idle no more at six months -...

Idle No More at Six Months Analysis of the first six months of the Idle No More movement

June 2013

Table of Contents

.......................................................................................................................Introduction 1

..............................................................................................................................Method 3

.....................................................................................................First Idle No More tweet 4

.................................................................................................................Selected events 5

................................................................................Engagement level summary statistics 5

................................................................................................Low engagement category 6

..........................................................................................Medium engagement category 7

...............................................................................................High engagement category 8

........................................................................................................Leaderless movement 9

...............................................................................................................................Goals 10

...........................................................................................................................Themes 11

...........................................................................“Hijacking” of the Idle No More hashtag 14

......................................................................................................................Geography 15

.....................................................................................................................Participants 16

.............................................................................Participants vs. volume of contribution 18

........................................................................................................................Sentiment 19

...........................................................................................................................Website 22

................................................................................................................Top Twitter lists 26

......................................................................................................................References 28

Idle No More at Six Months: Analysis of the first six months of the Idle No More movement

IntroductionSomething remarkable occurred in December 2012. First Nations youth, historically without a voice, were suddenly heard. They gained national and ultimately international attention through a series of efforts blending social media amplification with civil action. They, along with other members of First Nations and supporters, identified themselves with the phrase “Idle No More.”

For the better part of two months, it was hard to avoid buzz about the Idle No More (INM) movement. The volume of online activity, flash mob round dances and protests made daily headlines. So did the apparent disconnect between First Nations leadership and the young people in their communities, as well as divisions within the Assembly of First Nations leadership.

The significance of INM cannot be downplayed. INM is a grassroots movement that leveraged the power of the participatory web and “open source” ideology. It is an energy source which has united people of different communities. Tweets, Facebook Pages, podcasts, blog posts, forums, images and videos built new bridges and obstructed traffic on others. Competition for attention is fierce and INM managed to do more than simply get noticed.

The movement grew out of a number of complex, deep-rooted issues which can be difficult to convey within a newspaper article, much less a 140 character tweet. In trying to simplify these issues, many important details of the movement were lost. The challenge of communicating nuanced issues in a clear, concise and meaningful way likely one of the many factors that caused the public interest in INM to take a sudden downturn just as the movement seemed to be reaching critical mass.

Clearly, INM grew much more quickly than even the movement’s founders could have anticipated. Their website did not seem to scale with the surge in public awareness, nor did it keep up with the movement’s activities. As people joined the Twitter chatter, there seemed to be no effort on the part of the movement to recruit those who weighed-in online. Along the way, several high profile events which seemed ripe for reenergizing the movement passed by.

Incredibly, the movement grew beyond Canada. Communities around the world held their own rallies to show support for Canada’s First Nations and to voice their own issues.

As INM moved into its fourth month, the substance of tweets suggest the focus of contributors became increasingly blurry and unfamiliar. A growing number of people and interest groups who may not have been aligned with the original INM goals and values affixed themselves to the online elements of the movement. As this happened, First Nations issues seemed to be pushed to the margins, overtaken by general anti-government and anti-capitalism sentiment.

Summer is now approaching and talk of “Sovereignty Summer” is increasing. Journalists and the public are wondering what they might expect from INM, particularly since a lengthy period of calm has generated the perception INM has largely dissolved. Whether or not the movement has lost

YOUR TWO CENTSFull Duplex is conducting an online survey aimed at gaining a better understanding of how online information and interactions help shape Canadian opinions on matters of public interest. The survey takes 12-15 minutes to complete. It will be available through June 2013. Results will be published September 2013.

http://bit.ly/ShapingSurvey


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momentum, there is certainly a greater degree of awareness among the public and the foundation for a greater share of voice in the 2015 election. The full impact of the movement may not be known for quite some time.

This report examines online chatter about INM and some of the online efforts by the movement. Our aim has been to understand the movement from its inception to its six-month anniversary by examining the role and use of democratized digital tools in the movement, and how Canadians participate online in matters of public interest.

This objective analysis is written from a neutral, research-based perspective free of affiliations with the movement and its critics. It is intended to be a comprehensive analysis, though by no means an exhaustive one.

The following graph illustrates the type of tweets issued during the first six months of INM.


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MethodThis report is based largely on analysis of tweets identified with the hashtag #IdleNoMore, the phrase “Idle No More” or the hashtag #NativeWinter. While #NativeWinter did not account for much traffic, it was included in early research and remained part of the established criteria.

The focus of analysis on Twitter is a recognition of the relative ease of identifying participants and their views. In this respect, Twitter participants are very much like a self-selected focus group. It is also possible to see how the commentary emanates outwards from an epicentre of interest through a web of connected individuals.

Participants in the online chatter have been organized into three groups: low engagement, medium engagement and high engagement.

Those who fall into the low engagement category issued between one and 15 tweets during the first six months of the movement. This category is generally considered to be made up of members of the public; those who appear to have limited interest in the movement, whether they are supporters, critics or indifferent.

