Has online campaigns made any difference?
Apart from the pink underwear protest ( even this is questionable...did it make any difference? are women safer?) , is there any campaigns that has been successful in winning the fight fought online?
Did my online signature on an open letter from greenpeace or some such organization, change a bill in the parliament?
Can a blogger become an online messiah? Do we really have the power we seem to think we have? Or is it just another form of arm chair ranting...more talk than action ? all fart and no ****?
Online campaigns have to be used in tandem with their offline equivalents for them to be successful. An online campaign won't get the cause very far just on its own, especially in India where the internet penetration isn't much.
The online signature that you signed on the open letter was a part of the change- however minuscule- that happened.
i guess what u are saying is that , use whatever weapon is at your disposal to fight a good fight...makes sense. I mean, why not? Why worry abt the outcome ? What I worry is that will this be the start of a lazy man's protest? A convenient display of outrage?
Whether you take to the streets or sms /email your demands and opinions, the important thing is you are making yourself counted. The method of protest may change but that doesn't dilute the concern behind the cause or the issue.
As for laziness, from my own experience with running online campaigns at various levels, let me tell you there are people who effectively say, "I can't be bothered to move my a$$ or strain my brains so all I do is finger the keyboard". Such people always exist; it has got nothing to do with the medium.
u r rite...but isnt this medium the very refuge for such people? doesnt this medium provide the perfect oppurtunity for such people to hide in their anonimity and finger the keyboards and believe the world is saved?
Iam not judging...iam just wondering if we can rely on it to change things.
Tys, Pink Chaddi wasnt an online campain to start of with, however it got caught on...
Online campaings do promote a lot of messages, in much great way. However, there are drawbacks, since large portion of masses are not internet based it may not be an effective channel.
You singing the protest for Greenpeace eventually gets printed out and is sent along with the letter to the respected ministry. That would make it compelling for any decision to be taken.
How compelling is the question that only that respected ministry can answer!
my concern is , was that protest i signed part of a larger compaign? Are there people lining up, making noise? Are they talking to the media? printing literature? distributing it to the common man who are the ones going to be the most effected? How seriously does anyone consider an online petitions?
how about the meter jam campaign it definitely made a huge difference...
not a success Vijay.. it was publiczied a lot and its effect didnt really seem to have happened. Most of it was because People are left with no other alternative than to get the services of errant Taxi and Rick walas..
@Hemal Actually on the contrary it was extremely successful..it has brought out the common mans problem infront of the public. I can see changes already happening. Of course it woukd be totally wrong to expect change in just one day..but the intention with which the campaign was started was accomplished. Check out RR Patil's notice to cab drivers n RTO's.
@tys: when in doubt, google.
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