Will the Lib Dems be the first big casualty of organised social media campaigning?
Governments of the past have always been able to propagate their message, however the rise of social media over recent years has provided a great swing of power back in to the hands of ‘the ordinary people.’
With Aaron Porter leading an NUS campaign to oust U-turning Lib Dem MPs we are about to see just how strong these new platforms really can be. Members of the Education Activist Network are risen sharply since last week’s demo and tonight they are meeting again to ‘discuss next steps’ according to ULU President Clare Solomon – a meeting again which will draw physical participant through online communication.
So it seems like something ‘big’ is definitely growing. With so much student energy on facebook the NUS clearly have the upper-hand in all of this. They have the participants and the tools and for as long as they can keep the message right, they look certain to unnerve any Lib Dem who signed that pre-election pledge on fees.
I filmed an interview with Aaron Porter just before last weeks demo in which he speaks about his plan to ‘make sure that any Lib Dem MPs who votes in favour of tuition fee increases will lose their seat in 2015.’
