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CEU eTD Collection Chapter IV Chapter III Chapter II Chapter I Introduction ofList tables ofList figures Table of Contents Acknowledgments Abstract Tab Protest Protest reporting: saying so Offline and online activities: anevent The differences The differences between groups and accounts The functions performed by media social Occupyfor in Chicago Organizational structures in Occupy Chicago The events of May 2012 in Chicago Questions for the content analysis ofTest contthe Content analysis methodology Analyzing social media content: data collection methodology The case study: Occupy Chicago, May 2012 Social movements andpractices of media production Criticism of mainstream social media in the Occupy movement Implicit and explicit structures of social networking sites Social movements and the Internet Alternative media: mediathe social of movements? Process Defining alternative media: alternative what?to le of Contents of le
- – based and content –
– Theoretical Background –
The web 2
Findings andFindings discussion
Research Design and Methodology ent ent analysis coding scheme between the platforms
.0 and social movements - based definitionsbased mething about “what we do”
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driven social media production?
iii
11 50 48 46 42 39 38 38 38 36 34 29 27 25 25 22 21 17 14 14 iii ii 8 7 6 1 v v i
CEU eTD Collection References Appendix Conclusions List List of relevant protest events in Chicago, May 2012 Further lines of Changing the perspective: technologies that help movements Rethinking alternative media Limitations The “tyranny of t Mainstream social media? The limited importance of mainstream media criticism
research he password”: identity
- content and social media iv
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CEU eTD Collection increasingly by events the on report to media Western allowing and engagement for space a them offering activists, together bringing aggregator, an as acted have media social respect, sphe public national and/or local the than characteristics favorable more displayed that space online an in information and opinions share and connect to activists individual globa to out reach to groups informal for and likeminded the with touch in get to individuals concerned for emerge, to voices unheard for opportunities of full space a as image, positive a attributed democracywas inherently a fostering nature their if as media, social to role revolutionary a attribute to been has tendency general mainstream media. new produce to capacity their in and efforts organizational moretheir effectivein be to activists “helping” is Internet the how underlining movements, contemporary to technologies new by given opportunities the on focused mostly have commentators that is impression processes.The politicalsocial and in technologiesnew and networkingsocialsites media, of role the on debate of amount fair a triggered have and realities political new of set a Stre Wall movement andOccupy year the of events The 2011. of phenomena social and political the to refer to world the around all commentators and media by used keywords Much Much like our government this website broken.is Don’t worry we’re working hard fix to both.them
wte rvltos Fcbo rev Facebook revolutions, Twitter Although some more critical voices have started to emerge (notably Morozov 2011), the 2011), the emergeMorozov (notably to started have criticalvoices Although more some al audience. In the case of the Arab Spring, social media have apparently allowedapparently have media social ArabSpring, the of case Inthe audience. al
et (“Chicago Spring”opening website, 23rd2012) page,April –
Introduction nd political engagement. hasgenerallynd politicalweb been The 2.0 have brought to the attention of the media and the public media public and the the theattention to of brought have ltos hstg oiis tee ee oe of some were these politics: hashtag olutions, 1
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CEU eTD Collection social that is literature this of idea key local the Chicago, Chicago of Occupy city the in emerged that movement the of on expression focusing by movement, Occupy the of sites networking choices and of practices the between interaction the and media social with dealing when adopt movements social that practices the and choices the of role media”social of “use the as simply practices different these describing opinion, my In journalists. mainstream to out reach to also media social used therefore and countries their in happening was what of of hope in the media mass (Western) coverageof the neededArabSpring coverage media mass from independently message “true” its spread to needed as media social on presence perceived Street Wall Occupy instance, For distinct. undoubtedly are usage of patterns the same, the be might tools the While needs. different and conditions different to response a although that is here underline to wish I What existence. very their to key the been have media social that or same the therefore are movements these that saying from different fundamentally is sites, saying have movements shared thatthese levels, many on occurred has influence mutual of process a Although 51). 2011, 99% the for Writers in (cited Fall…” American Summer, European Spring, “Arab described, effectively in banner student’s a As communications. based Internet of use their of view of point the from especially phenomena, overlapping as Occupy and movement Indignados the Spring, Arab the seen basically have months last the of events 20 Zamith, and Lewis (Hermida, voices alternative on relying It is with these issues that I will engage in this thesis, that will analyze the use of social social of use the analyze will that thesis, this in engage will I that issues these with is It l f hs eprecs ae sd iia mda ol, hy ae oe o in so done have they tools, media similar used have experiences these of ll – –
thought as negatively biased towards the movement the towards biased negativelyas thought as many have done in t in done have many as
the movements. the implicit and explicit structures of structures explicit and implicit movements
a common set of tools, i.e. mainly social networking networking set i.e.mainlysocial oftools, a common he pas he 2
t year t –
an Occupy Wall Street demonstration demonstration Street Wall Occupy an among other actors other among –
means missing two crucial points: the the crucialpoints: two missing means
12). Many accounts of the the of accounts Many 12). in late September 2011. The The 2011. September late in – , while activists of the the of activists while ,
the web 2.0 and the and 2.0 web the informingworld the –
need strategies to strategies need its its -
CEU eTD Collection of “logic interacti the political with of movement framework justice a global aggregation”: the of typical networking” of “logic the contrasts (2012) Juris Jeffrey movement, Occupy the about specifically Writing opportunity. rat groups, political organized to threat a represent to likely self the that argue (2011) Barassi and Fenton lines, similar very Along distribution. and production media social alter of whether platforms as asking sites networking are social appropriate (2011) successfully Borra can movements and Poel like scholars why is This years. past social of picture the severely change media Social consequences. political important have might this that and movements social of life internal the of aspects certain challenging fact in are media movements? movements opinions, own their and political on conversation a joining in interested those for opportunities great offering are media, social all of most and 2.0, web the of features the that doubt no thereis While 2.0. web the of environment new currentand the graspreally not does Internet of structure a of conceptualization the on based are media alternative of theories that means also it lists, mailing and forums websites, Internet on 2 early and 1990s late the literatur the of Much agenda. the on movements the of ideas the put and public the to access getting Alte 750). 2009, (Stein activism and towards protest media mainstream the of attitude hostile an as perceived is what counterbalance Drawing on the literature on a on literature the Drawingon movements’ media production that theories of alternative media have elaborated in the the in elaborated have media alternative of theories that production media movements’ e on alternative media, alternative on e i unclear is , - centered and individualized participation promoted by social media services is is services media social by promoted participation individualized and centered
their impact their . Are social media only a positive invention for the life of social social of life the for invention positive a only media social Are . 000s, but since a lot of the activities of that movement where based based where movement that of activities the of lot a since but 000s,
is based on the experience of the global justice movement of of movement justice global the of experience the on based is
on more complex collective entities, like parties, groups and and groups parties, like entities, collective complex more on lternative media and social movements, I argue that social social that Iargue movements, social and lternativemedia 3 rnative media are a response to this need of of need this to response a are media rnative
n ae o te s o sca media, social of use the on based on - mediated communications whic communications mediated her than presenting a favorable favorable a presenting than her
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CEU eTD Collection examine to chosen have I study case the introduce In importance. political their and movements social in production media of practices the of discussion a develop to start also will I II Chapter in sites; networking social of characteristics critical problematic potentially the some underline will I 2.0 web which technology, of features political the to approaches the of environment the new assessing the While of definitions. consequences established the challenging thus media, alternative of brou have platforms 2.0 web the then and Internet the that changes content both on focusing on themov life internal the and politics the on repercussions important have might Occupy of structures organizational the and sites networking social between interaction the that is here explored m and media social its of terms in both Occupy, characterize that processes complex the of picture a reconstructing at aim I about ofOccupydifferentdiscussions well sources asOccupy movements, as other Chicago, this, sites to addition networking In movement. social the for that perform functions the understand to wish platforms I media Twitter), social and on (Facebook Chicago Occupy of accounts official the of analysis content as emergedglobal it justice movement. the from media alternative of understanding “traditional” the from different drastically is works these that activism of picture The 2011. year the in seen have we that movements protest of forms fluid the describe to useful is concept his that argues He groups. than rather individuals of aggregation the by characterized In my thesis I will investigate the self the investigate will I thesis my In In Chapter I, I will compare different approaches to alternative media in the literature, the in media alternative to approaches different compare will I I, Chapter In ement.
