I will be keeping all replies anonymous, no names will be used in my thesis. These questions are quite broad, please answer as many as you feel you are able to. If there is anything else you would like to discuss that is not covered here, please do feel free to do so, any thoughts/opinions/beliefs you have around the issue of on-line activism would be greatly appreciated and incredibly useful. Also, if you have friends in other activist groups that you think would like to participate, I would be exceptionally grateful if you could pass this onto them. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have, and e-mail all responses to

Finally, thank you very very much for taking the time to do this!!!

  1. Please could you tell me a little about yourself and your group
  2. What are your views on the way that actions of radical democracy link to specific technical and institutional practices online?
  3. Are there any tensions in your efforts to embrace technology as a central tool of your organisation? ie has such a technical emphasis ever proved alienating to people who aren’t confident with computers?
  4. A lot is written about online activist groups and activities by academics, is any of that read and/or discussed by your group? If yes, please tell me a little more, if not, is there a reason? Eg, are such writings out of touch with the reality of online activism?

4a - Would you say your group generated their own theories/ideologies/frameworks? In what way does the internet facilitate this? Could you give me a few examples of the sort of theories/ideologies/frameworks generated?

  1. Do you see online activism as overcoming the issue of process vs progress that offline activism is often accused of – ie levels of bureaucracy etc hindering slowing down what is able to be done? If yes, please expand.
  2. How would you describe your relationship with other activist groups, in terms of dialogue, discussion, exchange of ideas, etc?
  3. Do you think the growth of online activism has changed the meaning of the term activist?
  4. How do you see the link between online and offline activism? And is this a relationship you think will change in the future?
  5. Do you feel online activism is closer to a truer form of democracy than exists in the UK today? Please expand on your answer
  6. In what ways do you see cyber politics enhancing the interplay between political actors anchored in different parts of the world?
  7. Is there a coalitional feel between you and other online activist groups or would you say you are all fairly independent of each other?
  8. In basing yourselves online, have you encountered any barriers that would perhaps have not been there if you were a purely offline organisation?
  9. Do you think the enormous presence of online activists now represents a significant change in social movements as a whole or do you see it as just another avenue of mobilisation?
  10. The following is a quote from Polletta (2002): "In discussing today’s increasingly hybridised activism, no one believes any longer that decisions can be made by strict consensus. Activists are more comfortable with rules, less hostile to power, and more attuned to inequalities concealed in informal relations". Have you experienced anything like this? If there has been such a trend, do you think the move to online activism has counteracted this trend?
  11. Do you communicate any of the ideas/activities/discussions that occur within your online community to any offline groups? Please expand on your answer
  12. Online activism has been referred to as "activism at a distance" (Ribeiro, 1996) – Do you think this is an accurate comment or do you see online activism as an equal if not greater presence in modern protest than offline activism? Please expand on your answer.
  13. In general would you say that cyberspace is still defined by the social, economic and political relationships of the offline world, or has it now reached a stage where cyberspace is its own boss? What implications does whichever scenario you see as correct have for online activism?
  14. Do you have an understanding of wiki technology? If so, what do you think it can bring to cyber-activism?