Slightly off topic...
I was giving some thought to exactly how much support Tom Crawford has. On the face of it the impression I would have is that it would be quite a lot. 4000+ members of the ETFOTB facebook page, 120,000+ views of the most recent video. Lots of activity by his supporters. However, most of my friends on Facebook are from Nottingham. Most are left wing and lean towards anti-capitalism, Most support the underdog, many are involved in political & social campaigning. Many share stories of injustice to my page. One is even a member of the ETFOTB page. And the number of times I have seen a story about Tom Crawford shared to my page on Facebook.... A Big Fat ZERO!
One person did change their profile picture. But that lasted all of 2 minutes before they changed it back again. Maybe they were advised by another of the true story behind the eviction?
None of my friends that I socialise with know much about the story. Many didn't even know the name Tom Crawford despite the story being covered on National and Local media. None are interested enough to look for information themselves, instead, they are happy for me to keep them abreast of the situation over a pint or two of Nottinghams finest real ales.
So, I realise its totally unscientific, No better than a strawpoll. But it does suggest to me that most of Nottingham is either unaware of the iamtomcrawford campaign or they are aware but believe the eviction was right and proper.
It's very easy when investing time and effort in this situations, weather for or against, that one has tunnel vision and expects everyone else to also be aware of the situation. I would suggest we on Quatloos are as guilty as those on GOODF or on ETFOTB in believing there is a large movement behind all of this.
So regarding the members on the ETFOTB facebook page, the most likely situation is that that there is a minority vocal hard core of Crawford supporters. They are the ones making all the noise. Behind them there are people who are anti establishment who will jump on any band wagon. They are the one who come out to the eviction to give the police hassle, just for the crack - a "rent-a-mob" if you will. Then you have people who who were invited to the page and thought they would post just once to support an old man being evicted. These people won't have looked any further into the truth and will play no more part in what happens next. Finally, you have people in the group who are interested but for all the right reasons - I'm sure that includes many on here
My view is that this whole thing will fizzle out. Tom will become a certified Guru who teaches others how to prevent their eviction but outside the FMOTL movement he will be a nobody once more. Life will go on. Banks will issue mortgages. People will pay them. Homes will be owned. Nothing will change.