- based and process and based
Chapter III I present the research design and the methodology: I methodology: the and design research the present I III Chapter emerges from the use of social media and that is described by by described is that and media social of use the from emerges edia content and its political discussions. The hypothesis hypothesis The discussions. political its and content edia - - produced based theories; in Chapter II I will outline the the outline will I II Chapter in theories; based 4
by analyzing documents, forums and online online and forums documents, analyzing by –
Occupy Chicago in the month of May of month the in Chicago Occupy media of Occupy Chicago. Through a a Through Chicago. Occupy of media will help me in pointing out some of some out pointing in me help will ght about in the production the in about ght
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n te ehdlg, pcfcly h cnet nlss f h sca mda content media social the of analysis content the specifically methodology, the and ccupy Chicago. In Chapter IV I discuss the results of the content analysis and and analysis content the of results the discuss I IV Chapter In Chicago. ccupy 5
CEU eTD Collection 2002).2001; Atton Gill and Ford (Villarreal procedures and principles democratic following is it if and/or voices unrepresented different, of inclusion and participation seeks that process a is it if example prod is content) the therefore (and medium the which through process the is it definition, latter the on working scholars For 2010). Fuchs 2001; (Downing ones dominant the from different are that view of points providing opposition, the challenging i.e. alternative, itself in considered is content be its can if medium alternative a former, the of proponents the For processes”. “alternative studies, Fuchs 2010). 2003; Curran and Couldry 2002; Atton 2001; Downing others: (among movements social 19 the of end the Since communications. Internet by given possibilities transformational and movement justice s international Zapatistas’ the of experience the was it all, of most But processes. communication of force driving a Internetemergenceas the of is topic such in interesttriggeredthe that fundamentalchange the over tremendously increased has production their on scholarship the and production their both media, alternative create to attempts successful 20 the of course the in though Even time. of amount limited a over 90’s, a 90’s, The concept of “alternative media” has been at the center of a fairly a of center the at been has media” “alternative of concept The The various The but lternative media have been widely discussed and linked directly or indirectly with indirectly or directly linked and discussed widely been have media lternative
eie lentv media alternative define
– approaches to alternative media share a set of core assumptions assumptions core of set a share media alternative to approaches Chapter I Chapter
notably the Independent Media Center Media Independent the notably olidarity network (Olesen 2005) and the early forms of the global the of forms early the and 2005) (Olesen network olidarity –
Theoretical Background Theoretical ifrnl either differently 6
past fifteen years. Needless to say, the the say, to Needless years. fifteen past uced that defines it as alternative; for alternative; as it defines that uced
– s atraie content “alternative as
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CEU eTD Collection power”challengesof7). “concentrations media (2003, “flexible 1 the on narrative their impose to try they and events or topics certain cover don’t they people, categ certain underrepresent systematically they because is, it as reality social present market that perception the is medi standpoints mainstream different these all unites that critique The 11). 2002, (Atton challenge to born were media alternative which mechanism the as access of hierarchy power” media of “concentrations and 7) 2003, Curran, and (Couldry to refer would some criticize, media alternative that aspect important most the as 178) (2010, production” media of forms capitalist “dominant by negative as W challenged. therefore and media alternative seen are media mainstream of aspects which pinpoint to useful however is it research, this of purposes the beyond is media mainstream defining While media. mass trying are media alternative which from object main the content respect, this In to. alternative are they structures or actors what defining means also media alternative defining picture. the changes ultimately “radical” with substituting “alternative” whether arguable is it course Of ix). (2001, else” something to alternative is his justifies which sentence, “radica of concept quoted widely highly a his in In this picture. tackles the Downing into work, influential media alternative of context social the bringing of way A what? to “alternative” process: or content on focus they if regardless media”, “alternative of definition the from arises which Defin
In their brief discussion of Downing’s work, Couldry and Curran interest Curran and Couldry work, Downing’s of discussion brief their In Before comparing these two broad groups of theories, I want to address a question, question, a address to want I theories, of groups broad two these comparing Before ing alternative media: media: alternative ing - comparative logic logic driving them them driving
term”,processwith their coherently a are not really doing their job. In more analytical terms, because of the the of because terms, analytical more In job. their doing really not are a l”, rather than alternative media by stating that “everything, at some point, some at “everything, that stating by media alternative than rather l”,
- oriented and process and oriented (and its far its (and
sking if “alternative media” is a relative category is a nice nice a is category relative a is media” “alternative if sking
alternative to what? to alternative others would point to the logic of newsworthiness and the and newsworthiness of logic the to point would others - reaching consequences), mainstream media just do not do just media mainstream consequences), reaching
- oriented definition definition ofmediamedia”“alternativeoriented that as production hile Marxist scholars like Fuchs would indicate indicate would Fuchs like scholars Marxist hile 7
-
oriented theories can differ, but it is clear that that clear is it but differ, can theories oriented ingly argue in favor of “alternative media” as a a as media” “alternative of favor in argue ingly
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CEU eTD Collection consider we media the by the at looking of importance the emphasizing by point crucial a a non to approaches Dogmatic 146). 2010, Fuchs and (Sandovalstructures” employ“capitalist to them aud wide a reach to need necessarily media alternative one; dangerous a and illusion an only is participation true system social capitalist a inside view, of point his From 184). (2010, media” mass established me of types all including by much, too field process criticizes strongly return. later will I which to position a critical, itself is express they content the con be also can media mainstream perspective, his In 183). (2010, groups” dominated and “oppressed the of viewpoints specific the takes and resistance of possibilities “crit i.e. media”, “critical as media alternative of definition Fuchs’ in visible most a is Such hierarchy two. the among hierarchy implicit an provide do them of most media, alternative gen in media alternative describe Process Ilinked tosocial movements, as will 11). 2002, (Atton present stories the host specificallycreatedto are alternative media the “non present to from difficulty stems media alternative create to decision The cover. do they topics and events nd such dogmas should therefore be rejected (Sandoval and Fuchs 2010, 148). Fuchs’ 148). 2010, Fuchs and (Sandoval rejected be therefore should dogmas such nd ical form and content” which actively opposes dominant structures of society, identifies identifies society, of structures dominant opposes actively which content” and form ical Having assessed the relationship between alternative and mainstream media, I will now now will I media, mainstream and alternative between relationship the assessed Having - omrilt ad atcpto ol cnen lentv mda o en marginal, being to media alternative condemn only participation and commerciality
h to prahs o lentv mda ihihe aoe Wie coas of scholars While above. highlighted media alternative to approaches two the - based and content and based ience to advance their cause, and to do so it is absolutely legitimate for for legitimate absolutely is it so do to and cause, their advance to ience eral recognize the importance of both content and process in defining defining in process and content both of importance the recognize eral -
mainstream views” within mainstream within views” mainstream This is why alternative media are heavily ( heavily are media alternative why is This - based approaches to alternative media, alternative to approaches based Yet, .
he brings a quite restrictive definition definition restrictive quite a brings he - based definitions based discuss below. 8 dia production that “take place outside of the the of outside place “take that production dia
that mass media do (or would) not not would)(or do media mass that
actual message that is carried carried is that message actual
media (Fenton 2007a, 147); 2007a, (Fenton media because they because though sidered “critical” if if “critical” sidered of what counts as as counts what of
not exclusively) exclusively) not
broaden the the broaden In turn In makes makes , he he ,
CEU eTD Collection and empowering have therefore can spaces media alternative can these individuals themselves; and express groups marginalized normally which through and which in space a process the defines what mostly, But and users content. of between creation the in involved get distinction to wish that audiences the active for call and producers, break often media alternative produced, is content (Downmunt media mainstream like logic profit or bureaucratic a by driven not are they because participatory” and accessible “more are media alternative that argues also Downmunt 25); (2002, participation” social “wider a facilitating th view, of points underrepresented for space providing about just not are media alternative it, puts nicely Atton As media. mass mainstream in making news and newsgathering behind processes closed and hierarchical top the of critique a is approach this in Implicit media. mainstream the of that from different radically are that products media create to processes participatory and democratic content necessity the on insist they but content, of relevance the ignore not do theories These content. media of production the d of principles of importance the emphasize of directing political andsocial change. others towards resorts thinking abou non of out content critical of emergence the about think to hard very is It definition. his of core the at is criticism whose inequalities buildin in processes participatory and democratic of potential the underestimates drastically he made, is content that which through practices alternative as therefore and critical, nie content Unlike
production . These theories share a fundamentally optimistic view on the possibility of possibilityof the on view optimistic fundamentally a share theories These t alternative capableas individual t theexpressionof media an enlightened - ae apoce, process approaches, based to guarantee to eir aim is to do a better job bettera do to is aim eir , whilst , - based approach is the emphasis on alternative media as as media alternative on emphasis the is approach based
certain -
participatory and inclusive practices, unless one one unless practices, inclusive and participatory by breaking the link between the content and the and content the between link the breaking by emocracy, inclusion and participation in guiding in participation and inclusion emocracy, 9
g a bottom a g features of features - oriented theories of alternative media media alternative of theories oriented 2007, 1). By focusing on the way media media way the on focusing By 1). 2007,
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up critique of the same structural structural same the of critique up the process of alternative media media alternative of process the –
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CEU eTD Collection ix). (2001, media” “religious and media” ethnic “minority of possibility the media radical of definitio the in includes himself Downing media. alternative create movements social only 21 2002, Atton (e.g. field the in scholars other by questioned been betwee link close very a of establishment the this is work Downing’s of of feature purposes important most the the however, research, For xi). 2001, (Downing power of structures these against support al they but society, on hegemony an and power of and structures of domination vertical vertical the challenge media radical a action: horizontal of intersection the as understood media, radical of purpose double the mainstre conventional than democratic “more be to try to organized internally and v) (2001, perspectives” and priorities policies, “hegemonic to opposition expressing both are media radical view, his In positions. political and principles intersection an as way, comprehensive a in media alternative about thinking for ground middle a provides together. Downing process, considered over content are privileging slightly process Although and content media, radical of definition his In (2001). medi alternative of instead media” “radical of speaks above, underlined as who, Downing, sites. the discussing when return will I experience which to point important an is This creation. media non a embrace to profit of logic the from away break they furthermore al media mainstream to opposed are media alternative control: and ownership of question the is theories centered process of dimension important An 2005). Juris 2002; Atton 2005; Coyer 2007; Fountain indivi for effects, emancipatory
oh content Both
of the Independent Media Center and the contemporary use of social networking networking social of use contemporary the and Center Media Independent the of - ae ad process and based so because they criticize forms of editorial control and censorship; censorship; and control editorial of forms criticize they because so n alternative media and social movements. Although this close link has link close this Although movements. social and media alternative n duals and for groups (see for example Coyer, Downmunt and and Downmunt Coyer, example for (see groups for and duals so build horizontal (lateral) networks of solidarity and and solidarity of networks (lateral) horizontal build so - based approaches draw heavily on the work of John John of work the on heavily draw approaches based 10
am media” (2001, xi). Downing underlines underlines Downing xi). (2001, media” am - 22), it does not does it 22), - commercial vision of vision commercial of organizational organizational of state
that that n a -
CEU eTD Collection enough significant become not do just experiences media means, alternative of lot a that recognizing This 10). 2007, Fountain and Downmunt (Coyer, face movements conditions specific the consider to need necessarily media alternative what evaluating and defining when activists poin the consider to important is with it So media, technology. with the and media with alternative confronted when face actors movements social that opportunities Fount and Downmunt (Coyer, interdependent highly is media alternative and movements social of existence the 30); (2001, movements the of topics the and ideas the diffuse” and “articulate ar media alternative argues, Downing As II. Chapter in occasions several on practices media of aspects symbolic return will I 181). 2011, Barassi and (Fenton movements social of life of construction “collective the for practices participatory and rituals” “Collective too. important, very are production media of practices movements, social of view of point the from course, Of 11). 2002, (Atton terms own their engage to want they ideas: their express freely to them allows which public, the to access unmediated an seek movements social why is This media. mass by 11) 2002, (Atton depoliticized and 2000) Snow and Benford 2005, Kolb instance for (see to alternative are that views presenting definition by are movements social 2011), (Tarrow, authorities and holders movements? ofsocial themedia media: Alternative social movements. of media the foremost and first are media alternative opinion: Downing’s share I However, ain 2007,10). A Much of this research is concerned with understanding the challenges and the the and challenges the understanding with concerned is research this of Much calnes f h sau qo i ssand otniu itrcin wt power with interactions contentious sustained in quo, status the of challengers s
vr iprat o mvmns bcue hy r uuly h frt to first the usually are they because movements, for important very e the dominant views; but their alternative ideas are often often are ideas alternative their but views; dominant
political messages” play an important role in the in role important an play messages” political 11
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CEU eTD Collection political the challenges which content produce b) and principles participatory and democratic of basis the on work to try a) that experiences media as defined are media alternative thesis social how Downing analyzing to especially are Referring content. we media their when produce movements especially separated, be cannot two the opinion, process combining rese this in adopt will I view of point the that stress to want I Internet, the on movements andmediainthe web production 2.0era becom arguments Fuchs’ of some and marginality pay strategy their that is impression my However, beginning. Occu the in role unique a had has Adbusters thesis, this of course the in underline will I as magazine; monthly their and Adbusters, collective Canadian the is cites he that techniques mainstream using media (critical) t alternative successful of of examples One movements. social for answer an is media, critical spread to structures media mass capitalist adopting of that solution, proposed his whether seen be to remains It 2010). confining permanently in result they view media, alternative his in methods: participatory of skeptical so is Fuchs why is This 30). (2001, cultures” patriarchal and order, social (…) economies, media production, content and debate their including movements, inside on to going important everything is that it remember argue, would Downing as media; alternative on even influential, very fai or success determine might that activists of choices specific the in lies this for reasons the of part while course, Of goals. their achieve to - for magazine magazine for Before proceeding to a more detailed analysis of social movements’ media production media movements’ social of analysis detailed more a to proceeding Before
and therefore their ideas, to marginality (Fuchs, 2010; Sandoval and Fuchs, Fuchs, and Sandoval 2010; (Fuchs, marginality to ideas, their therefore and – - is still influen still is retd n content and oriented s o ta pplr ih oil oeet. eetees te su of issue the Nevertheless, movements. social with popular that not is ced –
“shaped” - oriented definitions of alternative media. In my my In media. alternative of definitions oriented 12
lure, there are also systemic factors that are are that factors systemic also are there lure, –
by the established structures of “capitalist “capitalist of structures established the by e prominent when we think about social social about think we when prominent e .
