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Top tips for net protesters

Posted on 17 Sep 2009 at 13:17

Online protests are ten a penny, but how do you make yours stand out from the crowd? Simon Brew explains

Click here to read our feature on whether online protests really work

Pick your fight carefully

"Think strategically about why someone would get involved, and secondly about how and why what you're doing will change anything", suggested Demos' Peter Bradshaw. "What would tip the balance? Is it fear of reputation damage? Is it fear of people changing their behaviour - either stopping buying something, voting for something? Understand how change happens, and work to that".

Prepare your petition

"The most important thing is to look at the wording of the petition", recommended Peter Roberts. "What are you objecting to and why? Who are you petitioning against? And what for?" Without all of that, any protest is going to struggle to get noticed.

Establish a base

Have somewhere to send people. That way, if you do get half of the world's Twitterers on your side, they can go to a page outlining your protest, without having to worry about a 140-character limit. A WordPress blog is free and can be set up in minutes.

It's really important that online tools give people more chance to be involved creatively. Content, images, videos, resources - people are crying out for the means to help out and they can be a huge resource

Be creative

"It's really important that online tools give people more chance to be involved creatively," said Peter Bradshaw. "Content, images, videos, resources - people are crying out for the means to help out and they can be a huge resource."

Move beyond petitions

"Petitions on their own are rarely effective, but they're a useful tool and can help in marshalling a mass movement of people for a particular cause", advised Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson. Email others who might be interested, and contact bloggers and websites who might be sympathetic to your cause.

Don't forget offline

Mixing online and offline tactics generally works best, although not in all cases. Your local paper might listen to a protest against a new motorway, but is unlikely to be interested in a campaign to change the Terms & Conditions on Facebook.

Time your strike

"If you have a government that's extremely sensitive to perceived changes in 'public mood', like now, then it's a good time to be Facebooking, Twittering and blogging your protest", notes Peter Bradshaw.

Author: Simon Brew