Collective Action, Politics, and Protests

March 11

Last class we learned about SOPA, and the fear that it engendered in many Internet commentators. SOPA lead to what is often considered the high-water mark of American engagement online in domestic policy circles (so far). But the Internet has been used for collective action since its inception. When does this work? When does it fail? Who gets included and who are we leaving behind? Does the Internet serve as a better facilitator to protests in some areas versus others?

Today will be an exploration of online protests and collective action, both in general and through the lens of some famous recent examples. Along the way we'll grapple with limitations of online protest activity, the criticisms weighed against online protest behavior, and some of the ethical questions that come up when different organizations fight for attention to their specific causes.

Joining us this week will be Alicia Solow-Niederman, a Berkman project manager who studies collective action online.

Readings/Watchings

Framing

• MIT Communications Forum, What is Civic Media? (skim)

• Daniel Drezner and Henry Farrel, The Power and Politics of Blogs (read introduction, "The networked structure of the blogosphere;" skim "How skewedness affects politics;" read "The constraints on blog influence" and conclusion)

• Bruce Etling et al., Political Change in the Digital Age: The Fragility and Promise of Online Organizing (read introduction, "Digital Technologies, Information and Political Transitions," "Online Organizing and Contentious Politics," and "The Uncertain Future of Digital Organizing")

Case Studies

• Yochai Benkler et al., Social Mobilization and the Networked Public Sphere: Mapping the SOPA/PIPA Debate (read 4-10, skim 12-38, read 39-46)

• You may also want to play around with the controversy mapper Media Cloud put together in connection with this report.

• Erhardt Graeff, Mapping the Trayvon Martin Media Controversy

• Lada Adamic and Natalie Glance, The Political Blogosphere and the 2004 U.S. Election: Divided They Blog (read introduction, analysis, and conclusion – i.e., pages 1-3 and 8-15)

• Alex Remington, Social Media and Participation in Political Protest: Observations from Tahrir Square

• Zeynep Tufekci, #Kony2012, Understanding Networked Symbolic Action & Why Slacktivism is Conceptually Misleading

Observations, tactics, and methods

• Aaron Swartz, A Theory of Change

• Ethan Zuckerman, The Tweetbomb and the Ethics of Attention

Optional Readings

• Aaron Swartz, How We Stopped SOPA

• Gilad Lotan, KONY2012: See How Invisible Networks Helped a Campaign Capture the World’s Attention

• Yochai Benkler and Aaron Shaw, A Tale of Two Blogospheres: Discursive Practices on the Left and Right

• Jillian York, Policing Content in the Quasi-Public Sphere (focus on the Introduction, and “Social Media: Privacy Companies, Public Responsibilities”)

• Yochai Benker, The Wealth of Networks (Chapter 7 - "The Emergence of a Networked Public Sphere")

Class Discussion

Please remember to sign your postings by adding four tildes (~~~~) to the end of your contribution. This will automatically add your username and the date/time of your post, like so: Andy 11:51, 11 February 2014 (EST)

He also explained that people who claim that technology is neutral have typically zoomed out so far that the relationship between the individual, society and the technology are lost. He used the argument that while it may be accurate to say that either a gun or a toothbrush can be used to kill, but this theoretical accuracy is so abstract that it loses credibility.

I really like this, reminds me of Emergent properties Erin Saucke-Lacelle 15:48, 9 March 2014 (EDT)

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Benkler et al's "Social Mobilization and the Networked Public Sphere" defines the networked public sphere as "an alternative arena for public discourse and political debate, an arena that is less dominated by large media entities, less subject to government control, and more open to wider participation." Thinking about how other parts of the public sphere are subject to each of these forces of control certainly makes the "public sphere" sound a little less "public." While the mainstream American media can often look like a circus, particularly if you're looking at the 24 hour news networks, with Benkler's ideas about the networked public sphere in mind, they don't really feel like something the public engages in. Rather, it is something we can engage with. Less a participatory medium than one that we have the option to either consume or not. Jkelly 12:01, 10 March 2014 (EDT)

