Anti-prorogation rally: the left has a party and social media gets the win
Today was the big day, a test to see how intense the anti-prorogation sentiment in this country really is and to see whether or not a “grassroots fury” actually greeted a “shuttered Parliament” as the Star exclaimed when it discovered a 25,000 person Facebook group earlier this month. I wrote last week that while the Star was premature in coming to its conclusion, others were premature to discount the value of social media in organizing people around a cause. The real test, I argued, was whether or not this group converted this online enthusiasm into offline action.
In the days between the Star’s piece and today’s rallies, the group seemed to get their stuff together. They built a website at noprorogue.ca with event information outlined for each of the 66 cities (including 3 American cities), a call to text your anti prorogation message to a number, all while their Facebook numbers continued to climb, growing eight-fold and now sitting at a comfortable 200,000.
So, off I went this afternoon to Dundas Square to get a first-hand look at whether all the work paid off, and if there was indeed, a “grassroots” fury gripping the land (or Toronto, to be more precise). Here’s what I found:
- About 2,000 protesters. (The CBC reported 7,000 people at 2:30pm, but this seems VERY generous) Not bad you say? Well, the GTA has a population of 7 million. But we’ll play nice and use the City’s population of 2.5 million as our barometer. The turn-out? 0.08% of the population if you use my estimate, 0.28% if you use CBC’s numbers. This is Canada’s biggest city, a Liberal strong-hold that should have been all over this protest. Pretty paltry numbers for what is supposedly a furious grassroots movement. Last week over 20,000 Torontonians showed up to watch the hapless Leafs play a hockey game.
- Union reps, and Jack Layton supporters, here for obvious reasons.
- Climate change folks, looking for any opportunity to get some air time.
- War protesters, tickled pink at any opportunity to protest.
So what we learned is that the left can organize a crowd. While the numbers were not huge, at least not huge enough to classify this as a “grassroots” movement,” (particularly with the heavy presence of organized groups like the NDP, unions, war protesters, and eco-activists) it is nonetheless a win for social media activists. Let’s not forget, this began with a Facebook group which, rightly or wrongly got some good ‘ol fashion earned media, allowing it to grow exponentially and eventually turning out several thousand protesters across the country.
While the right will argue that these numbers are pathetic, and the left will use them as proof that Harper’s out of touch with Canadians, others will point out that the protests were a waste of time because you can’t undo the prorogation of Parliament. Regardless of where you sit, this is no doubt a case study of how one can use social media as an activation tool.
Update: Ian Capstick reports that with 12 32 cities reporting, estimates are at 18,500 25,000 protesters across Canada.
Update 2: Adrian MacNair has more here.
Update 3: David Akin also has more here.
My pics from today’s event:
All I hear on the radio here in Montreal is that were rallies across the country. So it sounds large, even if the numbers are pathetic.
Do you think we will ever know just how deep the Liberal involvement was in this “grassroots movement”?
As Jim Lahey used to say, “if you plant shit seeds, you get shit weeds…”
@The_Iceman, I have no doubt that Dippers and Libs organized their folks to make it out today. As I said, the crowd seemed pretty left-leaning, and though 20,000 protesters nation-wide doesn’t come close to the 200,000 figure on Facebook, it’s still enough to give social media the win. Activating people is hard work and social media played a big part today, whether we agree or disagree with the politics of the rally.
Their’s nothing to “argue” about. Facts are facts and it was a pathetic turnout, especially with the wall to wall media promotion.
The “organizers” say 15,000.
The CBC says 7000.
You said 2000.
The Toronto cops said 2000.
The leftists and the media are being dishonest again.
Just like always.
Source for the Toronto police claiming 2,000? The numbers I have seen from the police are either 7k or 9k. Aerial / high-vantage photos show Dundas Square being pretty much entirely packed, and that place supposedly has a capacity of 7,000.
And why did you use quotation marks for the word “organizers”? They organized it, didn’t they? That is what that word means, isn’t it?
The fact is, the Libs have won the battle.
They managed to get in front of a group of people upset over prorogation (a year ago I couldn’t even spell it but now I can also pronounce it) and their media pals ran right along side of them.
The more negative press the Conservatives get the happier the Libs get and the closer to regaining power they become.
Chequegate, in and out scheme, Cadman Affair, Olympic Route, Logogate, door knobs, wafergate, tax refunds, Afghan detainees, etc,etc.
The public doesn’t follow politics but they do read headlines.
The social media could not have ‘won’ without the national media giving them/prorogygate the benifit of over 2000 articles.
That’s a lot of ink,
and the response must be disappointing for our msm.
This was national media driven, not a grassroots uprising.
The leaders of the political parties speaking at a ‘non-partisan’ event, spoils some of the effect, imo.
Yes, all the msm coverage played a huge role in boosting their online numbers and no doubt getting people to turn out. That said, the story wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the Facebook group. It gave the Star a barometer to measure the intensity of Canadians’ opposition to prorogation, enough, they felt to make a front page story out of it. I disagree with that decision, but if that group hadn’t formed, the Star would have had no story.
Neil, there were so many special interest groups and political parties involved in organizing,
imo the prorogation theme got lost in it all.
It was an antiHarper gathering.
Thanks for the comments @wilson. Yes, the crowd I saw seemed to be an anti-Harper gathering, no doubt about it.
Purely from a marketing point of view, these results are impressive. Do you know how long it takes, how much money it costs to find 200,000 people even willing to raise their hands?
I am impressed.
It seems to me the old ways of doing things, focusing on product and then searching for a market is backwards. With numbers like this, it seems to be more efficient to focus on building movements first and design product later. It certainly makes me question the wisdom of expensive brand-building exercises.
Interesting indeed. Thanks for the post.
So what about the media also giving the other side some press time…somehow, I missed their advocating visiting the pro- FB group?
If anyone could provide a link…..oh, never mind.
I wonder if people in Iran were holding candlelight vigils for the suffering souls in Canada…