Fridays For Future

Prior to Research Blog 

In my eyes, Fridays for Future is one of the most well-known online activist movements, only rivalled by the Black Lives Matter movement. While I am undoubtedly familiar with Fridays for Future and their pursuits my knowledge of them would be lacking beyond Gretta Thunberg and copious number of students wanting to miss class for the in-person protests. I would be sceptical of the results of their online presence and was one of the reasons why I decided to focus on them. 

Concerning online activism itself, it is unfortunate that it gets grouped into the keyboard warrior culture. These are the judgemental internet users who think that by posting a change.org or crowdfunding link that it will solve whatever problem they're campaigning about. The general public are unaware of the wide-scale mobilisation of online movements, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. The only reason I have this in my limited knowledge is because I have friends involved in online activist movements. It is really remarkable as to how much activism online has grown on a platform that is only roughly thirty years old. 

Hopefully by conducting my research I can determine how much of an impact online activist movements have on political change, if any at all.  

Post-Research Blog 

The first step of my research was when I asked Green Party TD Minister Roderick O’Gorman a question on a visit to my school. I asked him if he thought online activist movements in particular Fridays for Future (FFF) had achieved tangible political change. I thought he would have a particular interest in FFF as he is a Green TD and Minister for Children, children and teenagers being the main component of FFF. Minister O’Gorman thought that while specific changes are hard to witness that the youths’ discussion of climate change impacts older relatives to vote on environmental issues. 

I am fortunate to have a source from FFF who has spoken to the Irish media on multiple occasions and is well versed on the matter. I must thank them for their invaluable responses and their time, without which I would not have been able to complete my blog. I began my correspondence with them asking the same question that I did to Minister O’Gorman. 

My source thought that online activism has an impact, “Due to its nature as a global movement with a distaste towards the carbon emissions involved with international aviation, online activism allows the movement as a whole to be more coherent.” They added, “Especially in regard to the inclusion of people in the most affected people and areas (MAPA) who’s voices matter most within our movement, online activism allows them to have a voice that can be heard globally, as well as allowing other groups to echo their voices.”  

This echoed a story from DW about FFF India where member Sriranjani Raman said “online activism has helped young campaigners to understand Indian climate justice.”, as it has grown to over 20,000 people However, They also mentioned some negatives like how, “it is very easy to feel lonely when activism is done online, and in a movement built on mass involvement.”  In their experience, “the most effective actions are those that get media coverage, and if that is a tangible in person event, media may be more likely to pick that up.”.  

That final comment I found to be very interesting and something not often mentioned by the media. It is much easier for them to cover political activism when there are people on the streets protesting rather than behind a computer screen. My source gave me some excellent insights as to what a member of FFF thinks on the matter and thought they gave an honest, unbiased account of their impact on political change. In conclusion, while some benefits can be found I believe that online activism does not have as much of a visible impact as physical activism in causing political change.