Over 24 lakh vote against graft in TOI campaign
Posted by mohit kumar jain on Thursday, August 25, 2011
Last Sunday, we reported that over a million (10 lakh) people had cast
their vote on The Times of India`s online campaign, `Against Corruption
Together` or ACT. The numbers amazed us. But what is truly, truly
stunning is the pace at which those numbers have grown since.
By midnight of Tuesday-Wednesday, the number of voters had doubled to two million, or 20 lakh, in what is almost certainly an unprecedented display of online activism. That`s more than the population of 78 countries! By 10pm on Wednesday, another 2.7 lakh had signed on, taking the total to 22.7 lakh. The number swelled to over 24 lakh overnight and stood at 24.5 lakh at 10am on Thursday.
To give you a sense of how large this is, here`s a statistic: Opinion polls to gauge the mood of the nation before a general election typically involve about 30,000-40,000 voters - a tiny fraction of the number of voters on ACT. If ACT were to be thought of as a referendum on the need for a strong Lokpal Bill, the message is loud and clear.
The war against corruption has struck a chord among Indians. And the numbers are swelling by the minute - a week ago, it was less than 4 lakh. Our online managers say that about 14,000 votes are being added every hour - without any push from the paper. We have not publicized it, except to write about it twice, a clear indication that the protest is spontaneous.
What`s more, there are 44,362 comments on timesofindia.com, which could well be a world record for a news site. Add to that over 27,000 Facebook shares, and what you have is a tidal wave of anger and frustration against corruption.
If you are in favour of a strong Lokpal Bill, give a missed call to 08030088502. The Times Campaign page can be accessed at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/for-a-strong-lokpal-against-corruption/lokpalbill.cms
source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
By midnight of Tuesday-Wednesday, the number of voters had doubled to two million, or 20 lakh, in what is almost certainly an unprecedented display of online activism. That`s more than the population of 78 countries! By 10pm on Wednesday, another 2.7 lakh had signed on, taking the total to 22.7 lakh. The number swelled to over 24 lakh overnight and stood at 24.5 lakh at 10am on Thursday.
To give you a sense of how large this is, here`s a statistic: Opinion polls to gauge the mood of the nation before a general election typically involve about 30,000-40,000 voters - a tiny fraction of the number of voters on ACT. If ACT were to be thought of as a referendum on the need for a strong Lokpal Bill, the message is loud and clear.
The war against corruption has struck a chord among Indians. And the numbers are swelling by the minute - a week ago, it was less than 4 lakh. Our online managers say that about 14,000 votes are being added every hour - without any push from the paper. We have not publicized it, except to write about it twice, a clear indication that the protest is spontaneous.
What`s more, there are 44,362 comments on timesofindia.com, which could well be a world record for a news site. Add to that over 27,000 Facebook shares, and what you have is a tidal wave of anger and frustration against corruption.
If you are in favour of a strong Lokpal Bill, give a missed call to 08030088502. The Times Campaign page can be accessed at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/for-a-strong-lokpal-against-corruption/lokpalbill.cms
source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com