Mass Protests to Online Activism: How Coronavirus is Changing the Ways Activists Fight Favorite 

Practitioner: 

Date: 

Mar 13 2020

Location: 

Online Activism

Fridays for Future strikers around the world shared their demands for bold climate action online Friday as many youth activists heeded public health experts' recommendations in the face of the coronavirus pandemic by eschewing public protests in favor of digital demonstrations.

The online displays followed the call earlier this week from school strike for climate pioneer Greta Thunberg to #ClimateStrikeOnline.

In a Friday tweet as Thunberg marked her 82nd week of school strikes, she reiterated the basis for her call.

"In a crisis we change our behaviour and adapt to the new circumstances for the greater good of society," she wrote.

Other activists took to Twitter to share their online strikes as well:

Thunberg and other youth climate leaders amplified the call for the change in tactic amid the novel coronavirus with a video shared early Friday in which they stressed that "the climate crisis cannot be forgotten, nor ignored."

"I think what is happening in society with the #coronavirus is a glimpse into the future of climate change," wrote New York City-based Fridays for Future organizer Alexandria Villaseñor in Twitter thread Thursday. "We activists have a lot to learn from this moment."

"This is more than a health crisis, this is a crisis about feeling safe in so many ways," Villaseñor added. "The rapidly changing news is causing so much anxiety. Let's be here for each other."

External sources: 

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/13/coronavirus-isnt-stopping-us-youth-…
Posted by Padmamamia on Apr 7 2020

Staff rating: 

4
Along the lines of the what the contributor wrote about the project's effectiveness, what creative tactics are activists taking online to influence viewers, to persuade them? I rated this project a 4, as did the contributor on the project's effectiveness, because while this is clearly activism, the description here does not elaborate on the campaign's creative elements.

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Effectiveness

How does this project help?

Activates (people)Energizes and organizes people into action. Can include emotion work
Amplifies (issue or campaign)Brings public and political attention to an issue or campaign.  Can include prefigurative action, making the invisible visible.

Timeframe For change

This project seems to be part of a campaign with a clear short-term goal. Short-term goals tend to be things like: create or repeal a law; get a President impeached; make the city administration repair a sidewalk. A campaign with a short-term goal needs a clear theory of change, complete with targets that can be cajoled or pressured into effecting the goal.
Maintain the energy of Fridays for Future initiative by adapting to an era of digital activism.
This project seems to be part of a campaign with a clear long-term goal. Long-term goals tend to be things like: end racism; end homophobia; make the sun stand still in the sky. A campaign with a long-term goal also needs to have some kind of theory of change.
Demand action from political leaders to take action to prevent climate change and for the fossil fuel industry to transition to renewable energy.

Notes

Due to the #coronavirus pandemic, people have greatly increased their use of technology. I believe in a time like this activists such as the Friday for Future strikers can definitely find their ways to perform activism and protests online. However, without being able to influence the audiences through physical interactions and actual communications in person, I wonder people will be actually persuaded?