Activism and the use of Social Media

‘You are the Director of a grassroots level activist
organisation, NGO, or some organisation that is trying to mobilise mass
support through social media. Drawing tips from the Juris essay,
outline a strategic plan of how you might go about planning the use of
social media for your purpose. Try to make the organisation as real as
possible and define it’s area of work and objective at the start of
your plan outline’.


Reading: "The New Digital Media and Activist Networking within Anti-Corporate Globalization Movements." Jeffrey S. Juris


For this assignment I will be describing the actions of an activist group based in my home county of Laois. The organisations and situation mentioned are real, however the activist group and my plan on how to go about raising its’ awareness is fictional.

The Situation:

Eirgrid plc is a state-owned commercial company and is one of the leading organisations in the Irish energy business. In the autumn of 2009 they submitted a proposal to An Bord Pleanála to construct a substation in Co. Laois. The proposed substation is to to reinforce the network in the Laois-Kilkenny region thereby improving supply to the town of Ballyragget, Co.Kilkenny.
Eirgrid have picked an area south east of Portlaoise that covers the village of Ratheniska as well as parts of the town of Stradbally in its 4-mile radius. As well as being home to over 200 residents, the proposed area also has a school, a church and GAA facilities. These amenities mean that at least a further 100 people would be directly affected by a substation being built in the area. Another amenity is that of Cosby Hall, home of the Electric Picnic music festival, which welcomes over 40,000 people over the 1st weekend in September. As a resident in this proposed area I am wholeheartedly against the building of a substation


. The substation could severely harm the area for a number of reasons:
· Firstly there are the health risks of such a building. Although there is no conclusive evidence that such stations are harmful to people’s health there is also no conclusive evidence that these stations are not harmful to people’s health.
· The devaluation of the local residents’ land would be significant.
· Some residents could be forced to move away if the station is built too close to their homes.
· The area could lose out on the Electric Picnic which cold be detrimental for the local economy as earnings for pubs and shops around Cosby Hall peak on this weekend.

Because Eirgrid is a state owned company they can force a CPO (Compulsory Purchase Order) on any landowner in the area if the situation requires it. This means that any landowner that does decide to negotiate will never get a fair price as long as the threat of a CPO is hanging over their heads. Similar stations have been proposed in other areas throughout the country and not once was the story broadcast on any Irish news channel.

Aims:
· The main aim of this organisation is to convince Eirgrid that if such a substation needs to be built then it should be placed in a woodland area away from any homes or roads. There are plenty of suitable areas in the vicinity and we will continue to oppose the project until Eirgrid agrees the station cannot be built within at least 100 metres of any homes, roads or businesses.




How we will gather support for our organisation:
· The first step would be to set up a web page for our group so that people all over the country can access it and see what our aims are and how they can get involved.

· This is not the first substation that Eirgrid have planned to build and we are not the first community to oppose their plans. After researching online I found various cases where Eirgrid’s proposed projects were opposed by the local communities they planned to build in. There are several groups similar to the one I’m setting up that have been up and running for the last few years. The most notable of which is NEPP (North East Pylon Pressure) NEPP is the overall representative group for people who advocate that higher power electric cables should go underground rather than on the pylons currently used by Eirgrid. Although they’re issues with Eirgrid are slightly different they have managed to delay Eirgrid’s plans for over 3 years now. It would be essential to establish a ink between our group and theirs. I feel that once our own web page is up and running then our first step would be to establish a web link between us and NEPP’s web page, www.pylonpressure.ie

· The proposed area for the substation includes Cosby hall in Stradbally, Co.Laois , home of the Electric Picnic. I feel that the organisers of the event would not be pleased if there were a potential health risk to their customers and would look for an alternative venue. Thus, I feel it would be a good idea to email the organisers, POD promotions and raise their awareness on the issue. It would also be a good idea to set up a facebook page that allows fans of the event to be informed and get involved.

· As well as setting up on fecebook we will also create profiles on both twitter and boards.ie so as to reach the maximum amount of people.

· Another plan is to record a video blog and broadcast it on youtube so as to keep people up to date on the weekly goings on in the group.

· We will email the project manager employed by Eirgrid on a weekly basis to get updates on the stages that the project is in.

In Conclusion:
We will strive to raise awareness of this issue around the local area and throughout the country. We will not stop until people are made aware of this threat and until Eirgrid agree to negotiate with us.