Hey, introverted internet generation! Yes, you.
Here are political actions you can take from the safety of your computer, laptop or mobile phone.
Just think, you need never leave the house again — and you’ll still be making a difference. That’s the beauty of digital.
Click any of the images to see them at a larger size.
SIGN, SEAL, DELIVER
Signing a petition is so easy that it sometimes feels like it can’t be changing anything, but there are many examples of petitions that have reversed policy, halted poor decisions and changed the world.
In the UK, if a petition to Parliament gains more than 10,000 signatures, it must be considered for debate in the House. There is a similar law in Australia.
Once you’ve signed, share: your social circles are influenced by what you do, and sharing can bring in several more signatures.
Image by Nicholas Sputnik Miller
KNOW WHAT’S ON THE AGENDA
Subscribe to an online service so that you’ll always know when an important vote is coming up.
Contact your MP or representative and tell them how you want them to vote — even if you know they’ll be toeing the party line. Get your right-thinking friends to do the same.
If enough people make their feelings clear, your representative will convey that upwards to Parliament.
What if there’s no website like this for your country? You can set one up!
Image by Sarah Mirk
CLICK THE LITTLE TRIANGLE
If you see an ad or status on Facebook, and it spreads hate, lies or misinformation, look for the small triangle (usually top right) which will enable you to report it. Same on lots of other social media sites.
In the short term it will notify the site that the ad needs reviewing — but it may have an aggregate effect, too. If everyone did this, those advertisers would begin to be shunned by social media platforms and businesses who have an interest in keeping their users happy.
Image by Christine Wong
CALL OUT
Sites like Human Rights Watch’s “Call It Out”, Everyday Sexism, Bye Felipe and For Exposure use the simple but effective strategy of collecting real-life instances of bad behaviour (in these cases, hate crimes, sexism and non-payment of artists) and publicising them to the world via a website and Twitter account.
By sharing the incidents you witness, you’re contributing to a public database that holds the nation to account.
Also, it’s pretty simple to copy this model for any other areas of injustice, and set up your own website. One we’ve heard about recently is Beer Sexism, collecting examples of women-unfriendly behaviour in the world of microbreweries.
Image by Apila Pepita Miettinen
THROW A HASHTAG OUT THERE
Social media campaigns can be a hugely effective way to get the word out to the masses.
Take inspiration from Movember or the Ice Bucket Challenge. If you need to bone up, there are many many advice guides available online.
Image by Zoe N. Sugg
POP YOUR BUBBLE
Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook foster ‘echo chambers’ — networks where everyone shares broadly similar views
After shock elections and referendums, citizens of both the USA and the UK understood the need to seek out opposing viewpoints. In the UK, PositionDial.com provides a subtle and thoughtful way of doing this — and then gives you actions you can take.
Image by Adrien Lee
START A PETITION
Starting your own petition is really easy. In the UK, use a service like 38 Degrees to exert power on big business or non-governmental institutions.
For governmental issues, use their own petitions facility at https://petition.parliament.uk
Image by Aneurin (Nye) Wright
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES
Trying to make a better world?
Write a blog as you go about it. Sharing your experiences with the world sets a precedent, and normalises them for the next person thinking of doing the same.
Image by Richy K. Chandler
MEME IT UP
If something strikes you as politically outrageous, world-changing or important to know, ain’t nothing like a meme to get it out there.
Visit a site like memegenerator.net, stick it on Twitter or Facebook and bob’s your uncle.
Image by Henri Tervapuro
PUT IT LIVE
We live in modern times — so whether you’re taking part in a protest, witnessing police brutality, or viewing conditions in a refugee camp: get it on film and show an unbiased, unedited picture to the world.
Putting a video on Twitter, Facebook, Periscope, YouTube or Instagram can be the quickest way to get news to spread — and to show the reality of a situation.
This action may contravene the law in some jurisdictions: proceed with caution.
Image by David Baillie
FOLLOW THE LEADERS
Whatever you believe in, find the group that’s making change and follow them, by signing up for their newsletter, or following them on social media.
Seeing others working for causes we feel strongly about is encouraging, and may help us to do more ourselves.
On a practical level, you’ll never miss their messages, calls to action or fundraising events. You’ll learn about the more in-depth issues behind the cause. And believe it or not, every little ‘like’ or ‘follow’ adds legitimacy to their voice, helping them exert more power on governments.
Image by Mijal Bloch
MONITOR YOUR PARLIAMENT
Parliaments aren’t always the best placed to ensure that their work is being presented impartially, clearly, and accessibly &emdash; that’s why, in many countries, NGOs have taken it upon themselves to do it better.
Modern technology and the internet mean that it’s now relatively easy to set up a website that gives citizens easy access to everything their representatives are doing in Parliament, from what they say to how they vote.
And once those representatives see that they’re being watched in this way, it may have the knock-on effect that they start behaving a little more responsibly!
Image by Paul Peart Smith
BE PLAYFUL
People love online games and quizzes, so they’re a great way to get a political message across, or to educate people about the detail of a complex issue. If you’re a coder, you could make games for the general good.
Image by Maria Björklund
SWAP THEM OUT
Changing your social media avatar or your mobile ringtone sounds pretty frivolous, doesn’t it?
But these small injections of your political beliefs into everyday situations can spread the word far and wide: every time your phone rings, every time you comment on a thread seen by others.
Image by Tessa Astre
All artwork on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
CALL OUT
Sites like Human Rights Watch’s “Call It Out”, Everyday Sexism, Bye Felipe and For Exposure use the simple but effective strategy of collecting real-life instances of bad behaviour (in these cases, hate crimes, sexism and non-payment of artists) and publicising them to the world via a website and Twitter account.
By sharing the incidents you witness, you’re contributing to a public database that holds the nation to account.
Also, it’s pretty simple to copy this model for any other areas of injustice, and set up your own website. One we’ve heard about recently is Beer Sexism, collecting examples of women-unfriendly behaviour in the world of microbreweries.
Image by Apila Pepita Miettinen
THROW A HASHTAG OUT THERE
Social media campaigns can be a hugely effective way to get the word out to the masses.
Take inspiration from Movember or the Ice Bucket Challenge. If you need to bone up, there are many many advice guides available online.
Image by Zoe N. Sugg
POP YOUR BUBBLE
Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook foster ‘echo chambers’ — networks where everyone shares broadly similar views
After shock elections and referendums, citizens of both the USA and the UK understood the need to seek out opposing viewpoints. In the UK, PositionDial.com provides a subtle and thoughtful way of doing this — and then gives you actions you can take.
Image by Adrien Lee
BE PLAYFUL
People love online games and quizzes, so they’re a great way to get a political message across, or to educate people about the detail of a complex issue. If you’re a coder, you could make games for the general good.
Image by Maria Björklund
Draw The Line 