The internet played in mobilising demonstrators
This is the first, and I suspect the only time I will quote an article in the Socialist Worker.
For some reason this weird organisation decided to research how people got to know about anti-war demonstrations. It was no surprise to discover that 24% of protesters found out about the demonstration through a website.
It was a surprise that it was not the “internet-savvy youth” who rely most on the web, but older age groups. In particular the 36 to 50 year olds.
Young people were less likely than others to have found out about the demonstration through an email from someone outside of their immediate social circle. Just 3% of the under 18s and 7% of those aged 18 to 25 mentioned this, compared to 22 percent of the over 50s.
This suggests it is the older activists who make the best use of internet and email communication. How interesting. Dick Stroud
Labels: Internet
posted by Dick Stroud
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1 Comments:
There have been articles, blog postings,etc. - mostly of lament - about the lack of interest in politics by young people and how the internet hasn't mobilized them. It's an interesting subject. (Be glad we didn't have the internet way back when - or we might've caused REAL trouble!)
Regarding your question: Perhaps part of the answer is something we've both talked about - HOW various age groups use the internet. It's a lifestyle for younger folks - but used mostly to gather information by older folks. So - people over fifty, if they're interested in finding out if/where a demonstration will be, jump on the internet, search, find out, email their friends, etc.
Could it be that younger people are more out and about - find out info about a demonstration through their school, on the street in cities and towns - and pass along info about it by text messaging? Email is so 'yesterday ....
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