NaughtyBots Part 3: Advocacy and Marginalization
This is the third part in a four-part NaughtyBots series about the #commoncore Project: How Social Media is Changing the Politics of Education.
Advocacy
The BotNet, or naught, issue was addressed in the previous installment so there is no need to address it again. This section will have a focus on the advocacy of Common Core opponents.
On page 32 of the project’s pdf report it says:
“As the data show, in many ways, Prasek and the PJNET Team accomplished what they set out to do. Not only did they dominate the Common Core conversation on Twitter, but they also achieved their stated goal of promoting a set of “conservative topics, causes, and legislation.” What is even more intriguing is that the group is apparently unaffiliated with any registered political action committee. They are instead a homegrown grassroots social media movement intent on promoting their social and political agendas, cleverly aided by BotNets and hashtag rallies.”
That team is portrayed as a grassroots social media movement. Since the Project looked at the use of Twitter, this limited view is understandable. The team, or advocates, is more than a social media movement. Many are very involved in opposing the Common Core outside of social media. That outside social media involvement includes writing articles, writing letters to the editor, calling and working with legislators, attending school board meetings, testifying, and giving presentations.It is fair to portray this as a homegrown grassroots effort. The on-Twitter and off-Twitter opposition to Common Core has been grassroots for years. Michelle Moore Earle of NY Parents Involved in Education (NYPIE) has been involved in this effort and says it well in this statement:
“We’ve been grassroots for years now. Our Twitter rallies gave us experience and provided insights into how do we make it more user friendly for people new to Twitter. We urged more grassroots parents to join Twitter to help in our campaigns against NaughtyBots Part 3: Advocacy and Marginalization | Truth in American Education: