88% there: "Don't Mess With The Internet" billboard in Lamar Smith's district(crowdtilt.com)
crowdtilt.com
88% there: "Don't Mess With The Internet" billboard in Lamar Smith's district
https://www.crowdtilt.com/campaigns/dont-mess-with-the-internet-billboard-in-lamar-smiths-home-district#openinternet
14 comments
Well, I live in Ontario, Canada, and I don't know who Lamar Smith is exactly, but I do know if I saw that billboard that I'd get the idea. Or I'd go online and look up what it was all about. So now I am more informed than I'd be otherwise.
There is a tendency among some to conclude that a big billboard must have a lot of information. But people are driving by at high speeds and can barely finish 5 words. I think in this case, simplicity works for the cause.
Then there are the apathetic people...
There is a tendency among some to conclude that a big billboard must have a lot of information. But people are driving by at high speeds and can barely finish 5 words. I think in this case, simplicity works for the cause.
Then there are the apathetic people...
Seriously. Why not, "Lamaar Smith tried to Destroy the Internet." Hyperbole, sure, but it's a billboard.
If you want something like this to be effective, you have to take your inspiration from political attack ads. Throw his desaturated face up there on a black background.
If you want something like this to be effective, you have to take your inspiration from political attack ads. Throw his desaturated face up there on a black background.
Completely agree with your assessment on taking a more "shocking" approach, and also with the original comment that many do not know that SOPA and Lamar Smith are connected some how.
It think they are using the current phrase as a parody of the famous anti-litter ad campaign "Don't Mess With Texas" [1]
As a Texan who happens to live in Lamar Smith's district, I think the effectiveness is entirely dependent on where in his district it is bought. His district includes SW Austin and many rural areas such as Kerrville.
Edit:
for some reason the wikipedia page is not linking correctly to wikipedia. using google search
[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=dont+mess+with+texas+wiki
It think they are using the current phrase as a parody of the famous anti-litter ad campaign "Don't Mess With Texas" [1]
As a Texan who happens to live in Lamar Smith's district, I think the effectiveness is entirely dependent on where in his district it is bought. His district includes SW Austin and many rural areas such as Kerrville.
Edit:
for some reason the wikipedia page is not linking correctly to wikipedia. using google search
[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=dont+mess+with+texas+wiki
Hopefully everyone in Lamar Smith's district knows who Lamar Smith is and what he stands for. SOPA triggered a mainstream debate and you don't need to be 'really involved in politics' to know that.
This sentiment that people with political agendas need to inform their potential constituents is what has created our current political problems in America. When people don't pay attention, anyone who can attract eyeballs and make a reasonable sounding argument gets to do as they please. If we were paying attention, we wouldn't let these people wreak havoc in our society.
edit: What does it mean to live in a democracy where nobody knows whats going on? I know we're all familiar with and jaded to the current state of affairs, but I'm asking that we spend more time thinking about that state of affairs and what we expect of ourselves and our politicians.
This sentiment that people with political agendas need to inform their potential constituents is what has created our current political problems in America. When people don't pay attention, anyone who can attract eyeballs and make a reasonable sounding argument gets to do as they please. If we were paying attention, we wouldn't let these people wreak havoc in our society.
edit: What does it mean to live in a democracy where nobody knows whats going on? I know we're all familiar with and jaded to the current state of affairs, but I'm asking that we spend more time thinking about that state of affairs and what we expect of ourselves and our politicians.
"Hopefully everyone in Lamar Smith's district knows who Lamar Smith is and what he stands for."
That's some misplaced hope.
That's some misplaced hope.
That's some misplaced hope.
Considering he was elected I kind of assume a lot people like what they think he stands for.
Considering he was elected I kind of assume a lot people like what they think he stands for.
Texas's 21st congressional district had 651,619 people in 2000. The district contains parts of the Austin and San Antonio metro areas, which grew 37% and 25% respectively in the intervening decade. Let's use the lower value since there are rural areas in there as well. That gives a 2010 estimate of 814,523 people. 27.3% of Texans were under 18 in 2010, which gives a voting age population of 592,158.
In 2010, 236,284 people voted in the district, of which 162,763 voted for Smith. Let's assume all voters know who he is and what he stands for, and that everyone else probably doesn't. That gives us 40% of the district's population that know what's going on. Fewer voted for him, and even fewer like what he stands for, since voting is usually a compromise.
This is an overestimate.
In 2010, 236,284 people voted in the district, of which 162,763 voted for Smith. Let's assume all voters know who he is and what he stands for, and that everyone else probably doesn't. That gives us 40% of the district's population that know what's going on. Fewer voted for him, and even fewer like what he stands for, since voting is usually a compromise.
This is an overestimate.
Thanks very much for this.
SOPA/Internet Regulation is a pretty obscure issue. I doubt most people know anything about it, let alone where their rep stands.
