David Akin does a nice job of tallying up the numbers from this weekend's Facebook-inspired anti-proroguing rallies. I wrote about the impact of the Facebook group and digital advocacy last week.
The Anti-Proroguing Rallies By the Numbers
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Finally, some numbers
~12% of the group members, based on Ian Capstick’s estimate. I hate to put it this way, but this is one of the reasons why online advocacy by way of social media groups is not taken particularly seriously. If only one person in 8 who is a member of the Facebook group decided to come out on a Saturday afternoon (and I suspect that number is high, how many of the people that went to one of the rallies aren’t actually part of the group?), it makes it appear that they joined the group but aren’t particularly committed to the cause. I can understand the low numbers at the Friday afternoon rally in Toronto; it was organized at the last minute when most were at work, but a nice Saturday afternoon (at least in Ottawa)?
@Anon-K: I think you’re way off on the importance of 12% turnout. If 1 in every 8 people who casually expressed interest in an issue is willing to leave their house to demonstrate how they feel, that is big news! Look at it this way: everyone I know in Toronto complained about the garbage strike; none of them went to any rallies.