Twitter accounts in the medium engagement category issued between 16 and 500 tweets. This group is considered to be actively interested in the movement, or at least interested enough to more openly express their views. Among those identified in this group are more active members of the movement (including some of its more public figures), media organizations (which were generally neutral in their views of the movement), labour groups and researchers/analysts (who often commented on the movement).

The high engagement category is made up of those who contributed 501 or more tweets. This group includes some of the most passionate supporters of the movement, some media and the ‘robots’ -- pieces of software which monitored Twitter for mentions of #IdleNoMore to retweet.

Sentiment was determined by analyzing a random sample of 13,000 tweets from all engagement levels for content and context, along with further text analysis of all 1.2 million tweets. Those demonstrating support for INM or sympathizing with causes associated with the movement were categorized as positive. Those criticizing the movement, its actions or people associated with INM were categorized as negative. Content which had no relevance to INM or the causes associated with the movement were categorized as noise. All other tweets, which generally include facts, information and links to articles, none of which present opinion or editorialize the issues, were categorized neutral.

Analysis was performed using Marketwired/Sysomos Heartbeat and Full Duplex Compass.

QUICK STATSOverall mentions 1,366,156Blog mentions 11,296Facebook mentions 100,011Forum mentions 13,669News mentions 19,189Twitter mentions 1,215,569Twitter participants 143,173YouTube mentions 6,422

Note: Facebook mentions identified include only those which are available to the public based on user-profile settings.


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First Idle No More tweetThere has been some debate over the date the first INM tweet was issued. Some news articles identified the following November 4 tweet by INM co-founder Jessica Gordon as the first INM tweet:

However, there was actually an October 30 tweet also issued by Gordon that referenced INM:

Generally, Gordon’s November 22 tweet is credited as officially initiating the movement:


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Selected eventsThe following table highlights some key dates relevant to the Idle No More movement.

20122012

Nov 10Jessica Gordon, Sheelah McLean, Sylvia McAdams and Nina Wilson found The Idle No More movement. They create a Facebook page called "Idle No More", a slogan for motivating the cause, and organize a November 10 event to protest Bill C-45.

Dec 10 National Day of Action and the first day of significant INM activity online (14,600 tweets)

Dec 11 Chief Theresa Spence begins her liquid diet

20132013

Jan 11 Global Day of Action, members of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnston

Jan 16 National Day of Protest, seven Cree youth set out from Whapmagootsui, QC on the shores of the Hudson Bay, for a 1,600 km walk to Ottawa they called “The Journey of Nishiyuu”

Jan 24 Chief Theresa Spence ends her liquid diet

Jan 28 World Day of Action

Feb 17 Day of Action

Mar 20 Global Day of Ceremony and Resurgence

Mar 21 Global Day of Action

Mar 25 The Journey of Nishiyuu walkers arrive in Ottawa

Apr 3 Elder Raymond Robinson begins his hunger strike

Apr 9 Elder Raymond Robinson ends his hunger strike

May 7 The Macdonald Laurier Institute releases a report which suggests Canada could see an indigenous uprising

May 12 Lowest day of overall Twitter activity since December 10 (641 tweets)

May 17 Former Manitoba MLA and Liberal MP Elijah Harper dies. In 1987, Mr. Harper was instrumental in voting down the Meech Lake Accord in order to protect First Nations rights.

Engagement level summary statisticsThe following table highlights some high-level statistics for each of the three identified engagement categories during the first six months of INM.

Low Medium High Total

Participant criteria 1-15 tweets 16-500 tweets 501 or more tweets

Tweet count 301,438 569,916 344,215 1,215,569

Participants 133,905 8,963 305 143,173

Average tweets/participant 2 67 1,128 8


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Low engagement category

Highlights

• Participants issued between one and 15 tweets during the first six months of INM• This category is generally considered to be made up of members of the public -- those

with a limited interest in INM• Number of daily unique participants and tweets issued is closely aligned given the low

level of engagement• Rate of acquisition of new participants (purple line) was high through January, slowing

down substantially by the beginning of February• A majority of the December chatter was positive (blue circles), driven by the early energy

of the movement, its members and supporters• Positive sentiment (blue circles) dropped substantially in January as blockades impacted

the public, and Chief Spence apparently lost public support as expressed online• Noise (grey circles) was high in January due to a surge in Twitter SPAMbots promoting

pornography and e-commerce sites• Positive sentiment (blue circles) was high in May due to a series of Government scandals

which energized INM-tagged government criticism


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Medium engagement category

Highlights

• Participants issued between 16 and 500 tweets during the first six months of INM• This category is generally considered to be made up of those actively interested in the

movement including supporters, media, labour and political groups, researchers/analysts and critics

• Given the higher rate of participation, daily unique participants issued a greater number of tweets, explaining the space between the solid and broken green lines on the graph -- a space larger during the more active times during the movement

• Rate of acquisition of new participants in this category essentially plateaud by mid-January

