Snog, Marry Avoid?Corporates versus activists

in the public sector

#SMAsmweek@markoneinfour

@VictoriaBetton

What we’re going to do

Victoria

LYPFT logo

History

Finding a voice

Victorian dad

Activists

Communication

Peter Hitchins

“an electronic leftwing mob”

Digital divide

What I think…

Get me campaign

www.digitalmentalhealth.co.uk

@VictoriaBetton

Hello, I'm Mark and I'm an accidental online

activist

I'm @markoneinfour

What do activists actually want?

To be taken seriouslyTo be listened to

To influence eventsTo make something happen

Why is online awesome?

I can speak to thousands at the press of a button I can speak directly to people I would never get to

speak to offline (or at least not so easily) I can reach journalists quickly I can engage people who would otherwise by

atomised and separate I can respond to events in real time I can use online contact to generate offline action

What kinds of people are online activists?

Online activists come from all walks of life and all kinds of situations

Some may be directly concerned with the issues they campaign about

Some may be politically motivated Some may come from the professional area that

they campaign about Some may have a specific area of interest,

others a particular theme

What kinds of objectives do online activists have?

• Some may be activists for a particular course of action to be taken

• Some may be activists against a particular course of action being taken

All are trying to shift the offline world in one direction over another

What do online activists do?

Bring to public light issues that they feel are under-exposed

Spot and publicise 'injustices' Present alternatives to existing narratives

How are online activists trying to change the world?

They are trying to get a seat at the table of decision making

or trying to generate a groundswell of public opinion

or Trying to reach opinion formers and decision

makers

Or a combination of these

All activists leverage whatever power they have to bring about the result they want

Social media is, at present, an area where there are still opportunities for activists to punch far above their

weight and where power is distributed more evenly

Online public opinion

Generally speaking, people who use any particular service experience this on an individual, not collective basis. For the first time, social media is bringing together people who use

services in an easy to access and easy to use way

If people want to check out whether it's only them who has a fault on their iphone map program, they don't wait for a newspaper

article about it: They go online

In the past its been easy to see online public opinion as unrepresentative. Now it's not so easy

Activists and online public opinion

Online activists are constantly walking a line between responding to online public opinion and

creating online public opinion

Increasingly online public opinion influences offline public opinion

Big bodies and local communities

Large organisations, especially in the public sector, are brim with rhetoric about stakeholder

involvement. They talk of being part of the community they serve. Yet many struggle to

engage their communities, the public, in providing feedback on their performance

Online, your community, your public, is banging at your virtual door

Online activism: with great power comes great responsibility

An online activist can respond to a corporate message

in three ways:

The can choose to amplify it They can choose to ignore or direct away from it They can work actively against it

With great power comes great responsibility 2

Corporates can often feel aggrieved when online activists get their facts wrong

BUT...

It's worth remembering that online activists are often piecing together what information they can from the

public domain. If you don;t put enough out there, expect people to come to conclusions that are other

than what your organisation would like

The powerless activist?

An activist who feels that there is no hope of change within current structures or who feels (or has been) ignored can shift from a constructive

voice to a destructive voice

While maintaining the best of intentions, they may move closer to trolling than constructive debate

Never for money, always for love... (perhaps)

Many online activists are activists out of love (or hate). They aren't members of comms teams or

representing an organisation (although sometimes they might be)

Their activities as activists will continue whether or not a large corporate chooses to engage with them

They'll still be talking even if you don't choose to talk to them

So what do we have in common?

Both activists and organisations (in theory) want 'good' things to happen

Both activists and organisations care (in theory)

So...

All things considered about online activism...

Would you snog me, marry me or avoid me?

Mark Brown

Editor One in Four magazine http://oneinfourmag.org

Development director Social Spider CIC http://www.socialspider.com

@markoneinfour on twitter