On Tuesday morning, I noticed that a number of Facebook groups and fan pages had sprouted up in support of a public option.  Sensing a movement, I began to track the growth of the ten most promising.

The largest of these was a fan page called "A Public Option for Health Care." It had 6963 members at the time. The other nine combined for 7822.  By 10 pm on Friday, the big group had climbed to 8974 members, while the total size of the smaller ones had nearly doubled.  All told, more than 20,000 people on Facebook had indicated their support for a public option.

Granted, in a nation of more than 300 million, that’s not a significant total. But I believe the potential is there. After all, if a group dedicated to making fun of Croc wearers can attract nearly 1.5 million people, certainly a white-hot political issue on which 77% of the public is in agreement can make a splash.

The growth of Facebook groups is organic and often unpredictable. Most new members join a group because they see that one of their friends has joined. If a group reaches a critical mass at the right time, it can rapidly add members in a virus-like fashion. My goal is to help push these public groups past that critical mass, and to get one or more up into the multi-million member range.

I’ve written to the administrators of the following groups and pages, asking them to encourage their members to join all of the other groups. I’m also posting this list on various blogs and social media.

Please click through and join each one, and copy the list anywhere you see fit. If you like, let me know whether you think this strategy can be effective and if you have any other ideas for using the Internet to generate a viral buzz.

(Note: You need to be logged into Facebook for these links to work.)

1) A Public Option for Health Care  http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=public+option&init=quick#/PublicOption?ref=search&sid=720441078.1079447501..1

2) Dear President Obama: Keep the Public Option!http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=120902578303

3) I Support the Public Option!  http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=236531335386

4) Demand a Public Health Care Option TODAY!  http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=119230374268

5) You Can’t Do Healthcare Reform Without a Public Option http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=115045163935

6) 1,000,000 Americans for a Public Health Care Option http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=89159504529

7) Healthcare – NOW!  http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?id=720441078#/group.php?gid=4634895906

8) Sign the Petition for a Public Option  http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?id=720441078#/group.php?gid=91992680425

9) 1 Million Strong Against Our Socialist Fire Department http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?id=720441078#/group.php?gid=111256528714

10) It’s Time to March for Health Care  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=249980910576

Edit: At the time this post was published (12 pm Saturday), these ten groups had a total of 22,689 members, an increase of about 10% over the past 12 hours. Frequent updates will be published over the next several days.

Edit: Just learned of a group called "March for Healthcare" that is seeking to organize a nationwide rally for public option on September 13. It is already approaching 1,000 members.  Join here and pass the word: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118144661546

Saturday, 8:00 pm  -  24,709 total members

Sunday, 5:00 pm  -  26, 490