User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/The Day We Fight Back: A Digital Protest/@comment-10507735-20140211173103/@comment-20644-20140211181846

I think it's first important to remind everyone to please keep it civil. This is a topic that will create a lot of passionate opinions, but that doesn't mean we have to start becoming disrespectful.

In regards to your points, that's certainly a fair opinion. I don't think anyone expects a digital protest like this to shutter the NSA or end surveillance programs, and if people do think that then I'd say they have an unrealistic expectation of what can happen here.

What can happen, though, is letting our voices be heard so we can put pressure on Congress and the White House to take action. This isn’t unprecedented&mdash;two years ago, the internet (including Wikia) protested the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). By the end of the protest, the bills were dead.

The internet may not be the same as taking to the streets, but it is a powerful tool for thousands&mdash;if not millions&mdash;of people to come together and tell those in power that it's time for things to change. I like to think of it as a digital street, since this is an age where the internet is a very big part of society. If you choose not to participate, though, fair enough. That is your right and I respect that. At the very least, though, we hope to raise more awareness about this very important issue.