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I found the article mapping the Trayvon Martin case particularly interesting as I grew up near where the incident occurred and it caused such a frenzy all over Florida (and all over the country, for that matter). I happen to know someone really high up in the DA's office in FL, so hearing the facts of the case in comparison to what the media was broadcasting was shocking. The media completely created a story to propel their own political agenda and made it fit what they wanted to say. This is not at all to say that the message regarding race relations wasn't important, but it is interesting how they would squash facts which came up on the opposing side and emphasize and exaggerate other aspects so that they're telling the story that they want to tell. It's especially fascinating when you consider the story of Travyon to that of Jordan Davis, another black teenager who was shot by a white man in Florida, which was CLEARLY a race issue. Unlike the case of Trayvon, Davis's case was cut-and-dry, yet the latter case didn't get nearly as much media attention despite the fact that it could've actually spoken more loudly and to a more severe degree about race relations.

Castille 12:07, 10 March 2014 (EDT)

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I thought the article on the KONY 2012 campaign and the concept of slack-tivism very interesting, especially since I remember very well watching the movement unfold and ultimately deflate. I do think that the internet can be effective in stirring debate and real change, but how we harness that power is ultimately unable to be controlled and can be easily manipulated, as we saw with the whole Kony movement. The organization was followed by scrutiny and met with a lot of accusations and controversy. However, the campaign did teach a valuable lesson: online movements can have real impacts and stir public conversation. The response from the video definitely brought Uganda to media attention as people investigated the message and the country.

There are some positive examples of collective action online, such as sites like Kickstarter that depend on action by strangers to support projects. It is a successful example, in a smaller and arguably more effective scale, on how the Internet is able to influence people’s lives and connect strangers. It would be interesting to see how sites like this can maintain it's audience and continue to inspire people to donate and participate.

Lpereira 19:51, 10 March 2014 (EDT)

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I found the article “The Power and Politics of Blogs” by Daniel Drezner and Henry Farrel really interesting. I always wonder why blogging has such a big impact and influence on people and the media when as a matter of fact, there are not many readers. “Blogging is many things, yet the typical blog is written by a teenage girl who uses it twice a month to update her friends and classmates on happenings in her life”, when now it has become an important media that could make a Senate Majority Leader resigns from the position.

Jolietheone 02:26, 11 March 2014 (EDT)

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A CRITIQUE OF THE PAPER BY DREZNER AND FARREL

The distribution graphs shown at the end of the paper are too academic and technical and serves no practical purpose. They cannot be easily be interpreted. There are no graphs showing relationship between skewness and the variables the authors were supposedly measuring. No variables, political or otherwise, were explicity mentioned.

It also seems flawed to argue that politicians or the government should make decisions or "coordinate" their actions around a somewhat mysterious "Z" variable. One won't get a majority vote or approval by making decisions based on such a "calculation". And the problem of decision-making does not encompass a single "z" variable but more often an interplay of multiple factors. Cognitive maps, stakeholder analyses, and game theoretic approaches, etc., taking into account multiple criteria may be more appropriate.

The importance of blogs may have been overstated and needs some qualification. Generally, nobody is interested to read just anybody's blog. But if an articulate, prominent and influential blogger continues to write and maintains his blog online, people may pay attention. Some such blogs may get the attention of lots of people and lots of contributions. But my bet is majority of individual blogs don't get significant attention. It is true though, if one intends to get more attention, one would write on blogs of popular bloggers or blogs of popular online communities...and also link them to one's own blog. The people who has the power and means to take action to improve our world do not have time to scour and read the blogs. The need for more organized online information and data flow cannot be over-emphasized and blogs are not the appropriate medium.

Ichua 08:33, 11 March 2014 (EDT)

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I was in Cambridge when Aaron Swartz committed suicide last year, and witnessed how vocal the local community became during the weeks that followed. It was a pleasure to reread and rewatch some of his work today, and a wonderful reminder how much impact a person can have by mobilizing online communities, especially through the theory of change he described so well on his blog. --Seifip 09:37, 11 March 2014 (EDT)

Did he really committed suicide? The Court seems to have treated him too harshly, perhaps to make an example of him. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVMGG3flGdk Ichua 11:07, 11 March 2014 (EDT)

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