[P2P-F] Fwd: New answer to "Are social networks the new platforms for social activism?"

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Quora <noreply at quora.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 11:05 PM
Subject: New answer to "Are social networks the new platforms for social
activism?"
To: michelsub2004 at gmail.com


[image: Quora]New answer to "Are social networks the new platforms for
social activism?"
*Seb Paquet*:
Social networks in their current incarnations do offer a rudimentary
platform for awareness-raising (through word-of-mouse information sharing),
petition-style activism, and passive group-forming (join the group, become a
fan, forget about it).

As such, they serve an important function. Deep change rarely happens unless
people (1) are pissed off, (2) know that lots of others are pissed off too,
and (3) are aware that everyone knows that people are pissed off, which
makes action socially acceptable (credit for this observation goes to Henry
Copeland <http://www.quora.com/Henry-Copeland>)

Awareness is necessary but insufficient for change, however, and *action
platforms *are needed to conduct effective activism online.

In this century, effective activism is no longer about taking institutional
power to effect change; it's about *getting new things started* and *building
alternatives*. Project-based, creative and viral activism is where it's at.

Current-day social networks are not really designed to support this kind of
activism, but there is already some promising work in that direction. See
e.g. Open Projects: What websites help you start, plan, and run open
projects?<http://www.quora.com/Open-Projects/What-websites-help-you-start-plan-and-run-open-projects>

*To see the question page with all answers, visit:
http://www.quora.com/l/ec3nX4WO*

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The Quora Team

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