Activism by the Numbers: West Virginia Teachers Strike Edition

We looked at our data to see how West Virginians used Resistbot to contact their representatives during their teacher strike from February 22, 2018 to March 7, 2018. As the Oklahoma teachers strike enters its second week, we’ll be curious to see if similar patterns occur.

We analyzed Resistbot data around this time period (anonymized to protect user privacy) and found that West Virginians wrote 1,427 letters to their elected officials during the strike.

On March 5, 2018 — as negotiations stalled between the West Virginia House and Senate and teachers formed a human chain around the state Capitol building — 49.2% of all Resistbot messages sent to elected officials came from users in West Virginia. Additionally, roughly 2,300 new users signed up for Resistbot, making West Virginia the fastest growing state from February to March of 2018.

This is made even more impressive when you compare West Virginia’s numbers against the three most populous states in the country: California, Texas, and Florida. Only Florida approached West Virginia’s single-day share of messages during this time period — 30% on February 20, when many Floridians wrote to their elected officials in response to the tragic mass shooting at Parkland, Florida.

Below are a few letters shared by Resistbot users in West Virginia during the teachers strike.

Here’s what you can do

Text RESIST to 50409 or contact Resistbot on Facebook Messenger, Telegram, or Twitter to send a message to your elected officials.

But wait, there’s more!

• Send MUELLER to Resistbot to find your nearest rapid response protest location if Special Counsel Robert Mueller is fired.
• Send SINCLAIR to Resistbot to see if there are any local television stations owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group near you.
• Send NRA to Resistbot to see how much money the NRA has spent in direct and outside funding, both for and against your current elected officials.