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at least the part on establishing a a establishing on part the least at py movement from its very very its from movement py
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CEU eTD Collection viewsmass media. expressed, for by themainstream instance, poi alternative providing by quo, status social and 13
t o ve, s poe t te dominant the to opposed as view, of nts
CEU eTD Collection by mobilization”, group of “dynamics the changed also it and game the of rules the changed Internet The public. the with and other each with communicate to activists of possibilities Tarro and Porta (Della movement” justice “global the as described broadly one transnational the as of such activism, emergence and protest the of networks instance, for allowed, This online. resources share and wit interact blogs, and websites on content publish freely to users allow technologies Internet phenomenon. mass a as Internet the of emergence and the Internet movements Social movements, of life because theirmake theircomplexities, helpsensethemselves, ideas they them of internal and political the for important are media alternative (2011), m demands the 74) 2007, avoiding ideas, their communicate to simplifications media mainstream the on dependent less with world offer self 2010), Fuchs, and (Sandoval converted” the In “preach[ing] movement. to the addition of activists the and world outer the both target generally which news, mo social contemporary da rdcin Jrs 05 201). 2005, (Juris production edia
o movem to media, alternative on literature the of review my in discussed reasons the all For As mentioned above, alternative media have gained more importance with the the with importance more gained have media alternative above, mentioned As . Furthermore alternative media allow the activists to take control over the process of of process the over control take to activists the allow media alternative Furthermore .
Chapter II Chapter and thus being supposedly more truthful to the nature of the movements and their their and movements the of nature the to truthful more supposedly being thus and u te eito o ms media. mass of mediation the out sal epoe b ms mda hn rmn poet oeet (Atton movements protest framing when media mass by employed usually ns h psiiiy o express to possibility the ents vements attach great importance to producing their own sources of of sources own their producing to importance great attach vements –
The web 2.0 and social movements 2.0and social The web w, 2005). Internet technologies greatly enhanced the the enhanced greatly technologies Internet 2005). w, As
I will argue below following Fenton and Barassi Barassi and Fenton following below argue will I
14
raig lentv mda ae movements makes media alternative Creating
hmevs and themselves h other users in different parts of the world the of parts different in users other h communicate - produced media media produced
o h outside the to .
CEU eTD Collection make sensea and movement. fragmented complex of create also they hyperlinks, through worldwide in them providing also while actors, and issues of variety wide a know to get to users interested and activists linking and issues global struggleslevel,andlocal together bringingdual IMC a operatewebsiteson The world. the over all demonstrations and protests from images and footage documents, upload and 75) open justice global the from an created emergednetwork Indymedia The 1999. in it Seattle of events the after especially movement, as Center, Media Independent the of project the is 2006, 118). media)(Chadwick mainstream politics, institutional (citizens, actors other social and between movements relationship the altering radically therefore public, the to out movements of ideas the getting of problem the i.e. access, of problem the solved has Internet the that seems It 6). 2006, (Chadwick themselves for speak can they behalf, their on speak digital through understood: fully have technologie movements social that Internet the transformative of the course potential of is this And 202). 2001, Gill and Ford (Villarreal mediation communicate could individuals and groups which through technology first the was Internet the top communication, traditional the reversing By 141). communicati reducing omto” Dwig 03 21: hl pyial cnetn gop ad causes and groups connecting physically while 251): 2003, (Downing formation” - publishing platform for activists, wh activists, for platform publishing A crucial example of the possibilities that the Inter the that possibilities the of example crucial A s “ordinary citizens and the politically marginalized” do not need mass media to media mass need not do marginalized” politically the and citizens “ordinary s
with different local chapters of the IMC and different groups; they allow allow they groups; different and IMC the of chapters local different with a (potentially) global audience, without the need of mass media media mass of need the without audience, global (potentially) a with the opportunity to learn more about them and “intensify their state of of state their “intensify and them about more learn to opportunity the n ot ad euig potnte o free of opportunities reducing and costs on o could report “from the ‘frontline’” (Atton 2007, 2007, (Atton ‘frontline’” the “from report could o - down models of mass media (and political) political) (and media mass of models down 15
d
a fabric of political integration, helping to to helping integration, political of fabric a
net has offered to social movements social to offered has net - riding (Chadwick 2006, 2006, (Chadwick riding the social social the
CEU eTD Collection fast, and free are they characteristics: favorable some of because especially networks, social themselves Activists sites. formats media of varietya using been has Occupy Although Spring. Arab the of events the of and movement pro very a with charged been have media social above, democratic underlined As and 2011). Negri structure and (Hardt themselves” network movements the horizontal of experiments the to sense some in “correspond which s described 2011 of Fall the in Street Wall Occupy about accounts Early terms. similar in described recently been has Facebook and Twitter movements, alsoa but modelof collaboration self servicea ofactors variety (DowningThe of symbolicIndymedia 2003,251). of value “Leninistglobalto beacenter” movement, the directing bu for justice seeking not was IMC the argues, Downing As 2005). Porta (Della institutional the of outside democracy and politics of rethinking general movement’s the with line in 205), 2005, (Juris collaboration horizontal and participation open of ideals movement’s the practice into turn experiment an was Indymedia movement, imp “an Center are democracy Media Independent the making direct architecture”, network Indymedia’s and into inscribed physically access open collaboration, “horizontal of values the Juris, to collect “broadly participation: web a than more was Indymedia activists among popularity its in role a played undoubtedly this and - rdcd ciit ei i general in media activist produced Even though the technology itself technology the though Even The relationship between the Occupy movement and social networking sites like like sites networking social and movement Occupy the between relationship The ,
most of the attention has been focused on their presence on social networking networking social on presence their on focused been has attention the of most ortant example of informational utopics” (2005, 202). For the global justice global the For 202). (2005, utopics” informational of example ortant
–
and not only in Occupy in only not and ive, egalitarian, non egalitarian, ive, - sharing experiment. It was a network of political political of network a was It experiment. sharing was quite extraordinary at the time of its creation, its of time the at extraordinary quite was – –
is quite clear: they represent a tool, for social social for tool, a represent they clear: quite is
mostly perceived as successful successful as perceived mostly
16 and participation (Fenton 2007b, 226). participationand (Fenton2007b,
minent role in the development of the Occupy Occupy the of development the in role minent
- hierarchical” (Atton 2007, 75). According According 75). 2007, (Atton hierarchical” ocial media as “convenient instruments”, “convenient as media ocial –
have indeed been very active on these these on active very been indeed have t rather a platform at the at rather atthe platform –
t s vdn that evident is it –
which tried to tried which
–
and of and of –
CEU eTD Collection the as production, media of means their own to movements social for important it considers implicitly media alternative on literature the of Some it. owning as same the not is free for some using that out point to important is It such. as examined be should it and choice, N to platforms content, own publish its up set to need not does Occupy ago; years 10 than more movement justice global the from differently IMC, its need not does Occupy view, of point technical inte the without Internet, the to content upload can anyone today advanced; quite was IMC the should it but feature, negative a necessarily not t under not are themselves platforms the but free, for them use can Activists platforms. commercial are Flickr) and YouTube like services popular movemen social of strategies the on have communications. use their does consequences what so, if and 2011), Borra and (Poel production media alternative of platforms be can sites networking t communicate of structures and explicit Implicit features so the of environment online changed the within discussed be to need differences such however, understood, be to Center; Media Independent the like the But audience. heterogeneous and wide a reach can they and use to simple relatively are they e hv gnrtd bu sca media social about generated have hey vrhls, sn pexsig commercial preexisting using evertheless, re are important differences between social networking websites and a movement network network movement a and websites networking social between differences important are re frne f dtra co editorial of rference The first important aspect to be underlined is that Twitter and Facebook (and also other other also (and Facebook and Twitter that is underlined be to aspect important first The represented Indymedia movements, social For .
