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Take the fight online

6 April 2009

We should be using the internet more to put our arguments across and raise the profile of our campaigns, PCS web officer Michael Laffan argues.

The massive growth in the use of the internet and digital media in recent years has given a new edge to campaigning and opened up opportunities for more people to debate and get involved in action.

Social networking websites like Bebo and facebook, and developments such as Twitter, are more commonly used now than this time last year, particularly by younger people.

And the web is awash with an uncountable number of news and comment sites and blogs, covering every imaginable topic and area of interest, from the international to the ‘hyperlocal’ – people in the same postcode or even just a few streets.

All national newspapers and broadcasters, and the vast majority of regional and local media, have their own websites carrying news and opinion, and most offer users the chance to add their own comments to stories.

Some also host readers’ blogs, giving users far more space to exchange their views than traditional print and broadcast media have ever been able to do.

These developments are very exciting and provide great opportunities for trade unionists to get our messages across and influence public opinion.

In fact, it is vital that we do. Because a noticeable feature of many of these sites is how quickly they can become over-run by racists and reactionaries, whose opinions and statements often go unchallenged.

Become a cyber-activist

BNP members and supporters, and those of other far right organisations, are known to keep busy on blogs and comment sites.

They will attempt to hijack stories or debates, with the simple aim of creating the appearance of a dominant public viewpoint.

It is much easier to be reactionary in a short comment on a blog or online news story. The format seems to have brought into being a new breed of “green ink” letter writers who spew out unthinking hatred and xenophobia.

It takes more thought and analysis to be progressive and our arguments often need to be explained and discussed in detail.

The danger is that this makes us less inclined to take part in online discussions. But we have to, to provide balance and to correct the lies and conjecture that the far right cyber-activists hope to pass for fact.

The Guardian website is the most viewed national newspaper site in the UK and its stories and Comment is Free articles attract tens of thousands of readers’ comments every day.

Millions of people read and use the BBC’s news stories and Have Your Say pages, and the corporation seeks views on everything from politics to poetry, immigration to Iraq. If we don't use these sites as a platform for our views, others will.

Similarly the BBC’s reporters’ blogs are very widely read, such as Robert Peston’s on the economy. We can use these pages to present our analysis of economics and the alternative to the neo-liberal consensus of the major political parties.

We don’t have to assume offensive material has to stay online. Usually comments can be reported to moderators, or if you see an offensive BNP video on YouTube report it as inappropriate and ask for it to be removed.

If you receive unsolicited emails from the BNP or other far right groups, as PCS staff and activists did recently, report it at SpamCop so internet service providers have more chance of cutting spam off at the source.

As well as using the internet to counter arguments, our own website enables members and our supporters to email MPs and decision-makers about our campaigns.

The technology we are using makes it so quick and easy anyone can do it, you don’t have to be a technical whizzkid.

The beauty of this is we can ask our colleagues, branch members, family or friends to get involved in our campaigns with just a few clicks; it literally takes seconds.

Visit our campaigns pages to find out what our latest campaigns are and sign up to email and text alerts to be kept up to date with news and activities.

We want to develop what are known as ‘super-activists’ – people who take part in every campaign, or campaigns of a certain type such as anti-fascism or office closures.

Having a core of people who will take action, and encourage their friends to do so, gives us a strong base on which to build effective online campaigns.

Online communities

The growth of social networking websites means most people have now heard of sites like facebook and Bebo. And even if you don’t have your own facebook profile, you probably know someone who does.

These sites aim to create online communities that extend beyond traditional geographical boundaries, making it easier to engage with friends and like-minded people around the world.

By joining PCS and other relevant groups on facebook we can promote our issues and campaigns to more people. When we have an online campaign, petition or email to send to MPs, it is another quick and easy way of getting others involved.

As well as operating on an international scale, there are websites that cater for people living in the same area.

Community websites can be very useful for finding out about local facilities like schools, leisure activities, tradespeople, as well as generally being a way of keeping in touch with neighbours you might not otherwise meet.

These can be used to generate support for a local campaign, such as an office closure or job cuts at the local jobcentre or tax office.

In my local area an online campaign helped to defeat unpopular plans for luxury homes on a piece of disused land. We harnessed the power of the community to demand that the land be used for the benefit of the community as a whole.

Examples like this show we can make a difference. It is no departure from the basic trade union principle that the more of us there are, the stronger we will be.

The world in a click: social media explained

Bebo is a social networking website favoured more by younger people and more widely used than facebook in some areas like Scotland.

Facebook is the most well-known and widely-used social networking site with more than 175,000,000 registered users worldwide and growing.

Flickr is a photo and video-sharing website that makes it easy to organise and share images with a defined group of people or everyone.

LabourStart is an international online community and campaign site for trade unionists to post stories and take part in campaigns.

Twitter is known as a micro-blog where users answer the question ‘What are you doing?’ in 140 characters or less, sent by text or instant message, or posted online.

UnionBook is the social networking site for trade unionists, controlled by users and free from advertising and commercial interests.
 

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