Submitted on Mon, 17/08/2009 - 3:44pm

Hundreds of people on Twitter are sending messages of support to the NHS. This is a result of opposition to proposed health care plans in the US. On Facebook almost 10,000 people have joined the group We Love the NHS.  The combination of politics and technology is proving to be a powerful force.

Individuals are posting tweets of praise to the NHS with the motto #welovenhs or #ilovenhs on Twitter. People are also adding twibbons, with the motif superimposed on their profile picture.

Twibbon of #ilovenhs An example of a NHS twibbon

Iranian elections

During the recent Iranian elections, 160,000 people changed their profile picture to include a green overlay (using helpiranelection.com ), expressing their support to the Iranian opposition.  It's ironic that British people are extremely active in political debates outside the UK, but remain stagnate when it comes to our own issues.

UK masses are more concerned with global issues, than local politics

It's great that so many are getting involved with global politics, but why aren't there more twibbons and tweets on UK political debates? Recent reports suggest that some Conservatives are against the NHS, but the public has hardly reacted compared to the US healthcare debate. What are the reasons for this? Is UK politics simply too boring? Or is it because the public believe that their views won't be listened to by our politicians?

We live in a digital era and politicians should harness the full potential of technology. We can only hope that technology will promote democracy and enable ordinary people to get their voice heard.

Get Involved - Use technology to express your political views

Post new comment