• Sentiment remained relatively static throughout the movement• Noise was higher in January due to a surge in Twitter SPAMbots promoting pornography

and e-commerce sites


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High engagement category

Highlights

• Participants issued 501 or more tweets during the first six months of INM• This category is generally considered to be made up of the INM’s most passionate

supporters, some media and ‘robots’ rebroadcasting all forms of INM tagged content• Daily unique participation was highest in this category, explaining the space between the

solid and broken green lines on the graph• Rate of acquisition of new participants in this category essentially plateaud by early-

January• Sentiment remained relatively static throughout the movement (even as the volume of

Twitter activity fell) with the only noteworthy changes being the general drop in percentage of tweets identified as having neutral or no sentiment while the percentage of positive sentiment generally increased


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Leaderless movementDigital tools and “open source” culture have helped reduce friction for campaigns and grassroots movements. Part of this new phenomenon is the increasing popularity of leaderless movements. They rely on the energy and ideas of the collective that moves by its own gravity, rather than by the direction of leaders and figureheads; a distinct difference from the civil rights movements cemented in history.

The Occupy Movement and Arab Spring are two very well known examples of this new style of democratized activism. Participants value the democratic nature of the movement and the absence of institutional structure. They refuse to conform to a mainstream media framework, which accounts for some of the confused media coverage. Perhaps more importantly for the movement, having no leadership makes it more difficult for authorities to dismantle the collective.

The INM movement is leaderless and non-hierarchical. The founders wanted to INM to distinguish itself from First Nations Chiefs, an established authority, and make this a grassroots movement (Curtis, 2013). However, there is a danger in not having recognized leadership.

Coinciding with the launch of the INM movement, Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat First Nation arrived on Victoria Island in Ottawa to begin a liquid diet (this was often referred to as a hunger strike in the media) in the hopes it would help her secure a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnston to discuss Canada's treaty relationship with First Nations leadership. Chief Spence is a member of the AFN, the very established authority from which INM had hoped to distinguish itself.

Chief Spence’s campaign attracted a significant amount of public attention. This satisfied the media’s need for a figurehead and presented INM’s opponents with the opportunity to designate a figurehead who apparently exposed divisions at several levels of the First Nations community. The public accepted Chief Spence as the face of the movement despite neither Chief Spence nor INM founders declaring that to be the case. Indeed, INM founders and spokesperson Pam Palmater found themselves having to frequently make statements distinguishing the movement from Chief Spence and the AFN.

There is a danger in not having recognized

leadership.


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GoalsThe INM movement began in response to the government’s omnibus bill, Bill C-45, which the founders allege threatens Treaties and protected waterways that pass through traditional First Nations land. As the movement grew, so too did the number of people joining the discussion.

INM movement founders waited to post their goals and vision for the movement at beginning of January. By this time, the movement had already taken on a life of its own, driven by those who felt an allegiance to INM and a sense of ownership of the movement. While collective ownership is a feature of “open source” movements, it also allows participants to take a movement in directions the founders generally do not anticipate. Some of these actions were apparently not aligned with the vision held by the founders such as blockades from which INM founders publicly distanced themselves.

In interviews conducted during this research, several journalists indicated they had difficulty finding and understanding the movement’s goals. Those who had located the goals indicated they could not understand how the goals would be achieved and success would be measured. This may explain some of the misconceptions of the movement which were based on what was most mentioned online, rather than on information released by the organizers of the movement.

While collective ownership is a feature of “open source” movements,

it also allows participants to take a movement in directions the founders

did not anticipate.


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ThemesDecember 2012

During the first month of the movement, much of the chatter was directly related to INM. This included information about the movement and promoting events such as round dances and flash mobs taking place across Canada. Videos and photos of these were regularly posted to the Internet and promoted on Twitter.

There was also a significant amount of chatter about Chief Theresa Spence’s decision to begin a liquid diet protest to pressure Prime Minister Harper to meet with her. At this time, much of the Twitter chatter about Chief Spence was supportive of her campaign.

Relevant Twitter activity was concentrated in Canada at this time. As the movement gained momentum, an increasing number of mentions promoted events taking place in different parts of the world.

January 2013

January opened with a lot of buzz about INM’s planned Global Day of Action, January 11. Tweets focused mainly on events that would happen across Canada -- events designed to raise awareness of the movement. INM created a microsite for the event on which they catalogued the 265 planned international events and promoted the use of #J11 hashtag.

The Global Day of Action electrified social media. It was the day the movement enjoyed the greatest number of tweets (56,954), partially energized by tweets about a meeting between Prime Minister Harper and some AFN leaders in the afternoon and another between Governor General David Johnston and some AFN leaders (including Chief Spence) in the evening.

The volume of online activity began to decrease the next day, dropping roughly 50% to 24,082 tweets and tapering off by the end of January to an average of about 8,000 tweets per day. Derek Antoine, a PhD candidate at Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication, suggested this drop in activity may have been the result of the public being under the impression the meetings implied the movement’s demands had been or were being met.

January also saw a marked increase in mentions of Chief Spence’s liquid diet. Unlike December, the chatter was not strictly positive. There was increasing criticism of Chief Spence and what some tweeters suggested was inconsistency in her demands. More people took to Twitter to express frustration over delays and disruptions brought about by blockades and other INM actions.