To the people who down voted, do you honestly think my comment was an expression of support for him?
There are clearly some number of people who support this guy, and assuming that everyone who sees his name is also aware that he's a bad person is naive at best.
There are clearly some number of people who support this guy, and assuming that everyone who sees his name is also aware that he's a bad person is naive at best.
Nope. Some people downvoted because your assumption that people know the positions of their representatives is wrong.
The average person on the street is has a level of understanding that's closer to "Keep the government out of my medicare!!". People typically don't know the names of their representatives, the policies they stand for and the impact those policies are going to have in practice. They have to know all of those things in order to understand the meaning of "Don't mess with the internet".
The average person on the street is has a level of understanding that's closer to "Keep the government out of my medicare!!". People typically don't know the names of their representatives, the policies they stand for and the impact those policies are going to have in practice. They have to know all of those things in order to understand the meaning of "Don't mess with the internet".
Nope. Some people downvoted because your assumption that people know the positions of their representatives is wrong.
Fair enough, but it's naive to assume that simply equating Lamer Smith with SOPA is sufficient.
Fair enough, but it's naive to assume that simply equating Lamer Smith with SOPA is sufficient.
Highly unlikely, but a lot of people like what party is listed next to his name on the ballot. They probably couldn't even tell you his name.
They probably couldn't even tell you his name.
Or maybe they could.
I'm amazed at some of things some Arizona[0] politicians support, such as the NDAA, things that should properly outrage the average citizen. But they don't, indeed these people get re-elected, and I believe it is precisely because of the outrageous things they support.
Even if the average Texan knows that Lamar was behind SOPA they may, for whatever reason, still think SOPA was a good idea.
0: Where I live.
Or maybe they could.
I'm amazed at some of things some Arizona[0] politicians support, such as the NDAA, things that should properly outrage the average citizen. But they don't, indeed these people get re-elected, and I believe it is precisely because of the outrageous things they support.
Even if the average Texan knows that Lamar was behind SOPA they may, for whatever reason, still think SOPA was a good idea.
0: Where I live.
I see the same thing in open source software. People who are really involved with their project assume that everyone who lands on their site is also really involved with their project and so don't see any need to explain what their project actually does. I've left sites after digging around and never discovering what the project is about. People do this in all areas.
I don't want to speak for Alexis, but I think he just thought he'd send it out to friends and people he's gotten through the SOPA ordeal to see if it had a chance of getting funded - wasn't really a "let's rally the internet" kind of thing (I literally think he set the whole thing up in about 10 minutes).
I think they assumed that most people who'd be donating to the cause already were aware about SOPA, and Lamar Smith (the representative who sponsored SOPA.)
Maybe a faulty assumption!
Maybe a faulty assumption!
And considering the location (Texas), a slogan of "Lamar sold you out for big government" would have been much more effective and achieved the same goal. We have to remember that we are targeting people who may or may not give a shit about internet (and people who cares will hopefully vote the right way)..
as bostonvaulter noted below, i don't think it's so much about illumination on the issue (given there is only a billboard to work with). i think the idea is finding whatever will be the best vector for further news articles about the issue, local and national.
plus #dontmesswiththeinternet is a tiny bit shorter than #lamarsoldyououtforbiggovernment
plus #dontmesswiththeinternet is a tiny bit shorter than #lamarsoldyououtforbiggovernment
He was the sponsor of SOPA.
I know all about the Lamar Smith debacle, and even to me, this billboard would be ridiculously vague.
This is more of a gloating-esque billboard, not an effective one. I completely support the idea, but I think this as poor of "an implementation" as possible.
This is more of a gloating-esque billboard, not an effective one. I completely support the idea, but I think this as poor of "an implementation" as possible.
I don't think the artwork shown is the actual billboard artwork. They said in the post they want to make sure they have money before spending effort on real art.
Maybe it's just a conversation starter?
As one of the co-founders of crowdtilt, I figure we'd mention that this is our fastest growing campaign to break $10k (2 days) to date. Not saying a _whole_ lot since it's only been about a month since launch, but still cool to see it go from Alexis' idea of "let's toss it up and see what happens" to ~90% funded in that time frame.
If you can be "imgur for crowdfunding", i.e. the crowdfunding platform that Redditors use, that's a pretty darn solid place to start from.
Kickstarter's got a pretty solid grasp on the reddit crowd at the moment, though.
Yeah, we think the models that Kickstarter/Indiegogo have for projects and pre-sale retail is pretty amazing and we actually see campaigns that go up on our site that are more suited for a model like Kickstarter. With Crowdtilt, we've essentially taken our favorite elements of crowdfunding models like those and provided it for groups of friends/existing networks instead (so think of it for funding a wedding gift between bridesmaids or renting out a bar for sxsw, instead of a documentary or creative project).
That's a pretty cool idea. I could see integrating it with facebook events and invites being a logical next step.
