Social Revolution
So far we have discussed writing and learning in the Read/Write Web; we’ve examined blogs, wikis, bookmarking tools, photo sites, RSS and Skype; and we’ve evaluated connectivism. It seems, too, that we are doing this to become a larger part of a learning community. As I see our progress, we are in a cycle of learning, creating, and participating almost simultaneously. We’ve all come to a point where we are communicating, tagging, reading and writing; we’ve become social networkers and we’ve assimilated quite well in our working communities and beyond.
And then, just as we become comfortable, along comes a new idea that makes us stop and think “oh yes” I can see that. Have you all heard of Chris Anderson and his book, The Long Tail? Basically he’s examining the changes in marketing. Only a few years ago, marketing groups were concerned with reaching large numbers of people. Now, it’s the niche markets and the specialized groups who are important. Clay Shirky is shaking matters up in the online world with his philosophy of online democracy. Shirky explains this in his book, Here Comes Everybody, a discussion of the Internet as a social revolution. Ok, you say, we all know this. And, we do; Shirky, however, extends this a bit further.
Let me summarize briefly Shirky’s vision of the Internet from his historical perspective (or you can click here to hear Shirky’s lecture or here for Shirky on Colbert). First off, Shirkey’s theory: online communities have strength in numbers and online social networks affect culture. How did Shirky get to this point? He says that previous communication revolutions, the telegraph, telephone, and television were one-way communication channels. The Internet, however, is a two way communication street. And, here’s his main point, group action just got easier. Prior to the development of the Read/Write Web, it would take a long time for groups to form connections. It was complicated and time-consuming. The “reply all” response to email lessened this process because it was efficient and timely.
Now it doesn’t take much effort to belong to a group because you have sharing, conversation, and collaboration—three of Shirky’s four major points about the social effect of the Internet on culture.
Do you remember when you first started using instant messaging (IM)? Wasn’t it great that you could carry on a conversation with friends all over the world at any time and it didn’t cost a huge amount of money, nor did this use up precious minutes of cell phone time. Now we can skype, flickr, and twitter our way across the social landscape. We do this through URLs and tags—the common denominators of sharing. As Shirky puts it: “every URL is a community;” individuals share and through their sharing become a group. These individuals don’t get together; they first put the tags out there and then the group forms.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, Shirky’s 4th point is collective action. People connect and form communities from tagging. Then they begin to communicate because they have similar interests. Shirky mentions one group that formed in Flickr because of a photographic method, high dynamic range photography. What would have taken years to revise and teach, took just a few months on Flickr. When the photo was posted, others saw this new method, tried working with it, and asked questions. They all helped each other. They formed a community.
Let’s say you hear a lecture. The lecturer states that she writes more about this on her blog. You go to the blog, read the post and the comments. You start commenting and add a link to your blog. All of a sudden, you’ve become part of a community. You’re reading, learning, and participating—in other words, communicating.
So let’s take this one step further. We all have moaned and groaned about IT departments, school boards, state funding, and so on. What would happen if our school board had a blog? Or if one of our favorite journalists posts comments about the state of education on his or her blog? We could write back. We could tag our comments so others would join the fray. We could start a grass roots organization to put these problems out there. We could all as a group demand better educational funding. We could do so many things with just a few tags. I believe that we have been learning not just about social networking, but also about social awareness. It’s obvious we all care about education and children and being life-long learners. Can we use these tools to develop awareness in our society about the lack of funding or about finding solutions to other educational, health, and/or political problems? Will our groups of connected dots have the ability to affect the world?
If you want to read more, click here for an interview and this link will take you to a column in Salon.
Uncategorized | Comments (11)11 Responses to “Social Revolution”
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Joan, Thank you for your fun topic with great background information!
I think school district blogs can be used to develop awareness in the community. I like your following statement: “Only a few years ago, marketing groups were concerned with reaching large numbers of people. Now, it’s the niche markets and the specialized groups who are important.” I think it is so true that we have to be specialized at everything we do now. You have to find a niche because there is no place for a community anymore. I think it is important to have blogs accompany district meetings. I don’t think it can replace everything that happens in a meeting but I think it would be helpful in minimizing the number of hours in meetings.
You can call me old fashion but I don’t think using internet as a sole source of information is going to be effective in changing the world. People need to physically meet, discuss, and develop relationship to collaborate to change the world.
Sachiko, I agree that the Internet will not replace face-to-face communication; it just enhance this. I’d love to see my school (where I live) use blogs after meetings to raise awareness of issues in the schools or just to let the community know about the great our teachers are doing.
The students in our schools learned this a few years ago. I recall a news article that high school students in San Diego and Los Angeles gathered in a protest about border issues. The city was surprised at how quickly the groups formed, but the students had used Facebook and MySpace to organize the rallies.
We even see the local news station inviting viewers to go to a blog about whatever news story they just read and then they go back to viewer blog comments later in that same newscast.
They have become very aware of this linked network to become organized. This may be another indicator that the current generation (the GenY students) are more altruistic and interested in social issues than joining corporate life to make money.
