Current Issues in Journalism

With a tool as effective as Facebook to reach socially conscious students, it is no wonder that 20/20 Vision has used the social networking site to communicate. The Kansas chapter of the Washington D.C.-based environmental action group has been particularly active, using Facebook to coordinate efforts to fight a controversial attempt by Sunflower Electric Co. to build two coal-fire power plants in Holcomb, KS.
While the proposed plants raised the ire of environmentalists across the state, students at the University of Kansas were the ones leading the charge. 20/20 Vision had existed on campus for a few years before current president Margaret Tran officially gave them a presence on Facebook. From there, she was able to work with a number of students, and organized a petition drive. With help from members of other groups such as Delta Force and Environs, the drive, which included post-cards to Governor Kathleen Sebelius, as well as an online petition (to which 20/20 Vision’s Facebook group prominently featured a link), was able to amass several hundred signatures.
With Facebook as a primary means of coordination, 20/20 Vision was successful in not only getting hundreds of people at KU alone to sign its petitions, but also in spreading dialogue about the coal plants, as well as alternative sources of energy, namely wind-power. The group itself represents the core of the Kansas branch of the organization, but several of its more active supporters. This is a testament to the effectiveness of Facebook as a network not only of fun-loving college students, but of activists as well.