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I believe the author is unaware of the 1% rule on internet culture and argues that people shouldn't follow it. Making an impassioned plea isn't going to do much. The internet is full of people that don't want to interact and only consume . https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule_(Internet_culture)

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Isn't the more significant question whether the 1% rule actually has to remain valid forever? Is it a law of nature or is it more learned behaviour? Why is there no 1% rule for elections? Because people have been taught that it is important to vote. People on the Internet have not been taught the same thing. The author suggests that this should change. One blog post of course won't do that. But you gotta start somewhere.

I think there is something like a 1% rule for elections.

small group runs for office

larger group helps run the campaign (volunteers, etc)

larger group donates

larger group votes

even larger group doesn't vote at all

As the amount of effort to participate decreases, the amount of people involved rises.

Thanks for pointing this out to me. I had in fact forgotten about this rule.

I'd like to prod that rule, though, and see if being vocal about the importance of upvoting can shift the participation rate on a per-community basis. My hunch is that it can, and Algolia can help us find out over time.

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