'Slacktivism' works: Study shows people who like and retweet political slogan... People who protest by casually “liking” or retweeting political content online do have an impact, a new study has suggested.
Dubbed "slacktivists", people who express support for causes online but rarely mobilise in real-life are often dismissed as superficial and ineffectual. But analysis of more than a million tweets by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and New York University (NYU) has found these people on the periphery do play a critical role in spreading the reach of protest movements. The study, published in the journal PLOS One, focused on a few specific protests: the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Turkey, the Indignados movement against austerity in Spain and the Occupy movements. Using location data embedded in the tweets to determine who was at the protest and who was observing online, the researchers looked at how the size of the online activists' social networks increased the likelihood of other people joining the physical protest.
Million Mask March 2015. Mike Brown Anniversary. Protest Is the New Terror: How U.S. Law Enforcement Is Working to Criminalize... It’s well established that the FBI surveilled civil rights and other activists from Martin Luther King Jr. to leaders of the National Lawyers Guild as part of its wide ranging COINTELPRO (counter intelligence program) during the 1960s and early 70s.
The use of planted news stories, faked communications to create dissension within activist groups, informants to make dubious cases and even assassinations was revealed by a group of activists called the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI, who broke into a bureau office in Media, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and found ample evidence of the agency’s misdeeds. This is generally seen as an era of terrible government overreach in the name of fighting “communism.” 5 Tools the Police Are Using in Their War Against Activists. NYPD officers detain a protester during a march in solidarity with Baltimore on April 29, 2015.
(Reuters/Mike Segar) This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from TomDispatch.com.
May 9 Solidarity With Baltimore. “Disruptive Hooliganism” Vs. American [Dumb]ocracy. The Seattle Times Editorial Board raised many interesting questions in its weekend editorial decrying ‘hooliganism’ on the part of citizens opposed to the approval of the contract to build a jail for Black children at a recent King County Council meeting, and vaguely referenced other public meetings.
![“Disruptive Hooliganism” Vs. American [Dumb]ocracy.](http://cdn.pearltrees.com/s/pic/th/disruptive-hooliganism-106977341)
But, there is one critical question it blatantly ignored: Why did folks at the King County Council meeting feel the need to raise their voices in the first place? Perhaps the answer is that all this yelling and chanting under none other than the wooden face of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself (the official logo of the county) was the result of a series of disgusting and shameful displays of white supremacy, and the continuous disrespect county officials have shown in their determination to ram this project through since its inception.
March For Freddie Gray. 1992: The LA riots. A brief account of the six days of rioting which set Los Angeles aflame following the acquittal of four police officers who were filmed beating black motorist Rodney King.
"There's a difference between frustration with the law and direct assaults upon our legal system. " - George Bush Snr., May 3rd, 1992. The first rocks started to fly as the four LAPD officers who beat Rodney King and the jury who acquitted them were leaving the courtroom in suburban Simi Valley. Subsequent to the acquittal, on the afternoon of April 29th 1992, thousands of people began pouring into the streets of Los Angeles. In a few hours rioting spread across the LA metropolitan area. Great Moments in Peaceful Protest History.
Feb. 18, 2015 For Antonio Zambrano Montes. Feminist Heroes to Teach Kids Their ABCs in Badass New Picturebook. MayDay2015. Destroying the illusion. Gov't watchlists. 52 Hilarious #ActivistPickUpLines For Valentine's Day. West Seattle w O'Toole. Civil disobedience. Million Mask March. March For Eric Garner. Shut It Down For Mike Brown. March For Mike Brown. November 11th. Seattle Dec. 7. Seattle Dec. 8. Seattle Dec. 13. Seattle Dec. 15. New Year's 2015. MLK Day 2015. January 27 Community Policing, Youth Jail, Press Conference. Instead of protesting. Third Northwest activist jailed for staying silent. “Today is October 10th, 2012, and I am ready to go to prison,” announced 24-year-old Leah-Lynn Plante yesterday.
By Thursday morning, the Portland activist was in custody and could remain incarcerated in a U.S. federal prison for 18 months, although she has not been charged with a crime. Along with two others in the Pacific Northwest, Plante was remanded into federal custody for her refusal to provide a grand jury testimony regarding activists in the region. Oscar Wilde. Disrupting my commute. The Solutions Institute is now offering assistance to activists. Justin King January 5, 2015 (TheAntiMedia) The Solutions Institute is the brainchild of Daniel Johnson, noted anti-NDAA activist.
The idea was simple: professional support and advice for activists. Johnson recruited a team of public speakers, journalists, police officers, radio show hosts, social media gurus, and successful activists from all ends of the political spectrum to provide assistance to those seeking to make a change. Listed on the institute’s adviser page are members of organizations you wouldn’t expect to be working together.
Steve Beson is a founding member of Florida Cop Watch.