directly to the public. The movements of movements The public. the to directly because this technology is already available elsewhere: it is free and for free. free. for and free is it elsewhere: available already is technology this because
ntrols r h ne fr iaca rsucs S fo a strictly a from So resources. financial for need the or social networking sites networking social –
17 spaces
bring about the question of whether social social whether of question the about bring
be noted be he direct control of the activists. This is This activists. the of control direct he – wy o bypass to way a
nta o cetn nw ones new creating of instead 2011/2012 . In 1999, the technology offered by by offered technology the 1999, In . - called web 2.0 web called
–
and the enthusiasm that that enthusiasm the and
tra
ditional media and and media ditional
and it and s particular particular s – thing thing
s a is ts’ ts’
CEU eTD Collection of “true” public those spaces. City York New in 2 This 2012). Stieglitz and Bruns lines, similar (on content share and present create, users which way thein and involved influence platforms ofthe features uponthe game, build which n Social 1014). (2011, field” the entering anyone by extent some to tweeting shared terminology a towards to rise level, give that patterns aggregated the at leads, and evolves utterance of type expected Tw of spite “in that instance, for suggest, who Lundstrom and Lindgren with agree I network. the of part truly be to order in conform also platform the to addition in Moreover, button). “Dislike” no is there but button, “Like” a is there (e.g. are Facebook on so the i around organized content how think to enough is It readers. the to presented is content the which in way platform are features Some constraints. some impose do platforms t (i.e. sense traditional very line: similar adhere. to obliged are users which to Agreement of Terms by governed is which but anyone, websites, to virtually open and charge sharing of free is use whose and networking social of rise the with changing is This strategies. and ti same the at and process the over control retaining of way only
Ironically, some of the the someof Ironically,
seen the development of some sort of shared guidelines, to which users feel the need to to need the feel users which to guidelines, shared of sort some of development the seen Furthermore, it is true that content published on social media is not “mediated” in a a in “mediated” not is media social on published content that true is it Furthermore, protect YouTube’s fiscal viability than to protect your rights of free speech speech free of rights your(Zuckerman 2010) protect to than viability fiscal YouTube’s protect is it of use your and space, not it’s but space, public a like looks It mall. shopping a in rally a hold to trying like little a is YouTube on movement political your [h]osting –
have taken place on privately owned spaces, whose rules were way more favorable to occupiers than occupiers to favorable more way were rules whose spaces, owned privately on place taken have
occupation camps put in place by Occupybyplace in campsput occupation
here is no editorial control over the content that users publish), but the but publish), users that content the over control editorial no is here etworking sites’ users have collectively developed some rules of the the of rules some developed collectively have users sites’ etworking - - specific features, I would argue that soc that argue would I features, specific called “hashtags” on Twitter or how limited the interaction options options interaction the limited how or Twitter on “hashtags” called 2 .
governed by an agreement that works harder to to harder works that agreement an by governed itter’s apparently anarchistic mode of operation, an an operation, of mode anarchistic apparently itter’s 18
As Ethan Zuckerman correctly argued, on a a on argued, correctly Zuckerman Ethan As –
including the first and iconic Zuccotti Park encampment ZuccottiPark iconic andfirst the including ial networking services have services networking ial me freedom to pursue goals pursue to freedom me - specific and influence the the influence and specific –
it’s a private private a it’s s
CEU eTD Collection movements social for while 2.0: web the in witnessing now are we that shifts fundamental heard” also is voice their an that (Sandoval mean not therefore “does voice a people giving words, own his in 189); 2010, (Fuchs marginality of risks the of us warns he when issue this tackles dis his In visibility. and prominence gain will content published the that chances the increases them with complying because important, become game the of rules framework, this In visible. opinion that making of possibility the about less and less is which Internet, the of understanding new a to shift general the of signal another is bloggers amateur among even use widespread their and tools Optimization Engine Search of rise The focused. understandable varied by signaled is which “conversation” broader a in part taking about it’s it, put (2010) Lotan and Golder boyd, As users. other to visible is produce they content the th sure make to how is web, the of use political a make to wish who those for especiallyand users, Internet most for now, matters What governments). by place in put not is censorship co produce freely to able being Twitter); on limit character 140 the (e.g. rules of number limited by a respecting out carried be can which actions, simple relatively all are Twitter on link a sharing or and Borra 2011,15). (Poel distribution and production media alternative of tools as networks social appropriate successfully can movements social if assess to want we when especially matters, structure th argue I And platforms. these on happen that processes communication the of structure implicit an form game the of rules these however, opinion, my in control; editorial inf luence is certainly not equivalent to what we would traditionally consider a form of of form a consider traditionally would we what to equivalent not certainly is luence In the current web 2.0 environment, 2.0 web current the In d Fuchs 2010, 148). The point is well taken, for it expresses one of the the of one expresses it for taken, well is point The 148). 2010, Fuchs d –
tn o te nent is Internet the on ntent cnestoa patcs, ie h rtet o w on retweets the like practices”, “conversational
uso o atraie ei otie aoe Fcs aggressively Fuchs above, outlined media alternative of cussion
uploading content to a website, writing a blog post post blog a writing website, a to content uploading natural
19 freely expressing one’s opinion and more about more and opinion one’s expressing freely
o ms o u (t es wee Internet where least (at us of most for ih hi aayi is analysis their hich at this implicit implicit this at –
but clearly but at at
CEU eTD Collection networksmedia. asalternative social of use potential the understand to want we if investigated be must constraints these And constraints. generate also can but possibilities, great to rise give can engagement Such online an of to have users which with features and definedcharacteristics its with service, boundaries the within happens still this all But media. social of conception G develop(boyd, common each syntaxoutcome to other for ofusers’a attempts interacting with the just was it beginning the in while platform, the into built now is function “retweet” the w the of developers the by abandoned later and users the by received negatively been have which Facebook, to changes certain for casethe been has This users. the of practices reflectthe to platforms the changesto developers networks’ social Even them. of make users their what for them consider necessarily we sites, networking social of talk we When two. the separate to possible not is it that recognizing means ultimately platforms these within interplay as pr human the and platforms specific of architecture game technological between the of rules the considering that think I contrary, the On them. technology behind mere the than role influential more far a have services and platforms use specific the to connected practices human the that recognize I determinism. technological of version updated an of expression the not are communications online of structures explicit are for their concerned withchoosingthenewsworthyoutlet. items who media, traditional of editors of work the from different very not is relevance for struggle int and fragmented a in relevant be to how And is. relevance anymore, problem a not is access older and Lotan 2010). It is human actions, interactions and practices that define our our define that practices and interactions actions, human is It 2010). Lotan and older rcie niomn i a opiae mte. h itrsig set o oe s ht the that is note to aspect interesting The matter. complicated a is environment eractive One
motn ise ed t b adesd ee M cnen wt te mlct and implicit the with concerns My here. addressed be to needs issue important ebsite. Twitter has also been responsive to the needs of the users: users: the of needs the to responsive been also has Twitter ebsite.
20
have –
to some degree some to
actices that develop develop that actices –
accepted to make to accepted
actively engage. of of
CEU eTD Collection in activists underline, Castells As accounts. fake of creation the recommending than solutions Twitter account,get and thendelete it.” (Occupy to use it involved, Chicago 2012). or Facebook temporary fake, a make simply culture, surveillance to contribution d Facebook, or Twitter a have not do you “If fact: problematic potentially this address they how is This sites. networking social through place takes effort outreach and organization its of most that acknowledges movement the 2012, p take to aiming protesters the for prepared Chicago Occupy that booklet Inthe 175). 2012, (Castells surveillance for potential its and nature commercial its for both criticized openly was Facebook of use the Street Wall Occupy in Hope”, and Outrage of “Networ book his in out points Castells Manuel As theoretical. just from far discussion this making thus movement, Occupy the in importance some of be to proven have here addressed movement theOccupy in media social ofmainstream Criticism their choices technological over themainaim ofthisthesis. is tools with interplay movement the of choices political more the how and whether Understanding und not are that platforms commercial media on hosted also different and formats across disseminated is content media Occupy’s movement, the of needs the for activists by created space, alternative truly a was Indymedia While months. past the in im been have Occupymovements the practicesthat the to comparedif issue, the to approach different very a clearly is said) slogan their as Media”, the “being (for making news d on keen so have I that sites networking is that movement a for social model successful a considered be reallythey can discussed, previously of features peculiar the given But (2011). Occupy Some of Some above, indicated As cuy al tet n e Yr Ct tid o wo to tried City York New in Street Wall Occupy eliberation and democracy? The IMC’s idea of creating a space for participatory participatory for space a creating of idea IMC’s The democracy? and eliberation
the concerns over the use of commercial social media platforms that I have have I that platforms media social commercial of use the over concerns the Hardt and Negri suggest that social media represent a model for for model a represent media social that suggest Negri and Hardt 21
ue to their insidious privacy policies and and policies privacy insidious their to ue rk on more effective and stable stable and effective more on rk
er the control of activists. of control the er art in the events of May May of events the in art
plementing plementing ks
CEU eTD Collection Revolution 3 practice These formats. and content media own their produce movements which through processes the in involved production ofmedia and practices movements Social assemblies” ideas and of proposals exchange needs, the and budgeting, participatory of process the consensus, of establishment on of consolidation “ effectively could which platform, social open an of creation the propose They are they that recognize “ also they but protests, of coordination the for allowing in media social of role crucial the acknowledge activists The 2011). (Roos movement” global our of devel the for tools new crucial provide to assemblies the of functions political the with networks social existing the of functions communicative “the combine to intended platform activists l open an In 2011). (Captain Square” “Global of name the under media, social corporate to alternative an as conceived movement, ther particular, In AmpedStatus). (e.g. non existing use to tried have OWS
Fromth increasinglyin their functionality” restrictive (Roos 2011).As th In the previous section I have stressed the importance of understanding the practices practices the understanding of importance the stressed have I section previous the In evolunteers groups/websites: ofthe reach the of decision of model participatory our extending for theyinformation andaiding massmobilization, notprovide thetools uswith do basic disseminating for helpful very been have Twitter and Facebook [w]hile
3 and
called Reflections Revolution a on (Roo on “the revolutionary wizkids of the world” to help develop Global Square, a a Square, Global develop help to world” the of wizkids revolutionary “the on s 2011)
assemb
line working groups, the collaborative scheduling of events, the the events, of scheduling collaborative the groups, working line o mda rdcin eoe vn oe motn if important more even become production media of s .
lies and uptothe globallies and 2011) (Roos level. –
n local a in .
