I Can Haz Democracy?

Something epic happened in January. Harper casually announced that he was going to prorogue parliament for two months and a Facebook group was created.

A few things really interest me about the CAPP (Canadian's Against Prorogue Parliament) group:

• The group was immediately picked up by mainstream media as it soared to over 40,000 members in just five days.
  
• In one week, the group gathered more than 113,000 members.
• The group was being used as a representation of public opinion by mainstream media- its growth was paralleled to results from political polls.
• Politicians, pollsters, and political bloggers dismissed the importance of the group, suggesting that "there are thousands of people who joined that Facebook group who also simultaneously doubt the ability of that group to truly accomplish anything."

  "Several pollsters and observers say social media groups have given people the opportunity to make their views known but they downplayed the group's importance." -CBC news

• Thousands of people poured out across Canada on January 23, 2010 to protest, organized and coordinated primarily on Facebook, although many other web tools are used to spread the word. Worldwide protest locations were mapped on Google, Youtube advertized, Twitter provided live updates, Flickr archived posters and signs, and the Facebook group continued to grow. It was everywhere.
  
• Internet culture was present at the protests with signs reading "I Can Haz Democracy" and cries of "Accountability Fail".
  
• Protests continue to be coordinated by CAPP, greeting Harper across Canada. Canadians are still involved. There is speculation as to whether this is only just the begining...
  

"[The dismissing of the relevancy of Facebook by political critics] represents a shocking underestimation of the power of digital advocacy, which today is an integral part of virtually every political or business advocacy campaign." -Michael Geist

The No Prorogue movement has proven that Facebook can be a very effective tool for expressing political dissent. The internet generation can take action offline.