Just a few news stories:
- Kids Use Facebook To Organize Protest Against South African Law
- California Students Launch Voter Registration and Mobilization
Hi Joan,
This is totally along the lines that we have been learning in our course. It boggles the mind (or blogs the mind?)
to know that we only have to click a link and become enriched by other ideas, thoughts, and suggestions. One thing you wrote is really big:
“We could start a grass roots organization to put these problems out there.”
A few years ago, I mentioned to a class that I wanted to become the “Susan B. Anthony” of teachers and organize a march on Washington against NCLB. Since then, I have had untold numbers saying they’d join in. I think of tags, blogs, Wikis and all the other things as being a terrific way to really begin the march!
After all, you also said:
“We are in a cycle of learning, creating, and participating almost simultaneously.”
In essence, I agree with you that many more entities will have blogs. I can see school boards getting to the real heart of community issues and allowing for more comments to be heard.
Great topic, Joan! I appreciate all of your reflections and ideas! Thanks.
Sue
Interesting topic, Joan. I never really thought about the social bookmarking and blogs having a serious affect on serious issues in this way. I think as blogging becomes more popular and people learn that it is more than an online diary, more people will connect with blogs. I do think it is possible to start a movement with blogs. My mom, who is a retired teacher, told me how a group of parents started chatting on blogs and overturned a coach’s decision. Can this blog community work against us in education? Can we be “ganged up” on for unpopular decisions?
I do think the tools in the Read/Write Web encourage more conversation and activism. This really cannot be a bad thing, and as Chris said, Gen Y does seem to be more socially conscious other generations. Perhaps they feel they can make changes through connections, where many in my generation felt like “nothing can or will change, who cares”? It will be interesting to see what great ideas come about because a few people began a movement on blogs.
I agree completely with you, Joan, the read/write web is going to be the universal leveler before too long. The grassroots organizations that you write about have a venue that was never available before. What will be interesting to see though, is whether or not these online communities lose their voice due to the sheer volume of other “voices”! Will we become saturated and not care? Just as our reactions to televised violence in war stories has become blunted, will this also happen to online protests? I hope not!
Great topic, Joan, a lot of food for thought in your posting.
The social tools of Web 2.0 definitely should make it easier for people to group together and plan change. At the same time, we need to validate the information that we may read on blogs before we become involved. My sister, a school administrator, had an experience with incorrect information being discussed on a Listserve. Someone reported that special education services were being drastically cut, but instead of the poster contacting the school to verify it, she posted it on the internet. The rumors were totally untrue but my sister was soon receiving large numbers of emails asking her to save the programs and not cut them. Disability groups were posting the information on their websites and blogs. By the time the information was corrected, many disability groups were already involved. So as with any internet source, one needs to verify the source and information before becoming involved.
Your concept of the grass roots movement to inform the public utilizing a blog in an effort to create social awareness; we have witnessed firsthand during the duration of the minor league baseball team and the HWAC (Health & Wellness Athletic Complex) project. However in this instance it did not work in the colleges favor as our board did not have a blog, but a very vocal member from the community did. Through this community member the public was kept informed and the end results was the collapse of the minor league baseball team and the HWAC. This is a perfectly good example of the way a blog helped to inform and possibly influence the final decision in regards to this project.
The public logged onto this blog almost on a daily basis providing feedback, most of it negative in nature to the project and the burden that would be put on the taxpayers of this community. So for me this example demonstrates the other side of the coin. If we are going to present information out there in this type of forum then we need to be prepared for the possible negative feedback that may be received or might come from our efforts to inform. We would need to take the good with the bad, with the end result being social awareness.
What a wonderful blend of individual empowerment and social activism! I agree the internet empowers the individual with open and free access to information only dreamt of by the Founding Fathers. The nearly instantaneous dissemination of information (and sometimes mis-information) can enable individuals to call attention to vital information, a new viewpoint, or unnoticed injustice. Indeed, the blogosphere has made it so individuals and small groups can behave as 24/7 vigilant watchdogs. If it were available, I might think Samuel Adams would have been a blogger, and the Sons of Liberty a web-based interest group with members far beyond the city limits of Boston.
The most interesting part of your discussion blog, connected this individual and group awareness to the education community. I agree I can learn more. I agree I can have a voice to contribute. This class has opened my eyes to the larger community of educators (beyond politics) dedicated to the art and craft of teaching children.
You make some really good points. The communication that has gained strength because of the internet has both good and bad points. To open a forum for discussion among, and about, local high school athletes seems like a terrific idea. Sports people like to talk sports. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has tried this for several years and it’s a nightmare. People are nasty and ruthless because the comments are anonymous. I guess if you are going to have a forum, there should be some sort of moderation. And, prepare for the unexpected from those who gain strength when anonymous.
Lisa, you’ve summed this up well. I always believe one has to be vigilant examining information. Your point about anonymity is very interesting because I have thought about this from a point of view (POV) of someone being shy, not from a negative POV.