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Comment by fibbery | Hacker News Reader

this is really generous and should definitely be followed up on. tons of email is easier to ignore than a cascade of real letters.

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Indeed, I hope they add the mail option, and get rid of the email option. Too many people will default to it (sending an email is much easier than placing a call) and as far as I recall, most representtatives don't tally "concerns raised via email" like they do for phone and mail (mostly because they have to open their mail, and take their calls, but they can just sit on email forever without the box getting "full.")

There is a callOnly flag for the widget that I really recommend people use. In brief there was a lot of debate over whether emails should be included at all, and the flag was the compromise. Some orgs, for example the EFF, will be promoting the call-only flag when they distribute the code.

I'm in the advocacy space and you aren't collecting enough information to deliver the emails to Congress, the web forms require many other pieces of information like a title (Mr./Mrs. etc) and often a phone number. Better to take off the email option than mislead the public that it will be delivered.

I don't think a form letter has much over a form email. Lots of advocacy groups already let you send a postcard with one click. (Though, in theory, both should get logged in the system. Whether or not the member cares is another issue.)

A call or a letter/email you write and send yourself will be much more impactful.

In theory, both should get logged in the system. In practice, though, (I've seen this question answered in a lot of AMAs by congressmen et al.), they simply don't treat email as a constituency channel.

The amount of attention your representatives tend to give your issue is directly proportional to the amount of time you can force them to spend listening. You can filter an email; you can skim a letter; you have to listen to a call all the way through. The best thing, though, is to set up an appointment, and talk to them in person.

It's pretty easy to "filter" a stack of more-or-less identical postcards, but otherwise I agree.

It's almost a truism: if you want to show that you care... spend the time to show that you care. I actually think it's really cool that you can walk right into the office of your Congressman or Senator. Obviously you won't get past the interns if you don't have an appointment, but still... pretty cool.

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