Take the Square, United GlobalSquare, Change, for the EuropeanTake 15october.net, - etter to the Occupy movement, a movement, Occupy the to etter commercial networks (e.g. Diaspora) or build their own their build or Diaspora) (e.g. networks commercial e has been an attempt to build a social network for the for network social a build to attempt an been has e - source, multilingual and multipurpose comprehensive comprehensive multipurpose and multilingual source,
norg h ciepriiaino ctzn, the citizens, of participation active the encourage and 22
a global context context global a
- aig eod h direct the beyond making – ey explain,
between individuals and and individuals between
heterogeneous group of of group heterogeneous
e ih to wish we opment opment
CEU eTD Collection the global justice movement. of position a openn enjoyof goal the with odds could at was which privilege, groups or individuals certain which in context a determined activism media of character voluntary the and structures hierarchical explicit of absence The 20 Borra and (Poell control editorial of form the in especially power, decision of amount an enjoy can and network the of core the at actually is activists of t 174 (Coyer2005, influence of lot a gaining inevitably network, the of activities the to crucial became “techies”, the like groups, some and open o The structure participatory 174). 2005, Coyer (see network IMC global the in differences internal of resolution consensual the to energy and time of lot a devoted and problem this of aware quite questi the from immune not was Center 204). media of hands the in remain to “tend ge in media alternative of accounts pessimistic More 5). 2012, Borra, and (Poel practices journalistic traditional more from distant very not is that way a in 1), (2012, users” of number small “relatively a by dominated was reporting protest that claim protests similar G20 Toronto 2010 the of coverage find media social the of analysis their in to evidence seem Borra and Poel 227). (2007b, representativeness” or accountability gener are sites “many because level”, democratic the at “problematic is Internet the of use movements’ media these consider he commitment to opento commitment he
In fact, even the participatory and egalitarian experiment of the Independent Media Media Independent the of experiment egalitarian and participatory the even fact, In td n mitie b idvdas r ml gop o pol wt ltl o no or little with people of groups small or individuals by maintained and ated
also as a model and a metaphor of social movements. As Fenton argues, argues, Fenton As movements. social of metaphor a and model a as also - f the IMC gave rise to “a kind of tyranny of structurelessness” and structurelessness” of tyranny of kind “a to rise gave IMC the f publishing, consensus and horizontal collaboration,numberlimited ahorizontal and consensus publishing,
- literate professionals” (Villarreal Ford and Gill 2001, Gill and Ford (Villarreal professionals” literate on of internal democracy. Indymedia activists were activists Indymedia democracy. internal of on - 175). Many scholars have underlined that, despite despite that, underlined have scholars Many 175). 23
ess and radical democracy sponsored by by sponsored democracy radical and ess neral stress that they inevitably inevitably they that stress neral 11, 5; Coyer 2005, 172). 172). 2005, Coyer 5; 11, - making making and and
CEU eTD Collection initial the individualized and spontaneous approachhas been99% mediafor2011, 84). (Writersthe tosocial how underline to tends movement Occupy self activist hand, other the On process. production its and produced is which content overmediaof controlthe kind exerttosome movement, the within degreestruggle, of social sources. media on relying on keen increasingly now practices, journalistic in changes undergoing the of because partially and movement Indignados the and Spring Arab the with association attention of lot a enjoyed has Occupy by produced content media The Occupy. for importance some of is movement
uey h polm f urneig pnes n dmcay n structureless a in democracy and openness guaranteeing of problem the Surely
It is legitimate to expect that, given their importance, there will be a certain a be will there importance, their given that, expect to legitimate is It
since the beginning of the movement, partially because of the the of because partially movement, the of beginning the since 24
- a nalysis of the the of nalysis
CEU eTD Collection greatdifferences 4 was Chicago 2012. May of month the in Chicago Occupy frame: temporal one and location T Twitter. and Facebooksites networking social the on movement the of accounts “official” the on focus self some mo the participation, greater was there where and cities, biggest the In sites. networking social on profiles created have and websites developed have movements movement the of versions local other the for standards the setting presumably NYC in Street Wall Occupy with imitation, mutual of sort a from derives consistency a such that hypothesize to legitimate course of is It media. alternative certain among differences great the notwithstanding Moreover, movement. Occupy entire the across common are that stimuli and constraints to movement. entire the for highlig can study accountscase a However, that analysis an produce to seek not do I city, single one in movement Occupy the at looking by demands; their in and strategies organizational displ movement the of versions world. local the different around and Occupy States the United the Manhattan, in Lower cities different in across camp spread Movement a of creation subsequent the and Street Wall
Thiscasewas websites, the Indymediafor standardwere also usingthe that one template whiccreated and he case study: Occupy Chicago, M Chicago, Occupy study: he case Originating in New York City in September in City York New in Originating I have chosen to limit my analysis of the Occupy movement to one geographical geographical one to movement Occupy the of analysis my limit to chosen have I –
Chapter III Chapter and s and - funded print publications, the “occupied newspapers”. In this thesis I will mainly mainly will I thesis this In newspapers”. “occupied the publications, print funded –
always looked to IMC alwaysSeattleto as a point of looked reference 251). (Downing 2003, urprising
–
– consistency in the choices over the production of the movement’s movement’s the of production the over choices the in consistency
Research Design and Methodology and Design Research
ht some of the strategies that the movement movement the that strategies the of some ht the various the 25 ay
2012 ay 2011, with the call for the occupation of of occupation the for call the with 2011, particular 4 . Nevertheless, all of the local Occupy local the of all Nevertheless, .
local versions of Occupy, there is a a is there Occupy, of versions local
hrceitc, oh n their in both characteristics, vement has also produced produced also has vement
uses h –
to respond respond to despitetheir
T he he
CEU eTD Collection 17TH.was SEPTEMBER BRING “#OCCUPYWALLSTREETTENT.” st bull Exchange 5 the Appendix place took that events unplanned and planned the of 12 (May Summit People’s the demonstrations, Day May the analyzed: be to U enough significant the over all from activists gathered that events some feature cityirritation inthe movement quite created a of (Macaré bit 2012). people calling before Chicago Occupy to out reach not did 2012c). (Adbusters forward put also was David Camp Chicago; of city the in concentrated mobilization of month a for je partially it because movement, Occupy the within debate some caused also summit G8 the of location of change the hand, other the On demonstrations. announced the of fear of out administration Obama the by rescheduled was G8 the that claiming 2012b), (Adbust Backdown” G8 “Surprise a of spoke Adbusters success. a as movement Occupy Thurmont of facility military the to summit G8 the move to House White the of decision The 2012c). (Adbusters world 1 2012a) May (Adbusters “#OCCUPYCHICAGO, York: New in Street Wall Occupy ofeventsfirst triggered the that oneechoed the which mobilization forcall a issued Adbusters second the for scheduled in mobilization of month Chi entire an plan to movement the encouraged meetings such of prospec the 2012; May of month duringthe summit G8 a and meetingNATO a host to meant
The original call for the occupation of Wall Street, featuring the iconic image of a dancer standing on the top of the Stock the of top the on standing dancer a of image iconic the featuring Street, Wall of occupation the for call original The - 13) and the events organized in the days of the NATO meeting (May 20 NATO (May meeting ofthe events inthe days the organized 13) and ao satn fo May from starting cago, Although smaller in size than originally planned, the May mobilization in Chicago did did Chicago in mobilization May the planned, originally than size in smaller Although atue in New York City had a similar caption: under the question “What is our one demand?”, the indication the demand?”, one our is “What question the under caption: similar a had City York New in atue .
