Many of us want to make a difference in what we believe in, no matter what we believe in. Unfortunately, the day-to-day tasks and trials keep us from truly standing up for what we believe in. About the closest that many of us come to activism is when we step into a voting booth. And even then, who knows what the issues mean and which politician stands for what. But, now with the internet, there is a way to stand up for what you believe in and to truly make a difference. It’s called cyberactivism.
Becoming a cyberactivist is as easy as hooking up to the internet. There are several ways you can participate in cyberactivism online.
The first is through your desired cause’s organizations. Groups like Greenpeace or AmberAlertNow.org have pre-written email forms that you can fill out. They will even send the email for you. A website called truemajority.org has even brought the concerns of several different organizations together to make emailing in behalf of your favorite cause even easier.
The second is to keep the email addresses of your local representatives handy in your email address book. For the President and Vice President’s email, visit www.whitehouse.gov. For your state Senators, you can go to www.senate.gov. The US House of Representatives has set up a form at www.house.gov to allow you to write to your Representative.
For local issues, you can normally find the email addresses of your state representatives, school board members, mayors or councilmen online. Simply search either by their name or their office title. If you have no luck finding your local official’s email address online, simply call their office and request it.
Once you have the proper email addresses, you can add them to your address book. When an issue comes up that you would like to express your opinion about, simply send the proper official an email.
Don’t worry that you might be bothering them. Many elected officials are happy to receive the thoughts of their constituents on various subjects. And besides, they were voted in to help represent you and expressing your opinion makes them better able to do that.
So from now on, you have no excuse for not being an activist. Become a cyberactivist and help make a difference today.