Some days I just want to pack my bags and move to the UK. In January 2011, Netroots UK took place. (See http://www.netrootsuk.org/)It was kinda like our Canadian Labour-Tech conferences, but with strategy sessions on building shared virtual infrastructure that all progressive organizations can take advantage of. The TUC (Britain's Trades Union Congress) was a part of it. Does anyone have some sponsorship money lying around for a Canadian version?
While I remain a fan of paper books and mags (among other things, they do better when immersed in my hot tub than do e-readers), one downside is the inability to keep up with the speed of events. By the time you are reading this, anything I may say about events in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen will be well and truly dated. But still, I can't let the chance to comment pass me by.
I spend a lot of time, perhaps surprisingly, telling people not to let their enthusiasm for the new media take them over the edge into true geekdom; that we need to remember that content, and the politics behind it, is what this is all about, not the tech. Here are some thoughtful and instructive bits amid all the over-the-top stuff about the role played by social media in the Middle East:
*"Some Thoughts About Egypt and Social Media," by Alex White: http://tinyurl.com/3t7ve9l.
*"Facebook and Twitter are Just Places Revolutionaries Go," a letter to the editor of The Guardian:
http://tinyurl.com/3w5lq8j.
*And this one, on the use of SMS by Egyptian activists:
http://tinyurl.com/3n62b9s.
Want to prep for when the revolution comes to Canada and the Harperites shut down internet access? You can find all kinds of fun tips from PC World Magazine, of all places, right here: http://tinyurl.com/4lcy8t5. Speaking of social media getting shut down, the "Boycott Target Until They Cease Funding Anti-Gay Politics" was the Facebook page aimed at the U.S. retailer's political contributions policy. At about the 78,000 "likes" mark, Facebook started restricting what the page could or would do; banning new discussion threads; preventing members from posting videos and standard Web links to other sites; and barring the page's administrator from sending updates to those who had signed up for the boycott. Facebook's action is similar to what it did to the page calling for a boycott of BP after the oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico last year. The organizations behind both boycott campaigns had real difficulties in getting the original page's "likers" to migrate to new venues. Given how often consumer boycotts are a strike/lockout tactic, there's a lesson here.
On the "I'm getting old" front, I helped facilitate a social media workshop for the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Gimli, Ontario, earlier this year, and I was reminded of just how spectacular Facebook's growth has been since I did a piece about Facebook for Our Times in 2008. It's gone from almost 60 million users back then to over 600 million (and counting) now. It's really a commercial for a consultant, but this video does a great job of conveying just how quickly social media are (or should be, anyway) changing the way we communicate: http://tinyurl.com/3x4jylw. Here are some similar stats, if in a less entertaining form: http://tinyurl.com/6dlehsf.
Virtual protests are no substitute for real protests, just as cyberunions are no substitute for real unions. But where no real-time protest is possible, or when you just can't get to that demo halfway across the country, the TUC's (there's the UK again!) Armchair Army model on Facebook and Twitter is a way to participate, and, for organizers, a way to keep your constituency engaged. While others march, as 400,000 did in London, England on March 26, against cuts to public services, supporters who are unable to attend for reasons such as ill health, disability, lack of funds, family or work commitments, or the event being too far away, are able to send a steady stream of messages in support.
LabourStart's annual 2010 survey of our readers regarding their use of the internet didn't turn up any huge surprises. Use, both by individuals and by unions, continues to increase. The exception was the virtual world Second Life, which is starting to look like something of a flash in the pan.
On the other hand, more unions and activists are tweeting, so it's time to remind the "Twitterati of the Union Twibe" to tweet away at: http://www.
twibes.com/group/union.
Another survey, reported by the CBC, says Canadians are the most intensive users of the internet around. I have my own little survey that measures the effectiveness of the labour movement in its use of the new media: I hang out at Kelly's Homelike Inn in Cobourg, Ontario, and ask union members meeting up after work for a beer: "Who sends you more, and more useful, e-mail: your union or your curling club?" Unions still have a lot of catching up to do.
Derek Blackadder is the co-ordinator for LabourStart in Canada and an honourary member of the Toronto Workers' History Project’s Archive Committee. Feedback and ideas for future WebWork topics welcome.
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