Adopt a Frogans
In my Reach Out and * Somebody entry I emphasized a frogans can enjoy a certain permanence on your desktop. A frogans can be reduced to a very small size, allowing it to remain active and maintain a distinctive visual aspect without gobbling up too much desktop real estate. This might put a number of frogans in competition for your attention however, and sooner or later you might have to make that choice between whether you keep that pizza delivery menu frogans up there in the corner, or close it, but keep it in the favorites menu, or (GASP!) forget about it altogether, because there’s a new sub sandwich delivery in town, and they rock!
Since there’s only so much space available on your screen at any given moment, you have to prioritize. It’s at this point that you might start thinking that not only are you what you eat, but what you frogans also, because what you choose put in front of you will be of the subjects in the frogansphere you find to be the most important.
For activists of all flavors this could alter the landscape. It’s one thing to have people on your emailing list and visitors to your site, but having your frogans full-time on someone’s desktop is a different matter. It’s more like having your cause adopted. More than just some desktop icon, it can be navigated within itself, or to the Web. You give it depth with news, images, invitations, and links to everything pertinent on the net.
Imagine a frogans that looks like an AIDS awareness pin. Real-world AIDS awareness pins are worn by people to express to others their support for people inflicted with AIDS, and for the efforts to conquer it. It’s reasonable to suggest also that they serve as a way for these people to remind themselves of what’s most important for them. Having an AIDS awareness frogans on your display might be something like looking in a mirror. You choose to have it there because it’s a priority – it’s a priority because you choose to have it there. What’s more, it’s not just a pin, it’s a navigable site, a gateway to the latest news and resources, a way of keeping up with the community.
This George Monbiot piece on renewable energy that appeared in the Guardian touches upon the need to rally around a cause before any significant action will be taken. For some folks, maybe adopting a frogans will be their first step towards adopting a cause.
Take another look at Reach Out and * Somebody for some more ideas on how a frogans like this can work with its visitors.