“Anybody can do even just a little thing to make a difference,” that’s how today’s interview guest, Ginny C., describes her involvement in the left-leaning online community Care2.com. But Ginny’s too modest. She has as much clout as a beat reporter at a small town newspaper. Here’s how she – and others like her – cultivated that influence.

“I’m basically a newshound, I enjoy finding out what’s going on the world,” she says.

Ginny C. has developed an elaborate system of newsfeeds and alerts to collect articles, blog posts, and viral videos about the environment, animals, and other causes. The ones she likes, she submits to Care2’s News Network, highlighting them to a large network of friends, acquaintances, and other Care2 users that share her passions.

What’s the appeal? It’s discussion that follows.

“Some of the stories have generated pages of comments by other readers, and it becomes a complete open forum for discussing what’s going on,” she says. “News to me is something that helps you stop and think and react, whether it’s an emotional reaction or a physical reaction.”

Another key to her enduring loyalty is relationships. “You don’t necessarily know these people face to face… but we still get to know each other and we get to know each other quite well.”

Ginny has a message for environmental groups: Join the party if you haven’t already.

“Care2 really has a group of people who will work hard, one way or another, to get the information out,” she says. We’ll “help as much as possible with the things that they do.”

Download or listen to the full interview: click here

To ask Ginny C. a question, leave a comment below

“We have shown through the actions that we have taken to date that we can have an impact and there’s that sense of optimism about being able to do things in the future,” says Glenn McAnanama, today’s interview guest. Glenn has cultivated a thriving community group called “Upper Greenside” in New York City in just two years, using two simple tools: a blog and a Meetup.com group. Let’s find out how he did it.

At first glance, Manhattan’s Upper East Side might seem like an odd place to find an environmental online community leader, but Glenn and his group call it home and see it differently. Upper Greenside first coalesced around an effort to find a location for green market where neighborhood residents could buy fresh, organic produce. After chalking up this first success, the group has broadened its agenda to facilitating alternate transportation, improving recycling, energy efficiency, and other local issues.

The group meets and seeks petition signatures face-to-face, but organizes its efforts and recruits new members almost entirely online using Meetup.com and email.

“I’m sure there are people we haven’t reached because they’re just not part of the digital community in the same way that others are,” Glenn says. “But at the same time, I’m not sure who they are.”

Glenn reports that Upper Greenside members generally found out about the group online, or by word-of-mouth from somebody who first found out about it online. Glenn reports that this online organizing has led to face-to-face meetings… and results.

“Based on the emails that I wrote, I got invited to meet my local city council person,” he says. “That was really the first interaction I had had with local government.”

The first, perhaps, but not the last. Glenn now sees email as something to open the door for a phone call, which leads to an in-person meeting – and the opportunity to get things done.

“We need to make the new media work for us so that we can achieve our ends when we’re in live face-to-face meetings and build those relationships. So that later they know us when we’re emailing them,” he says.

As with the other online community leaders profiled in this series, Glenn puts time into this effort – 5 to 10 hours per week, he says. But by using online organizing tools with skill and commitment, Glenn and his peers make it look like they’re a team of pros working 50 hour weeks.

Download or listen to the full interview: click here

To ask Glenn a question, leave a comment below

“I can see when my message is getting out to people who are in places where I would like to get that message to,” says Tom Elko, today’s interview guest. Tom writes about Minnesota’s environment and agricultural sector at his blog the sky blue waters report, and his audience – and influence — are growing steadily. So why does he do it? How does he do it? Let’s find out.

Asked why he started the blog, Tom answers simply “I saw a niche that needed to be filled, basically.” But before turning to the environment, Tom honed his skills in the highly competitive political blogosphere – and the sky blue waters report reveals the telltale signs of someone familiar with the medium and committed to it: a disciplined focus on the chosen topic, frequent short posts, extensive linking, and a wide range of sources.

“I myself deal with pretty serious, detailed issues,” Tom says.

And like other online community leaders profiled in this series, he is methodical at gathering material to sustain the effort: getting up each morning at the crack of dawn to cull through newspapers, trade journals, and other blogs. His efforts have paid off with a growing readership and impact on the debate in the state.

“The opportunity for feedback, that’s a huge part of it,” Tom says about the emotional rewards for this effort. As with others profiled in this series, he extends that desire for dialogue to those who disagree with him, recalling with pride when opposing interests have turned up in his blog’s tracking logs, or even written him directly. “It was nice that I could give my message directly to them.”

Download or listen to the full interview: click here

To ask Tom a question, leave a comment below

As media, politics, and civic activity shift online, a new cadre of opinion leaders is stepping forward to shape public discourse about nature protection and pollution control. This week, I’ll interview five of them — individuals who make their mark on community opinion through participation on blogs, listservs, social networking and bookmarking sites, and other online forums where people gather to exchange news and views.

I hope that Water Words That Work fans can use this information to identify the characteristics they are looking for when they want to groom one of their own to become an online community opinion leader, and also to develop more successful relationships with the online community leaders that have already emerged.

The individuals interviewed for this series live in different corners of the country, focus on different issues, and participate in different online communities. Nevertheless, some common themes emerged in these discussions. These individuals are:

• Avid & Influential. All five expressed stronger identification with the “environmental movement” than most Americans do. They relish using the Internet to share their opinions with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of their fellow citizens.
• Self-Directed & Independent. Despite generally favorable attitudes towards mainstream environmental organizations, all five have elected to participate in their online communities on their own terms. Two started their own organizations. One turned down opportunities to blog for pay. Another adopted a pseudonym in order to operate independently of his employer, a nonprofit environmental group.
• Collaborative & Provocative. All five reported a strong desire to hear different points of view – and some reported deliberately provoking others to get them to speak up.
• Methodical & Curious. All five have achieved their influence through a steady commitment of time each week. Most reported well-developed routines for gathering and sifting through information from around the web to contribute to their communities.
• Specialized. All five have settled on a community or two that suits their circumstances. None reported wide participation across many different types of communities.

The Interviews:

• Monday, June 18. Joy Towles Ezell. An electronic heiress to Erin Brokovich’s legacy, Joy uses a suite of Yahoo! groups to rally her neighbors and hound polluters in her rural Florida community.
• Tuesday, June 19, Tom Elko. Combining his original reporting with news he gathers from around the web, Tom proves that environmental journalism will survive — even if newspapers don’t.
• Wednesday, June 20. Glenn McAnamana. With just a Meetup group and a simple website, Glenn has formed a convincing civic organization in New York’s Upper East Side.
• Thursday, June 21. Ginny C. Special education teacher by day, environmental newshound by night, Ginny C. has transformed her Care2.com account into a potent forum for advancing the causes she believes in.
• Friday, June 22. the_real_yaki. A one-man truth squad, the_real_yaki haunts the Craigslist environmental board, dispelling myths and assisting the curious.