By Eric J.S. Townsend
Hartford CourantDecember 4, 2002
Web Makes It Easy To Organize Rallies Quickly, But Sheer Volume Of E-Mail Can Hinder CauseWhen International ANSWER held a peace rally in October in Washington, officials who had picked the date in August immediately started calling member groups for support - then turned to the Internet for spreading the word.
It worked. But it may not work next time.
The summer campaign was a success, as 100,000 protesters gathered Oct. 26 near the Vietnam Memorial, trampling wet grass, waving anti-war placards and lambasting President Bush for his stance toward Iraq.
"I've been doing this since the Vietnam War, and even 10 years ago, to get people to be on the same page meant you had to ship out thousands of leaflets, frequently to different cities," said ANSWER spokesman Brian Becker. "Now we can put a leaflet up as a PDF file. People take it down and make their own copies."
Internet communication has given rise to stronger, faster grass-roots organizations over the past five years, allowing fringe movements to coordinate simultaneous demonstrations around the globe in less than half the time it would have taken during the Persian Gulf War.
But as some experts praise the World Wide Web for rejuvenating political efficacy, others are starting to question just how effective the Internet can be in solving social ills.
"I get probably 70 to 100 e-mails a day because of all the lists I'm on," said David Levy, an anti-globalization activist. "If the subject line is not compelling or the e-mail is not sent to me several times, I might miss it. E-mail gives the illusion of doing activism, when, in fact, sending out a mass e-mail could be considered equivalent to throwing your work into a black hole."
Web-based organization took root three years ago in Seattle, when anti-globalization protesters coordinated events during the World Trade Organization's annual meeting. Roughly 50,000 people converged downtown, closing streets and leading to more than 400 arrests.
On a smaller scale, hundreds of demonstrators protested the Republican and Democratic 2000 national conventions in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, respectively. In both instances, Internet bulletin boards helped plan events.
Grant Reeher, an associate professor of political science at Syracuse University, co-authored a book this year that followed one such political demonstrator. Reeher said the Internet promoted camaraderie with like-minded activists who had never met. "Large-scale political movements are built on trust," he said. "When you engage in this type of behavior, the risks can be very, very high. Anytime you run against the grain, you need the support of people engaged in it with you."
That isn't all. According to Reeher, political efficacy - the idea that someone's actions can effectively create change - has grown because of the Web. This newfound sense of purpose strengthens ties between groups of various interests. The Pew Internet and Political Life Project reported in April that 13 million Americans have participated in online lobbying campaigns, while 23 million Americans have sent comments via the Internet to public officials about policy choices.
Such use prompted activists to shift their tactics. The Internet allows planners to coordinate simultaneous events in different regions.
Evan Henshaw-Plath co-started and runs protest.net, a clearinghouse for grass-roots protests across the globe. He estimates about 10,000 page views per day on his site, which lists times, dates and locations of any organized event that gets posted. "People aren't relying on seeing a flier at a campaign or coming across some notice stapled to a telephone pole," he said. "They have a way of finding that information in their own home."
But some scholars say the Web is damaging nongovernmental organizations that, before Internet technology, maintained control of their individual agendas.
Lance Bennett, a professor at the University of Washington, began following social movements after the WTO protests in 1999. Bennett said that because anyone with a modem can establish websites or send out e-mails, it is harder to manage scripted messages. "When networks are less controlled, some campaigns that begin with strong support may go on long after [reputable groups] decide their goals are satisfied," Bennett said. "If you're a credible actor, people will believe you can stop the campaign."
Grass-roots movements also use e-mail to communicate with lawmakers, excessively at times. A 2001 report issued by George Washington University and the Congressional Management Foundation found that, on average, senators receive as many as 55,000 e-mails a month.
House offices fare better, attracting as many as 8,000 e-mails a month. Combined, 117 million constituent e-mails flooded Capitol Hill in 2001. An August 2002 update found this year's House volume is expected to grow 2.5 percent, with Senate volume increasing 24 percent.
Politicians have taken note. Despite initial burdens on congressional staff, legislators adapted to online activism. House and Senate sites are updating Web pages that allow visitors to post comments rather than e-mail specific accounts.
However, the biggest problem groups must solve is how to avoid relying on the Internet as a sole means for activism.
"It's a question of disciplining ourselves," said Medea Benjamin, spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based Global Exchange peace coalition. "It's easy to spend your whole day responding to people, reading articles, and in the end feel like you haven't done very much."
And no matter how much e-presence grass-roots movements possess, it remains difficult to spread their messages to passive observers. Unlike mass media, the Web caters to those people who seek specific information.
"I don't think the Internet creates politically active people," said Ed Schwartz, founder of the Philadelphia-based Institute for the Study of Civic Values. "Why would someone who hates politics on television seek it out on the Internet? If you can start to get people interested in the connection between their lives and government, the Internet becomes a great resource to show how those connections are made."
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