netroots

[net-roots, ‑-roots]

plural noun

1. an online community of grassroots political activists who use blogs and other social media to achieve results.

   The netroots have had genuine impact, changing U.S. politics in many ways.

Word History and Origins

Origin of netroots¹

First recorded in 2000–05; (inter)net + (grass)roots

Example Sentences

At past Netroots conferences, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was booed and Black Lives Matter protesters disrupted a presidential candidate forum in 2016.

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Biden acknowledged the importance of turning out even reluctant progressives in 2020, when he told that year’s all-virtual Netroots conference in a taped address, “I badly need you.”

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In the interview Monday, Jayapal noted her comments at the Netroots Nation event came as she’d tried to defend fellow Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois, who had unsuccessfully tried to assure chanting protesters who interrupted the event that she, too, is a vocal critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

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Jayapal, D-Seattle, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, made international headlines with her comments over the weekend while trying to talk down pro-Palestine protesters who had interrupted a panel discussion at the Netroots Nation convention in Chicago.

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The rift burst into public view over the weekend when Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat who leads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said at a conference of the liberal Netroots Nation that Israel “is a racist state,” leading to a swift condemnation from House Democratic leaders that prompted her to walk back the comment.

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