Social Media Activism Case Study

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Case 7-2 Social Media and Activism: Anyone Can Now Easily Play Situation analysis: Change.org was launched in 2007 as a free website that anyone can join and voice their views. It was started by Ben Rattray a Stanford graduate, he created this website as a groundswell of opinion without leaving the house when he saw the power of petitions being available on the internet. In 2011 - Molly Katchpole, a 22 year old college graduate, was incensed that Bank of America was going to charge its customers $5 a month to use the bank’s debit card. She initiated an online petition against the bank using Change.org and her petition attracted more than 300,000 supporters in a month, giving the bank sufficient cause to revoke the fee. o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79aNILZzsTM …show more content…

Since it’s free and doesn’t restrict subject matter, people are able to practice free will. Public Relations Practitioners can not only use Change.org to look for what the audience cares about but also start their own petitions and use the tools to their advantage. 2. Is the decline of mass media a positive or negative for PR practitioners? Why? This can go either way, with money comes power to get more air time or an assured amount of exposure and reach. So a decline in mass media could result in not being able to have that assurance, this scenario fits better on PR practitioners For-Profit orgs. However, when it comes to non-profit orgs, a decline in mass media would mean everyone gets an equal opportunity to get exposure. 3. Why does Change.org seem to favor “populist” causes? It supports populist causes because it empowers the public and the masses. The company empowers anyone, anywhere and on any interest unless it promotes hate and violence. It gives the power to the people to voice their opinions and gain support, with the growth in internet and PR, the voice of the people weighs heavier than

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