A key characteristic of the #Occupy movement is the use of consensus for decision making. Some people have worked with groups governed by consensus for decades. For others, it is a new idea. For everyone, there is a new component, digital communications.

I have been peripherally involved with the Occupy Hartford group, and have watched people learn about and use the consensus process. However, because of other commitments, I have not been able to make it to the general assemblies which means in a traditional consensus process where consensus is arrived at between the people attending the meeting, my opportunities to have my voice heard have been limited.

This is by no means a new phenomenon. Our country has been based on a representative democratic form of government. I cannot go to Washington to debate every issue that Congress confronts. Instead, I have representatives. In my case, Rosa DeLauro represents me in the House and Richard Blumenthal and Joe Lieberman represent me in the Senate. I’m not always happy with the representation I receive, so I send my thoughts to my representatives and get involved in the process of trying to elect people that are more likely to represent my view points.

With Occupy Hartford, we are not electing people to take part in the consensus process. Instead, anyone who attends may participate. This is where the digital age can come in nicely.

Some of the people that represent the citizens of Connecticut in the Connecticut General Assembly, also known as the State Legislature, do a very good job of communicating via digital media while they are at the Capitol. With that, there is a great opportunity for them to hear from the people they are representing and making sure that a wide range of people are truly represented at the Connecticut General Assembly.

It is easy to find out who is at the Connecticut General Assembly. However, it can be hard to find out who is at the general assembly of Occupy Hartford and this can make it harder for the people attending to fully represent the broad base of supporters of the occupy movement in Connecticut.

Digital media can help with this. To the extent that people attending the general assembly share on social media that they are there, they can represent more people. To the extent that they share what is going on at the general assembly, real time, via social media, they can get more input.

In many ways, this is similar to a technique often used at general assemblies, called the people’s mic, where people repeat what they’ve heard through the crowd, so more people can hear it. Instead of simply repeating what is said at the general assembly to the crowd, repeating it via social media, the people’s mic becomes digitally enabled. Social media can also then become a way of getting additional feedback to the people who will be making decisions at the general assembly.

Beyond this, it is possible to discuss many of the issues that are likely to be faced at a general assembly ahead of time online. Then, attendees of the general assembly can be better versed in the issues when they are discussed at a general assembly.

It is exciting to see the occupy movement using consensus as well as to think about how digital media can help make consensus more powerful.

What do you think?