5 Te anucd h priiain f 000 epe rm l ove all from people 50,000 of participation the announced They .
h alf
of the month. In one of its newsletters, the Canadian col Canadian the newsletters, its of one In month. the of – 1st and culminating with the two international meetings meetings international two the with culminating and 1st
better known as “Camp David” David” “Camp as known better 26
in May 2012 in Chicago in 2012 May in
Furthermore, the fact that Adbusters Adbusters that fact the Furthermore,
to a month of mobilization in their in mobilization of month a to
nited States and that are are that and States nited h ie t try to idea the –
was welcomed by the the by welcomed was opardized the plans the opardized – -
21). BRING TENT” TENT” BRING
is available in available is A
description description to occupy occupy to lective lective the r ers ers t
CEU eTD Collection newspaper independent online and print a create to decided group Chicago Occupy within formed were that committees are them of two movement; the in groups three by managed speak th i.e. Chicago, Occupy by produced content the in interested mainly will am I Since 1. Table in summarized as I Facebook, and Twitter on content media social analyze research, this For message. their spread to using are activists movement’s the of choices methodology datacollection content: media social Analyzing needs. some consolidated well and activists of activities and interactions the that and place taken has process learning certain a that assume to reasonable is it when activities, of months several US). after movement the over all evictions o ofpicture a get to me allow will wave May in Occupy of activities the the observing Furthermore, after months winter 2011/2012 the as (such inform distribute to necessities the where events, special during arise that conditions the to respond allowmetoobservemedia Thiswill themovement’s activists ofMayin the month how 2012. an additional reasonchoicefor Occupy Chicago the of as case my study. provide similarities these movements, two the nor events, two the compare directly to intend als crucially, and, movement large the was which Seattle, in 1999 of events the to similar
For the purpose of this r this of purpose the For very considered be can 2012 May during Chicago in conditions the Furthermore, As underlined above, there is a significant homogeneity between the communication communication the between homogeneity significant a is there above, underlined As bu te oeet n is oiin, hv coe t suy i accounts six study to chosen have I positions, its and movement the about ation and produce media content are even more pressing than in a more relaxed setting relaxed more a in than pressing more even are content media produce and ation
different
Occupy movements, in terms of the formats and plat and formats the of terms in movements, Occupy –
- h Sca Mda omte a committee Media Social the established lines o of the Independent Media Center. Although this thesis does not does thesis this Although Center. Media Independent the of o esearch, I will analyze Occupy Chicago’s social media activity activity media social Chicago’s Occupy analyze will I esearch, – 27
and and
were not nd the Press committee; the third third the committee; Press the nd
ju - scale debut of the global justice global the of debut scale st randomly causedpressing st randomly by e content that is intended to to intended is that content e –
an Occupied newspaper Occupied an
forms that the the that forms followed that f the the f
are –
CEU eTD Collection Twimemachinescrape additionalcopy (http://www.twimemachine.com/),andan store to tweets.of the accou Twitter scrape to 7 IV.in Chapter discussed 6 the content tweetan linkedintegral byalsoconsidered of each is thetweets. part replies direct the as well consider I accounts, Twitter the For etc.). videos, articles, pictures, (notes, content linked the and updates) status (i.e. accounts Committee and through an online dealing besides Committee, Press the Chicago”; “Occupy of accounts official the of management the forresponsibleis committee SocialMedia The movement. the groups within some of least sa thus is it ones; official Street Wall movement the represents “officially” that content media inter mainly am I because pages, or accounts individual on focus not does analysis My Tribune”. Chicago “Occupied of name the under
h ise f ht a b udrto as understood be can what of issue The I used the collaborative websitecollaborative(https://scraperwiki.com/the Scraperwiki used I @OccupiedChiTrib @OCPress @OccupyChicago Occupied Chicago Tribune The Occupy Chicago Press Occupy Chicago The data were collected on a daily basis during the month of May 2012, both manually manually both 2012, May of month the during basis daily a on collected were data The o te aeok cons m dt consist data my accounts, Facebook the For
with journalistic requests, account one alsoonTwitter onFacebook. one and manages
–
has been very upfront at indicating which accounts were to be considered the the considered be to were accounts which indicating at upfront very been has
nts, collecting and storing tweets and date and time of their publication. I also used another website, another used also I publication. their of time and date and tweets storing and collecting nts,
Table
- based scraping software based 1 fe to fe and the retweets made by the acc the by made retweets the and
-
S ources of social media content of Occupy Chicago
say ed ofca” s calnig n, seily o Occupy for especially one, challenging a is “official”
that they are representative of the movement at large, or at or large, at movement the of representative are they that the original tweets of the official accounts I accounts official the of tweets original the https://twitter.com/#!/OccupiedChiTrib https://twitter.com/#!/OCPress https://twitter.com/#!/OccupyChicago https://www.facebook.com/occupiedchic https://www.facebook.com/PressCOMM https://www.facebook.com/occupiedchicagotribune Facebook Twitter 28 ested in the processes behind the production of of production the behind processes the in ested 7
.
s
) to modify a preexisting template of a script designed a of modifytemplate preexisting ato ) of the posts published by the official official the by published posts the of 6 . Occupy Chicago Chicago Occupy . ounts. As in the case of Facebook, of case the in As ounts.
ad t ipiain are implications its and , agotribune
–
unlike Occupy unlike monitored
, as as ,
CEU eTD Collection different fundamentally a is website a that is note to thing important One Chicago. Occupy of use I categories the identify to categories these on built have I generation. resource and fundraising (6) expression, creative Th (5) linkages, lateral (4) 2009). dialog, and interaction (3) (Stein mobilization, and action (2) States information, United movement the social in of websites (SMOs) the of organizations content the map to her allowed which categories, Chicago? this that is: answer question should analysis content overall The present. if time, and platforms authors, across differences als should functions the of mapping Such Chicago. Occupy performsfor methodology analysis Content through their ac the is what assess to try will I Chicago; in movement the of life the in media different to the to seek attributed are functions I what discover analysis content this with (2009), websites organizations’ movement social of Stei Following Chicago. Occupy by produced content media activists role. educational and informative an perform co have I this, Considering and public the to out reach to intended website public technically being to addition h cnet analysis content The perform I In data. public as content media social this consider to straightforward is it think I ar Sen eeoe a yooy f oil movements social of typology a developed Stein Laura
– of Occupy my activity Chicago of
My of5,108elements: consists dataset I think that it is also perceived as public by the activists who are producing it. It is is It it. producing are who activists the by public as perceived also is it that think I media. media. ed
a content analysis of the data collected, with the aim of mapping the mapping of aim the with collected, data the of analysis content a
llected and analyze and llected is o understand to aims d
to perf to what is the function of social networking sites for Occupy Occupy for sites networking social of function the is what –
orm the content analysis of the social media activities media social the of analysis content the orm l o the of all .
29 tual content that is communicated by Occupy Occupy by communicated is that content tual d
the media content data without informing the the informing without data content media the 405 Facebook4703tweets.and updates
content is available on publicly available available publicly on available is content h fntos ht oil ei content media social that functions the n’s example of content mapping mapping content of example n’s ’ ese categories are: (1) (1) are: categories ese communication in six six in communication o provide a picture of of picture aprovide o social social
CEU eTD Collection media more a From 169). police 2011, 99%, the the for of Writers instance actions the on heavily insist far so the read of have all I Occupy; accounts of activists’ beginning very the since topic critical a been has behavior Police be police monitoring that underline also Borra and Poell presence. media social Chicago’s Occupy in evident is protests of account alternative an presenting of preoccupation the much how see disproportionate giving while “spec of elements to attention protests in issues substantive neglecting for social by movements criticized usually is media mainstream in reporting protest Since 2011). Borra, d media social on journalism alternative for potential the analyze to Borra Erik and Poell Thomas by employed reporting” “protest things while thatare happening, onreport to used be likelyto more much they’re that meanswhich easily, updated be they can and default by interaction allow they websites; from differently things do simply networks t whom with actors of kinds the different integrate of therefore analysis also should categories the interactive; definition by are network activities social Such message. each to linked are that websites external the and messages c also to necessary it’s why is This function. its identify or meaning its grasp to enough not often is update the of text pure the analyzing that means this content; only. function primary the time, the at function one than more perform could updates certain that possible is it course Of performs. message each that function the in interested concern was Stein all, of First analysis. of unit my is which tweet, or post Facebook single a from object The other contribution I have incorporated in these categories is the definition of of definition the is categories these in incorporated have I contribution other The havior towards protesters has been very important for activists of social movements. movements. social of activists for important very been has protesters towards havior ed with identifying which functions were performed in each website, I am am I website, each in performed were functions which identifying with ed
eody tet ad ot ams awy cnan oe linked some contain always almost posts and tweets Secondly, tacle and violence” (Poell and Borra, 2011), it is interesting to to interesting is it 2011), Borra, and (Poell violence” and tacle theyare happening protests). still (e.g. rn h oot G0poet o 00(ol and (Poell 2010 of protests G20 Toronto the uring 30
he movement interacts. Lastly, social social Lastly, interacts. movement he and in this case I case this in and - centric point of view, police view, of point centric onsider the pictures, the pictures, the onsider
would
(see for for (see id entif y
CEU eTD Collection Lawyers National unions, nurses’ unions, teachers’ (e.g. Occupy with working and Chicago groups Occupymovement as such groups, other with interact Chicago Occupy of accounts the which through Content (4) asked or said individual an what to response direct aoften is content such individuals; onlyconsiders it that i following the from category this differentiates What receives. movement with the that criticism engagement or Twitter) on retweets (e.g. opinions personal of endorsement include thro Content (3) going than totakea asking for place,precisefrom rather input activists. is something that communicates it that in (6) from different is It movement. the of activities upcomi about informs action, for calls which Content (2) the movement ontheissuesthat are debated. being of opinions the and mobilization for reasons the movement, the of identity the about speaks or media mainstream by misrepresented being of fear without ideas their present to free be should activists public, the to access unmediated offering of that is media alternative of functions the of one Since elsewhere. and Chicago sloga (even objectives and issues ideas, the describes which Content (1) Iexpect police tobeainprotestreporting element Occupy keyChicago. for Occupy the of coverage mainstream pepper the movement: widespread sparked what actually was brutality Interaction with groups Interaction with individuals Interaction with Organization Identity My the coding for content scheme analysisthefollowing categories: includes ten
ugh which the accounts of Occupy Chicago interact with individuals. This can This individuals. with interact Chicago Occupy of accounts the which ugh .