Pictures and videos of round dances and other INM events continued to be widely circulated online by INM supporters and those who happened upon round dances and flash mobs.

February 2013

As public participation in the online chatter waned, a growing share of the relevant mentions came in the form of news headlines.


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There was also an increase in mentions of events and movements emerging outside of Canada, including the United States, New Zealand, Brazil and Ecuador. February also saw a number of mentions of the 40th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Occupation in South Dakota.

More significantly, online activity began transitioning from being strictly about INM and issues concerning Aboriginal peoples to talk about “tar sands” and the KeystoneXL pipeline, climate change and protecting the environment. This represented a specific shift towards criticizing the Canadian government and its policies as a whole, rather than being specifically related to policies concerning INM goals.

March 2013

Tweets expressing enthusiasm and support for “The Journey of Nishiyuu Walkers” increased as they drew closer to Ottawa. The seven youths set out on January 16 for a 1,600km walk from their home in Whapmagootsui, QC to Ottawa.

Thousands of people gathered on Parliament Hill on March 25 to welcome the walkers, whose numbers had grown significantly since the group had initially set out on the walk. There was a surge in Twitter activity. The number of tweets jumped from 2,483 the previous day to 9,007 on the 25th. As the rally took place in Ottawa, Prime Minister Harper was in Toronto to greet two pandas arriving from China. That led to some very pointed criticism of the PM, further contributing to the day’s spike in activity.

The number of tweets mentioning INM dropped to 2,961 the next day, illustrating a challenge social movements such as INM face: sustaining long-term support. Many people who participate in chatter over social media have generally demonstrated short attention spans, particularly when it comes to nuanced and complex issues. If an idea is not immediately relevant or quickly understood, it generally gets tossed aside.

Complaints about the delays and disruptions caused by events and protests across Canada continued as did tweets promoting events and protests happening in Canada and in a growing number of cities around the world. Other chatter in March included criticism of the Keystone XL pipeline and controversial statements about child pornography made by PM Harper’s former advisor Tom Flanagan.

April 2013

The volume of online activity and media coverage about the movement continued to fall. Meanwhile, the share of international participation in INM chatter was on the rise. International groups capitalizing on the visibility of #IdleNoMore increasingly affixed the hashtag to their own events and causes whether directly related to First Nations issues or merely a convenient way to gain attention for their criticisms of governments and capitalism.

Many people who participate in chatter over social media

have generally demonstrated short attention spans,

particularly when it comes to nuanced and complex issues.


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Some of the chatter referenced the Liberal leadership race, including Justin Trudeau’s victory speech in which he mentioned INM and First Nations struggles.

May 2013

The Government provided INM participants with plenty of material for a sustained barrage of criticism. Issues such as the $3.1 billion in unaccounted government funds and the unfolding Senate expense scandal energized #IdleNoMore tagged demands for government accountability and resulted in the emergence of another hashtag: #PMHarperMustResign. Other themes included the March Against Monsanto, an international movement opposing bio-genetics company Monsanto, and a campaign calling for the clemency of Leonard Peltier which had been part of the on-going chatter that had been largely overshadowed by other issues.

Two significant events could have served as catalysts for the resurgence of the movement, both of which INM missed. First was a report released by the Macdonald Laurier Institute which stated conditions faced by Aboriginal peoples in Canada are similar to conditions faced by individuals in third world countries and could lead to an “indigenous uprising” in Canada. Though there were a few #IdleNoMore tagged retweets of the findings of the report and the Al Jazeera article which discussed the report, the story did not lead to a significant rise in INM activity.

The second missed opportunity was the death of Elijah Harper. Elijah Harper was a former Manitoba MLA and Liberal MP whose most famous contribution to First Nations rights is arguably his role in helping ensure the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord. While the general public and INM activists tweeted about Mr. Harper’s death and his commitment to First Nations rights, neither generated any new momentum.

The movement posted its slowest day of Twitter activity since December 10: May 12 with 641 tweets.


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“Hijacking” of the Idle No More hashtagThe amount of noise in relation to #IdleNoMore tweets has fluctuated. Noise is considered to be any tweet unrelated to the movement. In January, this included SPAMbots which took advantage of the popular #IdleNoMore hashtag to broadcast tweets such as “I laughed so hard I almost cried” which included links to pornography and e-commerce sites. Other examples include tweets about hockey which suggested players were #IdleNoMore following the end of the NHL lockout.

There is also the case of @AmerikanIdle, a Twitter account promoting a website focused on hip hop and rap music. The name is apparently a play on both the reality TV show “American Idol” and the INM campaign. Those responsible for this Twitter account composed tweets which included the words “Idle No More”, but were not actually referring to the movement. This appears to be a way of acquiring Twitter followers by leading people to believe the tweets were referring to the movement.

The Twitter account @TeamRevoltNow is described as “an open Twitter stream highlighting the ongoing worldwide revolution against Fascism/Oppression.” It apparently retweets any tweet which includes the hashtag #IdleNoMore, regardless of the sentiment. This is both good and bad for the movement. It can just as likely contribute to Twitter users blocking the account, or others related to INM in an effort to prevent perceived clutter in their Twitter streams.

