Exam pupils who demonstrated the changing power of protest

It was a question about shrews which proved to be the final straw.

At 1.30pm on Monday, around 20,000 pupils sat an A-level biology paper compiled by the exam board AQA. Ninety minutes later, their workbooks were collected and up and down the country dissenting voices were determined to make themselves heard.

Many of the students felt the paper was unfair and bore little resemblance to the syllabus they had spent months revising. The brunt of their anger was reserved for a section on shrew populations and, more specifically, a question on which type of glue would be best to

trap samples of the tiny mammals' hair.

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A few years ago, the odd official complaint might have been lodged, but knowing any grumbles would most likely fall on deaf ears, for most the

only option was to put up and shut up.

However, the internet and its social networking sites have created a very public platform on which to air grievances. Pitched right, online protests can take on a life of their own.

Within a few hours of sitting the biology exam paper, one of the disgruntled students set up a Facebook group dedicated to highlighting the injustice of it all. It might not have had the catchiest of titles, but by yesterday evening, "AQA unit 4 biology exam (25/1/2010) was a disgrace!" boasted 10,397 members and the postings, many of them directed against the shrews, were growing.

A similar group backed by some of the 3,000 students who had found the OCR biology paper equally baffling was also fighting back online and the joint protest earned itself regional and national media coverage.

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As events snowballed, Harrogate-based AQA was forced to issue a statement. While it insisted the paper was fair, it said the students' concerns would be taken into account during the marking process. As an example of people power, it was impressive stuff.

However, given that users of Facebook and its online cousin, Twitter, are able to give their backing to any number of causes safe in the knowledge the only effort it requires is a single push of a button, can online protests ever really pack the same punch as the real thing?

This time last year, the BBC found itself at the centre of a row following its refusal to air a charity appeal in aid of Gaza on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee. The broadcaster said it feared the move would undermine public confidence in its impartial coverage of the conflict, but as word spread online the story shot up the news agenda.

When an e-petition attracted 22,000 virtual signatures, it was seen as further evidence the BBC had got it wrong. However, a closer

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examination suggested not all the protesters had the cause close to their hearts. Only 13,000 had actually contributed to the appeal and the rest had clicked on the link simply because they could.

To some, the motivation doesn't matter and the ability to mobilise a diverse set of people quickly and without any financial cost brings its own rewards. When Jon and Tracy Morter decided to take a stand on

Facebook against the chart domination of X-Factor winners, they not

only secured a Christmas number one for Rage Against the Machine, but also reportedly turned down jobs with their nemesis, Simon Cowell.

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The Morters' campaign may have been at the trivial end of the protest scale, but it showed that, if exploited right, the online demonstration can have much greater power than any march.

When last year's Iranian elections descended into chaos amid

accusations of corruption, the story took a very modern turn. With the government doing its best to cut communications with the outside world, those unhappy with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory went online. When the video footage, reports on the ground and support groups went viral, the world was forced to take notice.

Unlike events in Iran, most online protests disappear into cyberspace as quickly as they arrive. Campaigns to bring the 1 note back into circulation and to have Stephen Fry knighted rumble along without anyone taking much notice.

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However, every so often a group does rise to the surface and for organisations like AQA, normally cossetted from the pupils they were set up to test, the virtual demonstration will remain a very real thorn in their side.