Information Politics, Digital Culture and Global Protest Movements: „The so-called “web 2.0” of social network sites was invented as a business strategy to react to the first dot.com bust and, as revealed by the NSA scandal, it has been heavily used by the State as a platform of global surveillance. Yet, this space has also seen the rise of new powerful forms of digital activism, as seen in the adoption of Facebook and Twitter as means of mass mobilisation in the context of the Arab revolutions, the Spanish indignados and of Occupy Wall Street. These contradictions raise a number of burning questions for contemporary digital activists. What are the real opportunities and threats for digital activism at the time of social network sites and big data? How can protest movements make use of the power of mass diffusion and collective coordination afforded by social media without falling prey of state monitoring or cultural banalisation? And is it better to invest energy in creating alternative and non-commercial communication platforms or in occupying the digital mainstream?“
Venue at King’s College London – April 4th 2014