Noise comes in a variety of forms and cannot be prevented. It is a bi-product of the drive for attention and challenges the relevance of the term “trending.”


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GeographyThe significance of the INM movement is that not only was it the first large-scale, pan-Canadian grassroots indigenous movement, it was the first online-driven Canadian indigenous movement to gain worldwide attention.

As the months passed, the movement attracted international awareness, support and online participation spanning five continents. While some of the countries did not have personal ties with the movement, other countries such as Norway, New Zealand, Ecuador and Brazil have sizeable indigenous populations which have faced their own struggles.

From December 2012 through May 2013, the share of Canadian mentions decreased 22% (from 82% to 60%) while those from the U.S. increased 16% (from 14% to 30%). The United Kingdom gained a 1% share during the same period. All of this occurred while the volume of overall activity plummeted from nearly 600,000 tweets in January (equivalent of 19,000/day) to nearly 32,000 in May (equivalent of 1,000/day)

The following global heatmap indicates where INM Twitter chatter was concentrated during the first six months of the movement.


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ParticipantsAnalysis was conducted to organize participants into four main groups: females, males, organizations and unspecified.1

Gender was determined through analysis of Twitter handles and first and last names as set in Twitter profiles. Unspecified are accounts that provide no indication by handle, name or description of the gender of the account holder, or whether the account is maintained by an organization. In examining the profiles of these accounts, some were identified as activists who chose not to disclose personal information, posting to Twitter under names such as “@frogsarelovely”. Some unspecified were responsible for the “noise” present, apparently using the #idlenomore hashtag due to its popularity and likelihood of gaining attention for themselves rather than being part of the movement.

Some “genderless” Twitter accounts were identified as organizations. These included national, regional, local and alternative media outlets as well as community, labour, political and activist organizations. These participants typically appear in the medium engagement category.

Based on analysis, roughly one-quarter of INM participants have been identified as organizations or individuals who have not revealed their gender.

INM was started by four women, and remained a largely female-drive movement in its early days. In December, females in the low engagement category led with 62% of all Twitter traffic while males accounted for only 38%. Online political chatter in Canada generally skews 70% male (give or take), making INM unique in this space.

During the early days, the volume of tweets issued in the low engagement category were generally gender-neutral, even though more women were participating in the chatter. The March and April contributions became less balanced, with females representing a larger portion of INM traffic on Twitter. However, in May, males in the low engagement category became responsible for 54% of INM traffic, the only instance in the six months of the movement during which males were more active than females.

In the medium and high engagement categories, the male/female split was never quite as even as in the low engagement category. Though the split appeared more balanced in January in the medium engagement category, females were responsible for an increasing share of traffic until May. This trend was also observed in the high engagement category where females were responsible for an increasing share of INM activity as the months passed, reaching 72% in April. By May, gender skewed females 60%, males 40%.


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1 All instances of the word “unspecified” as an indication of a participant group appear in bold type; unspecified.

Participant distribution

Low engagement category

Medium engagement category

High engagement category


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Participants vs. volume of contributionParticipation was categorized in two ways for this report: the participant groups (female, male, organization, unspecified) and the volume of tweets issued by each participant group. Looking at participation this way made it possible to uncover differences between the breakdowns of those participating in the chatter and the volume of tweets issued by each group.

The differences were more pronounced in the medium and high engagement categories. Unspecified accounted for 23% and 25% of overall participants in the medium engagement category during April and May, yet were responsible for producing 27% and 31% of tweets in those months. In the high engagement category, unspecified accounted for only 14% of participants in both April and May yet were responsible for 43% and 47% of all tweets issued in April and May, respectively.

It is also interesting to note the difference in the number of participants and level of participation across categories.

In the low engagement category, the number of tweets and participants identified on some days was often very similar, as participants in this category (133,905) issued a comparatively small number of tweets (301,438; an average of 2 per participant). The gap between participants (8,963) and tweet count (569,916; an average of 67 per participant) widens in the medium engagement category.

At the other extreme, the number of participants in the high engagement category is very small (305) though they issued a comparatively high number of tweets (344,215; an average of 1,128 per participant).

The graph that follows illustrates the volume of tweets issued by each participant group.


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SentimentDecember 2012

During the first month of the movement, most of the participants tweeting about INM were organizers and those close to the ideology that spawned the movement. Not surprisingly, this accounts for a positive trend in both the low engagement and the high engagement categories. In fact, a full 76% of the chatter in the low engagement category was positive.

Organizations had the highest percentage of positive sentiment (86%) followed by females (79%) and males (71%) and unspecified (70%). Males led in neutral tone (21%), largely reporting facts and sharing general information for which sentiment was neither positive nor negative toward the movement. Males also led in negative mentions (8%).

The high engagement category had results similar to those of the low engagement category; 75% positive. Unspecified had the overall highest percentage of positive tweets (80%). The percentage of positive sentiment tweets among males, females and organizations was roughly the same, hovering around the 75% mark.

