Contents

Campaigns update

Young people set to storm House of Lords

Iraq five years on

Climate change

Voting frenzy

News in brief

The great sex & relationships debate

Ganja do without it?

Britian's future energy

Hitting children must stop

Help UKYP win a national poster campaign

The power of the web

What does it take to influence public figures? An achievable set of demands, mobilising public support and persistence are all critical factors. The internet is making it easier, cheaper and faster to run successful campaigns than ever before.

In issue 3 of Debatable, Silkie Carlo, Deputy MYP for Brighton and Hove, wrote “It is Rupert Murdoch and the Sun who are now society’s informants. The media . . . has huge powers of public mobilisation.”

Silkie is right, of course. But just as political parties are facing pressure from outside sources, like UKYP, so are the media. It won’t surprise you that only 16% of 18-30s read a national newspaper regularly whilst 31% of 15-24-year-olds use social networking sites. Social networking is more than just a fun way of speaking to friends and uploading embarrassing photos.

The power of social networking is that each friend you know can get the message out to every friend they know, until you’ve contacted far more people than you could ever have spoken to yourself. Votivation (www.votivation.com), like Facebook or MySpace, but with a specific social and political purpose, provides you with just this platform. It’s a way of getting in touch with people based on their interests and views and also their desire to “make a difference”.

Votivation also provides the tools to run successful campaigns. The petitions and polls can be cut and pasted into your own website or blog to reach more people – just as UKYP did with the campaign for better public transport. And you can contact MPs and the largest companies and charities directly, to question their views and policies.

So, as a user of Votivation you can:

1. Create a petition to get your local council to invest more money in services for young people and get it out on websites across your town
2. Listen to what the US presidential hopefuls have to say, show your support and what you think about their policies
3. Sign a petition to get MPs to follow through on the PM’s proposal for UKYP to have a sitting in the House of Commons chamber
4. Declare which X Factor contestant you support and what you think they should be singing next week
5. Send a text to BP and tell them what you think of their environmental policies

But – as you’ll know from reading this article – if you get lots of friends to do it as well – you will be much more influential.

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Vote now!

Is nuclear power the answer to the UK’s energy needs?
Vote now - www.votivation.com/opinion_nuclear-power

Should cannabis be legal?
Vote now - www.votivation.com/opinion_cannabis-legal

Is war pointless?
Vote now - www.votivation.com/opinion_no-more-wars1

What next?

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Discuss this article on Votivation.com

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