more a place to continue and enhance relationships you already have.
Nice post.
What sociological triggers do we have in twitter?
I’ve seen topics trend outside of the norm because someone pushes it – it that out twitter dance?
Rob
P.S. Reminded me of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Hugs_Campaign
Rob, I’d say that “Please ReTweet” is a trigger. As is replying. Providing a link could be seen as a trigger as well.
But I do think being Retweeted and having recommendations is probably the closest thing we have in twitter to a trigger.
Its crazy to see a hockeystick curve style on the uptake too. Snowball effect.
Might have to give that a try at Glasto this year
Great post! the ‘growth still happens even when it’s over’ bit is vital imho – people stay in groups because of the relationships they forge and this is more powerful than almost any other factor (esp online).
I suppose another important point which you touch on is the importance of the ‘crazies’ i.e. the people with the founding passion. You can see that as the group grows those on the outside are significantly less ‘crazy’ that the guys who started it. How do you get people who join your group to demonstrate the passion as much as the originals? Do you want to / need to? Does it depend on individual characters?
Stuart,
I reckon it can depend on individual characters, but I don’t think it has to. Also, I don’t think that it’s about replicating the original founder’s actions, but more joining in with what is going on around those actions that counts.
Also, people are passionate about the things they’re passionate about and you can’t force anyone to be passionate about anything. Sometimes (possibly often) that passion is “the group” as it has grown up. There are often times when a group says “this isn’t how it used to be” and the group can die at that point.
[...] So, back to SDM. Paul Johnston has a nice take in his post how to start a movement: [...]
[...] how does it work? This could easily be a Social Media campaign overview: read more here [...]
Stumbled across this somehow, and I’m glad I did. I’m a dance teacher who is tired of the rigid structurization that ballroom dance studios are calling “dancing” these days. Looking for a way to promote dancing as something we all have within us and how to let it out. Watching this has inspired me, thank you! And to the person who posted the link to the free hugs campaign, thank you too! That video overwhelmed me with happy tears! I love spontaneous dancing AND hugs!!!
Cheers and lots of Smiles,
SpontaneousSteph