The results of the medium engagement category differed significantly from those of the low and high engagement categories, with the majority of the tweets being identified as neutral. Organizations produced the most neutral tweets (75%) compared to the males (55%) and females (52%).

As awareness of the movement increased during the month and the #IdleNoMore hashtag gained a significant amount of online traction, noise began to take on a larger share of the chatter. Though volume of tweets categorized as noise was rather low (2%), 19% of contributions by unspecified was identified as noise.

January 2013

Criticism increased in January, driven by blockades of train and travel routes, threats to the economy and the results of a financial audit of Attawapiskat. There was also chatter about the apparent division between chiefs and the INM movement and even differing views among Assembly of First Nations (AFN) leaders.

The most dramatic drop in sentiment occurred in the low engagement category where positive sentiment dropped from 76% in December to 28% in January. This suggests diminishing public support as expressed online, combined with increased sharing of links to factual information (such as media reports) as the media directed more attention at the movement.

Females issued the highest percentage of positive sentiment tweets (35%), followed by males (30%) and unspecified (18%), with organizations trailing behind (16%). Negative sentiment tripled in the low engagement category (from 3% to 9%) led by males (18%).

The medium engagement results remained the same, continuing to be overwhelmingly neutral. The increase in positive sentiment tweets (from 21% to 28%) was the most significant change occurring among organizations.


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Noise reached an all-time high this month (23% overall, up from 5%), the highest percentage coming from within unspecified (62%). This was a particularly challenging month for Twitter. SPAMbots, pieces of software which identify and then flood popular hashtags with tweets linking to pornography and commercial sites, were out of control and #IdleNoMore was enjoying its most energized month, making it an easy target. Twitter apparently addressed this problem by mid-February. At present, SPAMbots exist on a significantly smaller scale.

February 2013

INM chatter in the low engagement category became increasingly neutral (56% overall, up from 40% in January). Organizations were the most neutral (68%), followed by females (57%) and males (54%). Unspecified took the lead in positive sentiment (37%), followed by females (32%) and males (28%). February also brought about a decrease in noise (11% overall, down from 23%) with unspecified still leading (14%).

The high engagement category posted an increase in positive sentiment, jumping from 74% in January to 85% in February. Organizations increased their positive sentiment by 26% (from 63% to 89%). Noise remained roughly the same.

The medium engagement category demonstrated no significant changes.

March 2013

The percentage of neutral chatter continued to grow in the low engagement category (65% overall, up from 56%). Leading the way again were organizations (79%). Females took back the lead for positive sentiment (32%), with males and organizations trailing behind unspecified (27%) by 3% and 9%, respectively. Negative chatter was reduced to a small fraction of overall tweets (2%). Noise continued its decline (6% overall, down from 11%). Males and unspecified both led in noise production (8% each).

Positive sentiment diminished slightly in the high engagement category, dropping 5% overall. The biggest drop in positive sentiment was among organizations (89% in February to 73% in March). There was also a slight increase in noise, particularly among unspecified where noise increased by 6%.

For a second consecutive month, there were no significant changes in sentiment among those in medium engagement.

April 2013 Neutral tweets were still dominant in the low engagement category, representing 68% of the chatter. In this category, organizations led (82%), with males and females trailing behind unspecified (69%). Females still had the highest percentage of positive tweets (31%). Noise continued to decrease, representing only 3% of overall chatter.

The predominately neutral medium engagement category saw an additional increase in neutral chatter (9% overall), with the biggest increase concentrated among females (up 13% from 53% in March). Meanwhile negative chatter and noise remained low.


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The high engagement category experienced the most substantial changes in April when positive sentiment jumped from 80% to 95%. Males had the biggest increase in positive sentiment (77% to 97%). Neutral sentiment decreased from 14% to just 3%, with noise and negative chatter essentially absent.

May 2013

A number of scandals plaguing the government, including the Senate expense scandal and the $3.1 billion in unaccounted government funds, energized anti-government chatter this month, some of which was tagged with #IdleNoMore. This helped vault positive sentiment from 27% to 86%, with organizations jumping from 16% in April to 93% in May. Noise also increased among males (from 3% to 6%) and organizations (1% to 5%).

While the medium engagement category remained mostly neutral, there was a 4% increase in this category’s positive sentiment (7% increase among males, 8% among females).

Positive sentiment within the high engagement category remained at high levels, falling only a very minor 2%.


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WebsiteAn effective website, particularly a campaign website, caters to the needs of all audience groups rather than just the movement’s supporters.

INM has faced a number of challenges with its website. Among the most significant is maintaining a site that addresses the needs/interests of four distinct audiences: supporters, media, the general public and critics.

Another difficulty encountered by INM is the organizers clearly did not anticipate how quickly the movement would grow and did not plan their website to scale with the movement. As a result, it appears website administrators had to scramble to keep the website up to date and relevant.

Design

Someone visiting the INM website for the first time can become easily overwhelmed. It appears INM tried to provide a wide range of content in the hopes of informing visitors about everything related to the movement. The result is a landing page that features a significant amount of content. Visitors need to scroll down quite a distance in order to navigate through various groupings of information.

