Is Facebook changing the way we protest?
Simon Young says the Save Radio New Zealand protest has shown not only how many people care about our state broadcaster, but also how social media is changing the way we protest.
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National Radio (sorry, Radio NZ National) recently ran a piece about the Australian cyber-attacks protesting against internet censorship. (That's a link from Australia's public broadcaster, ABC)
While the attacks, in the form of distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks, are technically illegal, the commentator raised the possibility that one day, cyber protest may be a legal and acceptable form of civic dissent, in the same way that forming and belonging to a trade union is today.
It's a fascinating thought. Arguably, fewer people get hurt when it's servers getting hit, not people.
Thankfully it's not a question New Zealand is facing, with the extremely nonviolent Save Radio New Zealand protest gaining a lot of attention on Facebook, and to a lesser extent on Twitter.
Over 17,000 people - no small number in New Zealand - are lending their voices to this Labour Party-led leveraged (see comments below) campaign to stop funding cuts. The number alone sends a strong message - but group is also offering a venue for discussion.
One commenter asks:
"I am 110% behind saving Radio New Zealand's news services but don't (currently) believe the Concert Program should be propped up with government money. Is there a reasoned and rational argument as to why I should think otherwise?"
Try having that reasoned and rational conversation in a street demonstration!
Meanwhile on Twitter, most of the action is linking back to the Facebook group. However some of the voices are those of dissenters, like a little-known Tweeter called Bill Ralston (a mere 302 followers) who says:
"What exactly are we supposed to be Saving Radio New Zealand from? Saving it from living within its means? Save me from doing that!"
Sometimes the best way to answer criticism is silence. And that's what the Save Radio New Zealand community are doing.
When social media first came out, it brought with it the possibility of a world of dialogue. Instead of a shouting match, social media offered the promise of a genuine conversation.
It's still a possibility. Social media potentially gives people the personal space to genuinely explore issues rather than be caught up in the excitement or politicisation of a cause.
However technology alone doesn't achieve this zen-like state of conversation. If we're to get beyond rhetoric to relationship, we need to supplement our technology with some new skills.
Or, we could just continue the way we always have, remaining utterly convinced of the rightness of our views, and trying to convince as many people as possible of that.
Now I risk sounding like a disillusioned hippy. Let me bring out the pragmatist, and pose the other point of view - don't we sometimes need to state a very clear point of view, just to get attention?
What do you think?
Comments
1. Simon Young ignores the clear statement of the organiser of the Save Radio NZ group on Facebook that the group is not affilaited with any political party. 'Labour Party-led' is highly questionable.
2. No thanks, Simon Young, for quoting or citing only two comments about the Group, one of them hostile & the other 'who cares?'
3. Anyone who wants to read the reasons for the 'protest' needs therefore to read some of the hundreds of comments by supporters of Radio NZ & Radio NZ Concert on Facebook.
4 March 2010 - 15:34 PM
Thanks Tony, good points.
1. Labour-party led may be questionable, but Labour-party leveraged is less so. My point being not to attack this campaign (in fact I support it) but just to point out how easily things become political. The people tweeting most about the campaign are Labour and Green MPs. It'd be naive to say no political axes aren't being ground here.
2. The two comments about the group are quoted as a counterpoint to the many positive comments that anyone can see on the Facebook page. Sorry if it came across that they were representative.
Also I think you've misread the comment you called "hostile". How is asking for a reasoned and rational argument hostile? Which is exactly my point - when do we get beyond entrenched positions and start to explore?
I popped it in because it's a great example of the possibilities of social media - a movement where people are unflinchingly for the cause and don't question anything is called a cult. Questioning is good, not hostile.
3. I absolutely agree. This piece by me wasn't attempting to explain the the protest, instead to reflect on the nature of the discourse. For some coverage of the actual issues, I really recommend Paul Reynolds' latest blog post - now that's citizen journalism in action. That is fact-based, reasoned and rational argument.
Simon Young
BLOG: http://ijump.co.nz/
COMPANY: http://www.sy-engage.com
SKYPE ME: simonisntsoyoung
The Facebook campaign is not "Labour Party-led" and to say so is to insult all its members as being hapless creatures in need of leading. We are not. Nor are we "silent", whatever that was meant to convey or imply.
Indeed, it's very unclear what Simon Young was trying to do with this piece - he sounds more like a stoned hippie than a disillusioned one, wandering inconclusively from notion to notion without seeming to get anywhere much at all.
C+
4 March 2010 - 18:32 PM
Simon Young
BLOG: http://ijump.co.nz/
COMPANY: http://www.sy-engage.com
SKYPE ME: simonisntsoyoung
4 March 2010 - 18:47 PM
Simon Young
BLOG: http://ijump.co.nz/
COMPANY: http://www.sy-engage.com
SKYPE ME: simonisntsoyoung
Simon, you've still got a typo there
"Labour Party-led leveraged (see comments below)"
Also, I'd like once more to reiterate that this campaign WAS not started by the Labour party.
Their campaign Hands off the Dial came a good week and a half after the Facebook campaign begun (when members already numbered 15,000).
If you read through the comments on the Facebook group pages (anyone can do so if not a member of the group) there are huge numbers of National party voters and supporters voicing their concerns on the pages of supportive comments from around the world all voicing their support for Radio New Zealand.
The first protest at Parliament was organised with 2 days notice on Facebook and (despite figues reported as around 100 people) there were 250 people there on a week day, determined to show their physical support the cause.
It was literally astonishing that a social media site caused such a response in 48 hours. The ways new technology can be harnessed will have some increasingly interesting opportunities for protest. Everyone with a cellphone at the protest in Wellington sent a 'text bomb' of love and support to Jim Mora who was on air at the time.
Yes, social media is changing the way people protest. There are many very committed and passionate people actively concerned, involved and ready to act on this issue prompted by their membership of a Facebook group. All of these people are also hearing from many people not on Facebook wondering how they can get involved. The group is definitely not going to be answering "criticism with silence".
The sheer numbers of this group send a very clear message to the Minister of Broadcasting and it's likely we'll see many new forms for expressing dissent start popping up on social media over the next few years. Interesting times indeed.
- Anna, one member of the Save Radio New Zealand Facebook Group
Simon: About 'hostile' in my comment. I said quite clearly I thought that you cited one 'hostile' comment. You quoted Bill Ralston's - see above. That is not calling for rational argument. Someone is confused here: I think it's you :-)
You're right about "Labour Party-leveraged" and hackles. What is the point of that description? The Greens aren't over the moon about it either. Neither are loads of other people, members or not of any number of political parties. And the fact is that the Labour Party as such has NOTHING to do with the Facebook group, so why are you banging on about it?
8 March 2010 - 12:35 PM
Simon Young
BLOG: http://ijump.co.nz/
COMPANY: http://www.sy-engage.com
SKYPE ME: simonisntsoyoung