- spraying incident at UC Davis is the most well known e known well most the is Davis UC at incident spraying in other cities (e.g. Occupy Wall Street) or groups that areactiveinthat groups orStreet) (e.g. cities OccupyotherWall in
31
misinterpreted by the public. Such content content Such public. the by misinterpreted
ng events, invites to take part in the the in part take to invites events, ng ns) of the movement, in in movement, the of ns)
pisode of this. of pisode
s
CEU eTD Collection (7) of arrest),and resourcesmovement trainingsabout (e.g. tolearn the case in use to Guild Lawyers National the of number telephone the (e.g. protesters for d for requests fundraising, hand, one the on includes, This public. general the to and activists asks either which Content (6) message: the conveyed which images, absurd created paintings famous of background the “pepper the Placing backgrounds. different into placed and picture original circ widely a into Davis UC pepper the of image dramatic the theoftransformation is this of example An media. social on especially movement, the by employed widely been have parody and irony t (i.e. Street Wall occupy to call original the for image the produced things other among who Adbusters, collective the describe to employed often is jamming” “culture term The provocative. and funny usually is it and message the les privileges it because “identity”, of category the from different is It Occupy. by or endorsed is which others identity by content or the movement, Occupy the of about positions something communicates which content parodic or absurd Ironic, (5) accurately ofsocial networking theenvironment sites. important, l of idea the on insists which linkages”, “lateral of category similar the employs Stein Guild). inks (both in terms of hyperlinks and political ties) between SMOs; while links are still very still are links while SMOs; between ties) political and hyperlinks of terms in (both inks onations in forms other than money (e.g. food), requests for help and on the other hand, tips tips hand, other the on and help for requests food), (e.g. money than other forms in onations Protest reporting the andfrom Resources movement for culIrony and I
rfr to prefer absurdity of policeabsurdity brutality. of ture jamming
use the idea of “interaction”, which in my opinion describes more more describes opinion my in which “interaction”, of idea the use ulating meme, in which the image of the cop was cut out from the the from out cut was cop the of image the which in meme, ulating for
support of different kinds or offers support to movement movement to support offers or kinds different of support
32
he dancer on top of the stock exchange bull); bull); exchange stock the of top on dancer he
guide s direct ways of conveying conveying of ways direct s s for protesterss for - - spraying cop” on on cop” spraying spray incident at at incident spray the intended intended the ).
CEU eTD Collection 2011, 4). Borra and (Poell message their of elements oppositional the 200 misrepresenting Snow deliberately and (Benford protests the frame to trying as them perceive they because media, mass mainstream of skeptical are general in movements social media, alternative of general more includes also category stateme This it. criticizes it or way correct a the in portray movement doesn’t it because either like, don’t Chicago Occupy of activists that content is and Occu organizations by distributed media mainstream by hosted and produced is which content News (10) containdon’t agreeway information reported. theywith),butthe inwhichitis might it (i.e. like they that item news the of content the necessarily not is It reported. well as perceive they news is it because or movement the by important as perceived topics that news is it activists ofOccupy judgment: C positive a with linked) or retweeted (e.g. Chicago Occupy by is and organizations media mainstream by hosted and produced is which content News (9) linked). or retweeted (e.g. Chicago Occupy than by endorsed otherand/or promoted is organizations and media by mainstream produced is which content news Guild); Lawyers National d is which content News (8) specified also it above, includesreporting activityand onpolice violence. As happened. recently have or happening either are that protests on reports which Content Po Alternative news Criticism ofmainstream(“newsCriticism media we don’t coverage like”) sitive interaction with mainstream media (“news mainstream mediasitive interaction with we like”) nts of criticism of mainstream media. As I have underlined in my theoretical analysis theoretical my in underlined have I As media. mainstream of criticism of nts
y hcg (.. ewee o lne) ih ngtv jdmn: t is it judgment: negative a with linked) or retweeted (e.g. Chicago py
hicago like, either because it talks about the movement and/or it presents and/orpresents talksabout it the movement like,because either it hicago irectly produced by Occupy Chicago (or the groups related to it, e.g. it, to related groups the (or Chicago Occupy by produced irectly 33
shared 0) or or 0) also
CEU eTD Collection OccupyWallwhich Street, wasperiod unfortunatelythe limited to May 1 it make 9 foundat feedcanbe https://twitter.com/OccupyWallSt. 8 (positive categories three of barriers the crossed tweets two these Since general. in police on rather but articles, the of content the on much so not movement the of judgment a adding whic media, mainstream from content linked both they categories: multiple to belong could two OWS); to unrelated tweet retrievable);category not could belong(it recommended not toany one exhibition an art analyzed correctly be not been have to appears content their because could 3 particular, In category. any to attributed be not could jamming”, culture and “irony media” mainstream of “criticism for only frequencies low particularly found have I platforms. the both or one in represented, be to seems category Street. Wall Occupy by created problems period created been 23. May and 1 have May between that (n=100) “OccupyWallStreet” of updates Twitter and (n=25) St” analysis. the has of sample center the at data actual the fit to adapted looks a that having scheme of coding danger the avoid I dataset similar a on scheme coding the testing by simple: the from updates media scheme coding analysis content Test ofthe
Although access to the full content produced on Facebook was possible, the time limit constrain of the Twitter API did not did API Twitter the of constrain limit time the possible, was Facebook on produced content full the to access Although can statuses, the therefore and page, Facebook The
Overall, I consider my categories to have worked well in capturing the sort the capturing in well worked have to categories my consider I Overall, test To possible to retrieve data from May 2012. I have therefore worked on a previously collected database of tweets from from tweets of database collected previously a on worked therefore have I 2012. May from data retrieve to possible
considered for the content of Occupy Chicago (the entire month of may), due to access to due may), of month entire (the Chicago Occupy of content the for considered 9 , issufficientlycompatiblemeaningful coding tosuggesta testing scheme. ofthe been chosen randomly among the Facebook statuses of the page “Occupy Wall Wall “Occupy page the of statuses Facebook the among randomly chosen been and fine and
- tune h involved some news of the New York Police Department, while while Department, Police York New the of news some involved h accounts of Occupy Wall Street (New York City). City). York (New Street Wall Occupy of accounts my 10 my 8
The time frame, although not perfectly coinciding with the time the with coinciding perfectly not although frame, time The also with only 3 updates. 3 only with also The results of the coding are displayed in Table Table in displayed are coding the of results The - category coding category
be retrieved at https://www.facebook.com/OccupyWallSt; the Twitter the https://www.facebook.com/OccupyWallSt; at retrieved be
removed (broken link; user removed from Twitter; from removed user link; (broken removed 34
, I have employed a sample of 125 social 125 of sample a employed have I – -
May23.
just 3 just Only 6 updates (all of them tweets) tweets) them of (all updates 6 Only
updates in this category this in updates The rationale is rationale The of updates updates of 2 .
Every Every –
The a
nd nd
CEU eTD Collection suggests thatTwitter This oftheis muchlessimportant (5). onTwitter, tweets 5.3% withonly it but (5), Facebook on posts the all of 20% to applies news alternative of other category the hand, the On (1). posts Facebook the of 4% only but (17) tweets the of 18% for accounts categories eachwithin networkof category thetweets into social 10.7% (e.g. fall 1,identity). (Table Twitter and Facebook on behavior),were notcoded. they interacti
Table Table
Consistentl also is It on with mainstream media; identity; protest reporting, which includes police police includes which reporting, protest identity; media; mainstream with on 2
-
Frequencies of the content analysis on a random sample (n=125) of Occupy Wall Street Street Wall of Occupy random sample (n=125) a on analysis content the of Frequencies worth looking worth y with the differences in the platforms, for instance, protest reporting reporting protest instance, for platforms, the in differences the with y mainstreammedia mainstreamwith media from movement the jamming groups individuals Could not be attributed Total (valid cases) towards criticism (10) interaction positive (9) alternative(8) news protest(7) reporting and for resources (6) culture and irony (5) with interaction (4) with interaction (3) organization(2) (1) identity Category
how
updates on Facebook and Tw and Facebook on updates
the different categories seem to have different frequencies frequencies different have to seem categories different the 3
. h pretgs ee t te itiuin f h 10 the of distribution the to refer percentages The ).
35
13 3 11 15 26 14 Frequenc 6 119 2 7 10 18
y
itter
10.9% 2.5% 9,2% 12,6% 21,8% 11,8% Percentages - 100% 1.7% 5.9% 8.4% 15.1%
CEU eTD Collection 2. 1. Th Q official accounts can clearly identified, a be thus the contrary, the on Chicago, Occupy for movement; the representing officially as considered be can accounts which indicating clearly from refrained has City York New in movement the extre with taken be should results Street, Wall Occupy of case specific the for However, movement. the for functions different perform indeed could Facebook and
uestions e analysis purpose content of the isthatofanswering thefollowing questions: Table Table
are theredifferences between groups/accounts? thedifferent whatmedia perform functions for dosocial Occupyin Chicago? 3
-
Distribution of of Distribution for the content analysis content for the mainstreammedia mainstreamwith media from movement the jamming groups individuals total (10) criticism towards positive(9) interaction alternative(8) news protest(7) reporting (6) resources for and (5) irony andculture (4) interaction with (3) interaction with organization(2) (1) identity Category
the categories in the test sample (n=125) sample test inthe categories the
platform
15 22 10 94 17 10 2 4 5 2 7 36
llowing for a meaningful for more analysis. llowing
100.00 16.0% 23.4% 10.7% 18.1% 10.6% 2.1% 4.3% 5.3% 2.1% 7.4% %
, according to social social networking to according , 25 0 4 4 0 3 5 1 3 1 4
Facebook %
100.00
me caution given that given caution me 16% 16% 12% 20% 12% 16% 0% 0% 4% 4%
CEU eTD Collection 4. 3.
categories: the between relationship the is what areFacebook theredifferences between and Twitter? is it an is it event
- driven social media 37
aedr f vns and events of calendar
production
?
the itiuin of distribution
CEU eTD Collection 2012 Chicago (Occupy populated less and GAs the to addition in groups, Occupy voting; include Chicago space occupied permanently a never was there Chicago in though even City, York New in Street Wall Occupy by developed Chicago Occupy in structures Organizational the main ofwiththe Chicago lines conflict Dep Police of one course of was This action. the of beginning the before just public made or spontaneous were marches of number significant a and actions” “direct the of most advance, in planned noteworthy Rahm Emmanuel’s cityadministration. oppos especially healthcare, of topic the role prominent a gained Spring” “Chicago the of activities 20 (May summit official the during NATO against predating action daysof the and Summit People’s the plan to especiallytogether worked Occupy). They (thus 2011 August in founded was that group a NATO/G8), against (Coalition Chicago 2012 in ofMay The events A timeline of the most relevant events of the month is available in available is month the of events relevant most the of timeline A co were 2012 May of events key The h mvmn hls w Gnrl sebis e we. h poeue o te GA the of procedures The week. per Assemblies General two holds movement The structures the to similar rather are Chicago Occupy of structures organizational The developed in a more inadecentralizeddeveloped butalsomore organized way.