Content on the main page includes:

• An article on “Sovereignty Summer” (the latest INM campaign)• Recent articles about INM• A Paypal donation section• A list of upcoming INM events• A live stream of tweets from the INM Twitter account• A list of recent Facebook posts from the INM Facebook page• A very long and growing list of ageing, undated articles, many of which have generic

titles which do not provide relevant context or meaning or indicate any urgency

It is becoming increasingly important and common for campaign websites to adopt a more minimalistic and user-centric approach. This trend has changed user expectations, meaning there is increasing pressure for website designers and administrators to keep their site architecture logical, design elements familiar and navigation intuitive. This also drives the need for keeping main page content fresh, moving archival content out of the way rather than having it collect on the main page.

Information Architecture

Site administrators need to keep in mind that in addition to supporters, there will be other interested parties using the website such as the media. Journalists often work on tight deadlines and do not have time to methodically navigate a website. If visitors, including journalists, cannot get the information they’re looking for from an official website, they will direct their attention to alternative, perhaps less authoritative or inaccurate sources.


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Therefore, it would make sense to have a separate section titled “Media”, which would feature a summary list of time-stamped press releases with meaningful titles, media contact information and links to the movement’s goals and history.

Search capabilities are essential for a website that features as much content as INM does. Not having an option to search for content could lead to frustration and a loss of interest on the part of individuals who are trying to find information about the INM movement.

A very useful (though somewhat hidden) feature on the INM website is the “Fast Navigation” tool. It can be found in the header throughout the site. This tool features shortcuts to six pages on the site: photos, videos, forum, latest events, sign up, and “our community.” Fast Navigation allows visitors to move more easily through the website. However, it appears that links to the “sign up” and “our community” pages are broken as they link back to a slightly modified version of the homepage, one which features only half of the content.

Clarity of Information

While there is an attempt to display the information in a clear and concise manner, there are some instances of overlap and repetition. The “Get Involved” page, which is listed under the subheading “Articles”, features past and upcoming INM events. Meanwhile, a separate “Events” section on the website only features a Google “Events Map” for the current and past year. This map of North America boasts scant dots signifying events. However, many upcoming events are noticeably absent from the map despite being listed in the “Upcoming Events” section of the home page. INM would benefit from the consolidation of all discrete instances of event information under a single “Events” category and the removal of the redundant “Get Involved” section from the “Articles” section.

The “Articles” section should be renamed. In addition to feature articles, news and updates, it includes general resources. “Latest news” is organized by provinces, national news, news regarding Chief Theresa Spence, US and global news. Many of the province sections either have not been updated since December or January or have no news posted at all.

Descriptive naming of content is critical for a number of reasons, including helping visitors identify current and relevant information (distinguishing it from dated content) and for the purpose of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Many articles are titled “For Immediate Release” but provide no indication of date or the reason for the release. This forces visitors to click through a growing collection of links to find relevant information.

If visitors, including journalists,cannot get the information they’re looking for

from an official website,they will direct their attention to alternative,

perhaps less authoritative or inaccurate sources.


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Goals

The collision of the information age with social media and mobile technology has eroded our attention spans. Social networking and communication tools have progressively (or regressively) restricted the space in which we can communicate a thought. This reveals a problem when individuals are faced with a lot of information, particularly on the small screen of a smartphone.

This problem applies to INM in relation to the core section of their website, the “About Us” page. It is extensive and rightly so – there is a lot of important information to share about the movement. “About Us” includes the biographies of the movement’s founders, the INM manifesto, vision, mission and plan of action, as well as the history of the movement.

INM would benefit from a brief, bullet-point introduction to its historical background, vision and plan of action as a preamble to a link to more information. This way, site visitors will be quickly introduced to INM, optionally delving more deeply with another click.

Conversion/Call-to-action

An important goal of a movement or campaign website is to engage visitors. This means creating an environment and conditions to convert regular individuals into supporters or to increase the involvement of existing supporters.

There are different levels of engagement a movement can present to potential supporters. The lowest level of engagement could involve making it possible for individuals to promote INM through social media by either “liking” or sharing a specific post on Facebook, retweeting a Tweet or asking individuals to mention INM on their blogs. Most movements, including INM, have done this.

Another popular call-to-action is requesting supporters use an identifiable campaign image as their avatar/profile picture on a social media property. This increases visibility of the movement.

Polls are often an easy way to engage visitors and gather meaningful information. A poll hosted on the INM website from January 3 through February 3 invited visitors to answer the question “Do you think the media is playing up the perceived divisions within IDM?”2 with one of three choices:

• Yes, we are stronger than ever!• No, there are divisions and the media is playing it just right.• I’m not sure.

Besides the apparent disconnect between the question and available responses, the voting period spanned an extended period of time during which both the movement and media coverage changed significantly. The result appears to be data which has little or no value, and exposes possible divisions in thinking about the movement, as just 53% of 4,061 of respondents confidently declared the movement was stronger than ever.

The next level of conversion could be requesting a financial contribution. INM has this covered through a PayPal Donation block on the landing page of its site.


