Serious research on 4chan, where Anonymous began

http://www.slate.com/id/2297492

"The researchers captured two weeks of activity on /b/ last summer: 5,576,096 posts in 482,559 threads. As you can gather, the pace is furious. The median life of a thread was 3.9 minutes. The shortest-lived thread disappeared in 28 seconds; the longest survived for 6 hours and 12 minutes."

I would guess this means the researchers are in possession of questionably illegal content, but nevertheless, it's good research that shows the value(?) of anonymity on a message board.  The question they were asking is, how can such a chaotic, wild-west web site produce so many popular internet memes?  The answer; it's a chaotic, wild-west web site.

Is ICA good for revolution, but not governing? Hell yes.

http://profoundheterogeneity.com/2011/06/the-critical-question/comment-page-1/#comment-79

"While generally I am a cautious optimist when it comes to the question of does social media enable people to resist and coordinate against oppressive regimes (more on the side of Shirky on this, less on the side of Morozov), I am far more skeptical on the question of whether or not social media powered revolutions yield stability. They might be really good in the short term, but the attributes which make social media powerful in the short term, might also be a hindrance in the long term, not so good at long lasting stability."

I posted a response to this article:

I think you missed a couple of important points. First, the soul of democracy is that people have a voice, where they can expound on their views and opinions. This means there is a cacophany of ideas all around. but as Kevin Kelly shows, we do not need to fear chaos so much as we think. I learned this studying the group Anonymous. They shun anyone who would consider themselves a leader of Anonymous, yet the efficiently and creatively built a movement against the Church of Scientology. Argument and fighting are just considered a part of their process, not something to be avoided, because out of that arguing and fighting comes action. Your article almost sounds like you fear too many people having a voice.
Secondly, you should see getting rid of Mubarak as one action. Once that was done, that process closed, and the next action – organizing political parties and holding an election – is the next step. They are two different things that require completely different organizing. While the protests were essentially leaderless, you can’t really have a leaderless government, by definition. So I don’t think you should bemoan one process because it’s not like another process.

Anybody in Washington, DC? Good discussion upcoming in July

http://www.meetup.com/intlrel-76/events/23103221/

Online Activism after #ArabSpring : What's Next?
When: Thursday, July 14th 5:30 PM
Where: IREX 2121 K St NW # 700, Washington D.C
Agenda

• Gathering, Networking: 5:30-5:45
• Panel discussion 5:45-6:30 (about 5-7 minutes per speaker)
• Questions: 6:30-7
• Optional happy hour at Circle Bistro: 7-9

Looks good!  Wish I could go...

Tripoli protesters slowed down, not stopped, by Internet stoppage

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE75M0TJ20110624?sp=true

Opponents of Gaddafi in the Libyan capital say they have had to revert to the kind of methods of communication used by dissidents and revolutionaries before the age of social media.
Unable to build networks on Facebook and Twitter, they have had to feel their way around slowly, the "old-fashioned way", to make contact with like-minded people in other neighbourhoods.
"It is difficult to reach other groups," said an activist who gave his name as Salim.
"There is a lot of fear and people don't trust each other."

* * *

   This article shows one of the main advantages of ICA; speed.  What could take minutes online takes hours using other methods.  I suppose this also speaks to the strong-ties vs. weak-ties of social networking. To me, strong ties are less necessary online.  It's possible to be more anonymous online and still work together, which makes trust less of an issue.  Now that I think about it, that's probably the biggest difference between strong and weak ties, the amount of trust established.  If a group can work together while spending less time having to check each other out, that's a time-saver right there. 

video talk on social media speeding up actions

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2011/jun/22/hillary-clinton-adviser-internet-dictators-video?CMP=twt_gu

Nice short talk by Alec Ross, senior advisor on innovation to Hillary Clinton.

For ICA, the internet is necessary but not sufficient

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/16/networks-fame-revolutions

"By the same token, a global network that allows loosely coordinated groups of people to discover each other and act in concert while exposing their cause to the whole planet (especially its richest, most privileged residents) is not enough to overthrow a dictator — but I'm sure I wouldn't want to try to stage a revolution without such a network."

And there it is.  The internet does not magically accomplish anything. It is just the latest best tool to USE to help you accomplish things.  It doesn't make people braver, it just gives them easier access to like-minded people who might be braver when they collaborate.  It doesn't make you smarter, it just gives you easier access to information that could prove to be useful.  It doesn't make you more talented, but it does give you access to tools that make many tasks easier.

The internet helps.

The ubiquitous video camera is changing the world

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/surveillant-society/2011/06/17/AGnbbOZH_story.html


“'Your word against mine' can be a serious and drawn-out dispute, subject to all kinds of subjective judgments, loyalties, rights, and arguments; 'Your word against my high-definition video' gives citizens and the vulnerable a bit more leverage."

   What happens when most people are walking around with a high-quality video recording device?  And those videos can be put on public display almost instantly?  How will citizen-produced videos be verified as unaltered?  This is a useful article to consider.

ICA in Vancouver to catch rioters

http://m.ctv.ca/topstories/20110616/angry-vancouver-residents-call-for-public-to-identify-rioters-110616.html

"Rioters who smashed windows, flipped and burned cars and generally caused mayhem in downtown Vancouver after the Canucks' loss Wednesday night may discover some unwelcome evidence of their actions when they log into Facebook on Thursday.
A social media movement has taken root in the aftermath of the chaos, with angry, embarrassed citizens posting images online and asking for help identifying the perpetrators."

This is a pretty classic example of ICA. People work together at their own pace to accomplish a simple goal; in this case, identifying rioters.

More info:
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Vancouverites+fight+back+against+rioters+through+social+media/4958109/story.html 

UPDATE: one million photos sent to police!

How the Internet is used in revolution, by both sides

http://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/gratis/Diamond-21-3.pdf

 "It is important for the United States to have declared, as Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton did in a historic speech on January 21, that 'We stand
for a single Internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge
and ideas.' But the struggle for electronic access is really just the timeless
struggle for freedom by new means. It is not technology, but people,
organizations, and governments that will determine who prevails."

   This is a nice look at how revolutions have used the Internet, and how governments have also used the Internet to thwart revolutions.

Iceland crowdsources new Constitution

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/09/iceland-crowdsourcing-constitution-facebook


As the country recovers from the financial crisis that saw the collapse of its banks and government, it is using social media to get its citizens to share their ideas as to what the new document should contain.
"I believe this is the first time a constitution is being drafted basically on the internet," said Thorvaldur Gylfason, member of Iceland's constitutional council.

* * * *

It's nice to see a government that thinks its citizens are smart enough to give direct input for important changes.  Perhaps this will be a sign of the future.