(this is an article I wrote some time ago, before the “explosion” of the M5S in the political elections and after the administrative ones. Some figures may vary – but the ratio of followers between Grillo’s party and other ones is more or less the same, and Giovanni Favia was later expelled for what the comician considered to be excessive visibility – but the substance of the piece I think it’s still valid and interesting for all those who want to understand better the Grillo phenomenon. English may not be perfect as, having little time, I had to rely mainly on automatic translation services)

Accused of “indifference and sceptical behaviour” in a patronizing way from the left party, barely taken into consideration by the right party, the representatives of the movement called Movimento 5 Stelle, those people that someone calls”grillini” (or Beppe Grillo followers), hardly find any space on the big media, yet with each new election they gain subscribers. In the coming months sociologists and talk show hosts will fervently discuss the reasons, but there is one thing: these followers sure do know how to use the network better than their competitors who pay good spin doctors and social media consultants. After all, the followers of this movement come from the Web, from the Beppe Grillo.it site. Let’s have a look at their “secrets”.

Youth and attitude towards the use of new media
“Many of us are digital natives,” explains the mayor candidate in Turin, Vittorio Bertola, himself an Internet expert and consultant of many innovative projects. He continues with stating, “and others use the Network for years: everyone has his own blog and goes on social networks for which our political commitment represents the evolution of what we already did in first person.” On the contrary, the attitude of some political parties towards the Web is often distrust, if not real hostility. “Politicians of the old school, continues Bertola “often fear the network because they come from a world where information must be protected and guarded jealously. So, even when they choose to use this type of media they often do counterproductive things like censoring comments.

Decentralised management, small teams and minimum costs
Each segment of the movement at a regional level organizes at its discretion, its presence on the network, even if for everyone the common reference point is the blog of Grillo. The operating costs are minimal and the staff reduced, also because it is almost always the candidate that speaks in person on the social networks.Regarding the campaign for Mayor of Turin, Bertola explains “the work group is composed of a person who is the webmaster and a couple of volunteers who follow Facebook.
Another person manages all emails. Finally we have someone in charge of the videos on YouTube. “In Emilia Romagna there is a person who deals with the Press Office of the regional councillor, Giovanni Favia, Alessandro Marchi, and a webmaster who deals with the maintenance and technical management of the blog. The moderation of the comments on social networks and forums is given in large part to the community. A horizontal control system that works, assures Marchi, because our members have a degree of civic sense that is beyond average”.

There’s Facebook, obviously. The official page of the movement has 123,000 fans (that of Pd (left party), for example, has 47,000 and Pdl (right party) 43,000)
Then there are the personal pages of individual members and the public. But the “social” site by far the most used is undoubtedly YouTube. “Since 2008, says Marchi, YouTube was a bit like our trademark. We did something like 300 videos in three years. We try to put videos about sessions of the Regional Council of Emilia Romagna, and to especially grasp those situations where other councillors.” contradict themselves”.

“YouTube is extremely important, confirms Bertola, our channel has had the major number of viewers than that of any other candidate. We also post very long videos, that give a degree of transparency, because they document an event in its entirety. Shorter clips are meant to be more viral”.

The Web and transparency
If sunlight is the best disinfectant, Internet is an extraordinary tool for disclosing information that those who sit in the seats of power do not want to let people know about. Pioneering in this sense, the experience of the movement from Emilia Romagna, that on the site, trasparenza.emiliaromagna5stelle.it, has put on line all the economic reports of the pentastelle in the Regional Council and the salaries of all Councillors, including those of other parties.Not only that, but the Councillor, Giovanni Favia also recorded the audio of the committees at work, where the real decisions are taken, which are then often simply ratified in Council. The files are then posted online. “We have also implemented a forum, explains Marchi, where the citizens themselves can make proposals on the instances to be pursued during the sessions; for the moment it is an experiment, we are trying to find a system to filter those interventions considered to provoke or are an end in themselves.”The Network also serves to respond to censorships. Recently, a member has sought to film a meeting of the Municipal Council of Bologna, but was prevented and received some sort of “warning” by three group leaders. The pentastelle reacted in a mocking manner: the incident was shown on YouTube in a hilarious video.

From the Web to the squares
The exchange between online and offline is constant. “Our program, says Bertola, was first discussed on the Web, then presented in public meetings and then corrected on the basis of the suggestions received and then re-posted on the Internet”. The candidate Mayor of Bologna, Massimo Bugani, held about 40 meetings in areas all over the city. To invoke people, the followers of Grillo relied, in addition to the good old word of mouth, to the mailing list of people who attended earlier meetings, to people who signed petitions or registered on Facebook.The whole thing was organized with zero costs.

The original article (in Italian) was published on La Stampa

Related articles

• Beppe Grillo’s Five Star Movement becomes Italy’s election success story (guardian.co.uk)
• What Beppe Grillo Wants (newyorker.com)
• The Five Star Movement is not radical – Beppe Grillo is one of them, not us | Wu Ming Foundation (guardian.co.uk)
• Beppe Grillo is not a clown – and he’s turned politics upside down (theweek.co.uk)