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2 IDM is sometimes used as a short form for “Idle No More.”

Maintaining a database of supporters and media is critical. The activities that require the highest level of commitment are those that require direct involvement in campaign activities. These include participating in INM events, serving as a volunteer or becoming an event organizer. An extensive database of supporters would allow INM to call on those individuals when help is needed with various events.

An important section of the movement’s site, the “sign up” page, is a broken link. INM might be better served by a “sign up” block prominently placed on their landing page. This would allow individuals to register as supporters and subscribe to regular updates about INM by email such as in the form of a monthly newsletter.


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Top Twitter listsThe three tables in this section, one for each of the three engagement categories, identify the top ten tweeters for each of:

• Most Tweets - greatest number of tweets issued• Most Retweets - greatest number of retweets issued• Most Replies - greatest number of tweets responding to others• Most Mentioned - greatest number of appearances in tweets by others• Most Retweeted - greatest number of times retweeted by others

High Engagement

Most Tweets Most Retweets Most Replies Most Mentioned Most Retweeted@teamrevoltnow

14,152@teamrevoltnow

14,152@tersestuff

1,378@pam_palmater

616@youranonnews

19,837@chuddles11

6,815@chuddles11

6,809@magiczoetrope

815@idlenomore4

567@idlenomore4

14,567@idlenomoreyeg

(6,279@terrilltf4,561

@kal301765

@youranonnews532

@idlenomoreyeg6,282

@tersestuff 5,371

@fruitloopychic3,752

@reppinca659

@sunnewsnetwork449

@aptnnews5,996

@kal3015,353

@ndnstyl3,117

@pennyvane10507

@aptnnews398

@culturite5,586

@terrilltf4,846

@acimowin2,592

@chad_moats482

@deejayndn322

@rabbleca5,287

@fruitloopychic4,159

@beari8it2,535

@frankie0331478

@neiljedmondson289

@paulseesequa5,248

@ndnstyl3,844

@annfinster2,345

@indigorave456

@settlercolonial275

@christibelcourt5,102

@indigorave3,549

@arnelltf2,322

@ctestisthebbest438

@pygmysioux272

@deejayndn5,060

@beari8it3,248

@jlynneda2,138

@withitinbc411

@sheilagunnreid246

@apihtawikosisan4,979


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Medium Engagement

Most Tweets Most Retweets Most Replies Most Mentioned Most Retweeted@tribalvoice1

499@bonniebouvier

466@redskin206

397@chieftheresa

1,047@wabkinew

6,967@andrealoken

498@mommadeen

461@biglipmafia

343@thebrazman

736@jianghomeshi

5,550@kwcmb

497@terry24681865

448@queen8bees

233@ezralevant

696@rmcomedy

4,473@shanamanson

497@calvingodfrey1

445@globalrevlive

218@wabkinew

541@margaretatwood

4,281@dorion12

497@leahjdavidson

440@powlessathome

194@rmcomedy

235@naomiaklein

3,471@nativeadvocate

495@meiermac

436@danita_nez

188@jianghomeshi

214@gerayrobinson

3,053@okanagand_anon

492@lionelwade1980

426@bc7rocks

184@corybmorgan

188@ezralevant

2,424@calg_kiaguy

491@priscillagiant

420@mapleleafsikh

176@pnp_cbc

187@taiaiake

2,394@redskin206

490@lancehaymond

419@gregorburton

158@taiaiake

170@min_reyes

2,181@jmschow

487@rachelannsnow

403@thirsti_

157@petermansbridge

165@kxlblockade

1,849

Low Engagement

Most Tweets Most Retweets Most Replies Most Mentioned Most Retweeted

Irrelevant data due to the large number of participantsand the category criteria



@idlenomore552

@justintrudeau2,322




@nellyfurtado299

@nellyfurtado2,221




@justintrudeau279

@strombo1,726




@evansolomoncbc182

@davidsuzukifdn1,681




@strombo160

@citizenradio688Irrelevant data due to the large number of participants

and the category criteriaIrrelevant data due to the large number of participants

and the category criteriaIrrelevant data due to the large number of participants

and the category criteria @shawnatleo144

@democracynow659




@thomasmulcair90

@oliviachow507




@bobraemp65

@thomasmulcair472




@jtootoo2255

@thenfb412




@democracynow53

@shawnatleo397


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ReferencesArsenault, C. (2013, May 14). Report: Canada could see indigenous uprising. Al Jazeera. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/05/201358113923656697.html#.UZJj_3OTX7k.twitter

Curtis, C. (2013, January 1). Idle No More founders distance themselves from chiefs. National Post. Retrieved from http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/01/idle-no-more-founders-distance-themselves-from-chiefs/


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http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/05/201358113923656697.html#




http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/01/idle-no-more-founders-distance-themselves-from-chiefs/




Contact

Full Duplex Mark Blevis, Digital Public Affairs [email protected]+1-613-762-9704http://fullduplex.caIntegrated digital communications, public affairs and research


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mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://fullduplex.ca

http://fullduplex.ca

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