Grassroots like to be led
Writing in the Guardian Eliane Glaser finds her belief in so-called ‘ordinary voices’ (mostly web based voices like bloggers and twitterers) shattered by examples of politicians and interest groups rallying the troops. But this ‘touching up the grassroots’ is neither new nor shocking. And much of the time it’s perfectly ethical.
Astroturfing, or faking grassroots enthusiasm, for commercial gain by posting fake reviews to consumer websites, say, can never be justified and an EU directive rightly prohibits much of this. But legitimate astroturfing does not involve such obvious fraud.
Amnesty International has encouraged members to write protest letters to oppressive regimes since 1961. Their guide to ‘Writing letters for Amnesty’ says: ‘You can mention that you are an Amnesty member or you can write as a concerned individual.’
It is not unethical to write as a ‘concerned individual’ even if you are a member of Amnesty International and Amnesty is your primary or only source of information. There is no conflict of interest because members of Amnesty receive no incentive to take part in a letter writing campaign other than a sense that they are standing up for a better world.
Grassroots pick and choose the causes they wish to support. Individuals may be members of political parties, but they can leave those parties on a whim and decide on a level of participation that suits them. If they heed a leader’s call, it’s because they choose to.
When John Prescott asked his grassroots to defend the minimum wage, they railed because they shared his concerns, not because they were following his orders.
Similarly, nearly a quarter of a million people have joined Facebook’s Marmite page because they like Marmite, not because they’re on Unilever’s payroll.
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