Thanks, and yes those are steps we're actually working on right now :)
Give the site a try sometime and let us know any feedback you have that could improve the experience: team @ crowdtilt.com
Give the site a try sometime and let us know any feedback you have that could improve the experience: team @ crowdtilt.com
Hey I have a small comment. I'm in Canada currently but I have a US credit card, yet I didn't see anyway to get past the non-US user page.
Also I was a little put off by registration page since it at first seems like you need facebook and the non-facebook options is in little print. When you click that link it and the name and email box appear would in my view be a better registration box to put first.
Also I was a little put off by registration page since it at first seems like you need facebook and the non-facebook options is in little print. When you click that link it and the name and email box appear would in my view be a better registration box to put first.
It should be fixed now. Could you please try again and let me know? my email is [email protected]
We are also working on a better login/sign-up flow. I appreciate your feedback.
We are also working on a better login/sign-up flow. I appreciate your feedback.
It works now thank you.
It would be nice if you could expose the velocity of contributions somehow, at least when that is exciting. And otherwise figure out how to add artificial time pressure to campaigns, which is one thing real life charity fundraising does pretty successfully.
we actually want to provide a pretty substantial dashboard to admins so they can see (and like us, get obsessed with) things like referral traffic, the referrals with the most value/contributed, the velocity of contributions you've mentioned, etc... But we never thought of providing those kinds of metrics to general visitors actually. That's good feedback rdl, thanks.
(most uses of the site are for a "kickstarter for groups of friends" where instead of a $30,000 documentary, it's a $1,300 party-bus where like an evite, you share the link/campaign with your group instead of strangers just coming across it through a "browse" page)
(most uses of the site are for a "kickstarter for groups of friends" where instead of a $30,000 documentary, it's a $1,300 party-bus where like an evite, you share the link/campaign with your group instead of strangers just coming across it through a "browse" page)
I'm curious, what do you do differently from Kickstarter? What makes your product more ideal for small ticket items?
ax, the link that started this thread is actually a good example of something that is possible through Crowdtilt and not through Kickstarter. groupfunding, as we call it, allows you to pool funds for anything from a $4,100 airbnb house for a bachelor party to a $1,800 campaign for a friend's dog's surgery (two examples of campaigns that tilted today that wouldn't be a use case for Kickstarter). Hope that helps!
I wonder if the Billboard Owners are large pro-SOPA media companies. IT would suck if this money went right back into the Pro-SOPA lobby.
A better strategy might be hacking the billboard system by buying up remnant space and cancelling after a month. Since it costs money to take down Billboards, and remnant boards are remnant for a reason, they will probably stay up for several months without paying for more than a month. (If they get PSA pricing, it will be even cheaper.)
A better strategy might be hacking the billboard system by buying up remnant space and cancelling after a month. Since it costs money to take down Billboards, and remnant boards are remnant for a reason, they will probably stay up for several months without paying for more than a month. (If they get PSA pricing, it will be even cheaper.)
Aren't ClearChannel and Viacom the two big billboard companies? That's just going by the logos I see at the bottom.
If so, you're right. This is money going right back into their pockets.
Though I know area around his San Antonio office might have some private billboards set up by local landowners in the area. He's right off a major highway. Maybe one of those is a possible choice?
If so, you're right. This is money going right back into their pockets.
Though I know area around his San Antonio office might have some private billboards set up by local landowners in the area. He's right off a major highway. Maybe one of those is a possible choice?
Also, CBS, Van Wagner and others... More importantly, the amount of red tape you have to go through to get a billboard up is crazy, so I can't imagine every billboard company isn't in bed with the politicians.
Does anybody really think this is going to have an influence on Lamar Smith? Maybe I'm just jaded, but I don't see this as changing anything aside from giving money to a billboard company, and emptying the pockets of donors.
I think it's a very good start. The internet community needs to do more and more "offline" activities to effect change.
It'll piss him off at least, which is probably enough to justify most donors cost ;)
What do you suggest could be done? Is not bad to attack an opponent from different directions.
I'm not sure. I just don't think this is it.
I think it would be a good vector for news articles about the issue.. Especially local ones.
Having been born in Texas, I fully support this design. :D
Me too, go Texas! Although I'll never move back. Too hot!
It his the same thing as the super PAC that was started for this same purpose? Or is this an unrelated group of people doing a second billboard?
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I don't normally give to charity, but this is totally awesome.
I love it :). It is fun watching this campaign move so fast.
Love it - seriously awesome way to use crowdtilt
a very interesting direction for Crowdtilt. I'm interested to see how democratised crowd funding for political intent plays out.
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There seems to be a tendency among people who are really involved with politics to assume that everybody else is also really involved with politics, and therefore don't need any explanation about why we should be so angry about whatever it is we're supposed to be angry about.
But we're not. So if you want us to get behind your cause, you're going to need to tell us what it is. Possibly on your giant billboard itself.