that while the main events and certainly the topics of the differen the of topics the certainly and events main the while that the the Chapter IV Chapter – prvl f pooa re proposal a of approval
the movement created a number of working groups and committees committees and groups working of number a created movement the a because of the march on march the of because . n gie o t to guide a In ).
like the encampment in Zuccotti Park. This meant This Park. Zuccotti in encampment the like – was
Findings and discussion and Findings
the National Nurses United, a nurses’ trade union trade nurses’ a United, Nurses National the
– ing the closures of neighborhood clinics planned by planned clinics neighborhood of closures the ing
which, as Occupy Chicago activists admit, are less are admit, activists Chicago Occupy as which, he Chicago Spring written by Occupy Chicago Chicago Occupy by written Spring Chicago he
38
- urs spraoiy f 90%. of supermajority a quires planned
May 18; Occupy Chicago also worked on on worked also Chicago Occupy 18; May artment. –
21). Another crucial group for the the for group crucial Another 21).
by Occupy Chicago and CANG8 CANG8 and Chicago Occupy by
the
t activities were activities t Appendix. It is is It Appendix. that Occupy Occupy that Like
other other that
CEU eTD Collection (10.67 media mainstream pro is that is other the information happening aboutevents inthat moment. (organization), participate to encouragement an and happen will that events i one while reporting”: “protest to connected closely is “organization” that lin a of form the take typically can this Facebook about movement does. thewhatmovementand the aboutnews primaryof the be sources to want activists happening; platform convenient a as Chicago Occupy by seen are media social that suggests content reporting protest of amount the later, reporti 38 constitutes reporting” “protest behavior: of that be to seems movement the for media social of function biggest the Overall, shown. is dataset the in categories the of distribution medi social by performed The functions have shut been that Forums some hosted also Chicago Occupy of website The Twitter. and Facebook course, 2 Chicago(Occupy internet” through based largely is communication that is Chicago Occupy of infrastructure the on note to aspect “[o]ne that underline they activities, their presenting while activists, The second most impor most second The the where 4, Table and 1 Figure in summarized are analysis content the of results The The third most important function is “alternative news”; this category includes news news includes category this news”; “alternative is function important most third The the upcoming events of the movement and calls for active participation ( participation active for calls and movement the of events upcoming the duce
d by the movement, groups close groups movement, the by d down after May 2012due to
%). This category is of course also one of the features of ideal ideal of features the of one also course of is category This %). 012 tant function is “organization”; is function tant a ): the resources include Google Groups, mailing lists and, of of and, lists mailing Groups, Google include resources the ):
for spreading news about their activities as they are are they as activities their about news spreading for .17 low participation 39 % of all the content produced. produced. content the all of %
to it, individuals or media outlets media or individuals it, to k to an “Event P “Event an to k a for Occupy in Chicago a forOccupy
ng on actions, protests and police police and protests actions, on ng
content in this category informs informs category this in content and spamming age”. It is important to important is It age”. s information about information s . As I will discuss I will As
12.94
other than than other
[sic] %). On On %). note
the
CEU eTD Collection volu food, funds, (e.g. movement the for support indeed ofsome signalsis importancefor thatit Occupy Chicago, too. typical Table The fourth category is that of “resources”, which includes both specific requests of of requests specific both includes which “resources”, of that is category fourth The description 4
-
The overall distribution of categories i media Negative interaction with mainstream media Positive interaction with mainstream alternative news protest reporting resources irony groups individuals organization identity Figure Figure
f lentv media alternative of
1
-
The overall distribution of categories in the social mediacontent social inthe categories of distribution Theoverall
Is rsne mn te ot motn categ important most the among presence Its . percentages) N= 4975 40
n the social media content (frequencies and
Frequency nteers) and resources that the movement movement the that resources and nteers)
1899 438 531 492 116 394 644 296 85 80
Percentages
10.67% 38.17% 12.94% 1.71% 8.80% 9.89% 1.61% 2.33% 7.92% 5.95%
ories ories
CEU eTD Collection non fie this in question key the since II, Chapter in presented structures Internet and movements social between interaction the of evolution the of analysis my in also granted for taken is point the movements; social Internet use movements that cours of is, fact purposes organizational for technologies The produced. content overall the of 22.83% for account together ‘resources’ and ‘organization’ of categories the fact, in movement; the of t to related content of importance the is analysis this of finding clear identity to relatable potentially s suggests 5.95%. only content, one However, chapter. this with comparison interaction); negative of instances in (especially media mainstream with interaction positive and identity catego four of size and ranking the to related mainly which accounts only for shar the with it compare or posted shared, category, this of is size the content While retweeted. media mainstream which in instances for accounts which 9.89 for accounts category This safety). protest on tips (e.g. public general the to provide to wants ca mda otn poue b O by produced content media ocial - % also of the tosay,is closely this connected content. Needless toorganization. organizational content is important fororganizational is activists. content The most remarkable findings of the overall distribution of categories in the dataset are dataset the in categories of distribution overall the of findings remarkable most The functi important most fifth The
that content with direct political and ideological references is references ideological and political direct with content that hs is This 1.71 e of the opposite function function opposite the of e ld is rather related to “what else” movements can create, i.e. what i.e. create, can movements else” “what to related rather is ld po % of the content. int worth emphasizing worth int oeht otaitn atraie ei theories media alternative contradicting somewhat , is negligible, is , I discuss such discuss I ccupy in Chicago. Even ironical and and ironical Even Chicago. in ccupy on is “positive interaction with mainstream media”, media”, mainstream with interaction “positive is on 8.80 41
since it is only is it since
%, is not is %,
findings
–
e, widely anticipated by the literature on on literature the by anticipated widely e, here is the small share of identity of share small the is here ries: protest reporting, alternative news, news, alternative reporting, protest ries:
criticism towards mainstream media mainstream towards criticism in detail in per se per
1 .61
striking, it is interesting to interesting is it striking,
% of the posts. posts. the of % in the final paragraphs of of paragraphs final the in he organizational needs needs organizational he overall aoi content, parodic marginal in the the in marginal , eas it because In turn In
- related related - based based , a a , –
CEU eTD Collection by accounts. theofficial Occupy Chicago produced content the of 37% and (56%) accounts Tribune Chicago Occupied the of activity This reporting”. “protest of that is function important most the than less much is previous category, it but news”, “alternative is content of type frequent most second Their 43,3%. category: media” mainstream interactionwith “positive the into falls Committee Oc producedbythe content the of biggestpart the Forexample, functions. different on concentrate to tend followed I groups three The 2. Figure in charts pie three the some groupsand accounts between The differences Cells markedyellowfirst the in category category;indicate in greenlight second size; by the cells blu the third cells in Table Table ept te self the Despite For both the Occupied Chicago Tribune and the official Occupy Ch Occupy official the and Tribune Chicago Occupied the both For (conscious or unconscious) division of labor on social media, as showed by Table 6 and and 6 Table by showed as media, social on labor of division unconscious) or (conscious 5
-
The distribution of categories in the accounts of the Occupy Chicago Press Committee, the the Committee, Press Chicago Occupy ofthe accounts inthe categories of Thedistribution protest reporting alternative news organization individuals only resources MSM + MSM identit MSM MSM groups irony - proclaimed unstructured nature of the movement, there seems to be be to seems there movement, the of nature unstructured proclaimed 16,7%. Protest reporting16,7%. isals Occupied Chicago Tribune and Occupy Chicago. Occupy and Tribune Chicago Occupied y
-
OCPress 43.3 16.70% 15.43% 11.63% 2.33% 6.34% 0.42% 1.06% 2.11% 0.63% category,whererelevant 4%
OccupiedChiTrib 42
17.89% 56.04% 6.04% 3.79% 3.91% 3.79% 4.98% 1.78% 0.95% 0.83% o prominent, 15.4% with ofthe content.
represents OccupyChicago 14.71% 36.99% 11.48% 10.31% 7.14% 1.12% 5.49% 8.23% 1.72% 2.82%
more than half of half than more cupy Chicago Press Press Chicagocupy
icago account icago
s , the the , the
CEU eTD Collection
Figure Figure 2
-
The distribution of categories in the accounts of the Occupy Chicago Press Committee, the the Committee, Press Chicago Occupy the of accounts inthe categories of Thedistribution Occupied Chicago Tribune and Occupy Chicago Occupy and Tribune Chicago Occupied 43
CEU eTD Collection under of ‘protest the definition reporting’ analysis. employed inthis of fal content that exactly kind is this the andsharing pictures): taking (also footage by place are that actions on updates spreading for media social importanceof the particularlyunderline the about news the break that ones the being of and chapter) this in later discuss will I topic (a Occupy of coverage media News” BreakingCreating guides help general, in activists and groups Occupy theothertheir groupsexact relationship ofOccupy with Chicago ascertain to nor production media social of matter the in group this of choices the determine to either stage this at possible not is it therefore, successful; been not have group Tribune Chic Occupied the in involved activists interview to attempts Unfortunately, overlap. greatly committees two the of members the that clear fairly is it itself, content media social w I what from accounts. However, own manages its PressChicago Committee whiletheCommittee, Occupy Media Social the by managed are accounts Chicago Occupy the III, Chapter in explained As second and mostimportantcategories. third the are (11.5%) resources and (14.7%) organization matters: organizational on focused more seem hand, other th the on accounts, Chicago as Occupy official The important,less. or 6% for less only account much seem functions the of rest The articles. their to links share also thus and Chicago in movement the of newspaper occupied the to refer accounts ac Tribune The three groups of a of groups three The Chicago Occupied the for have to seem media social that function important other The Some external resources produced by the members of the OC Press Committee for other other for Committee OCPress ofthe members produced by the external Some resources –
“Occupy the Media! Press Relations 101” Relations Press Media! the “Occupy counts is counts as able to infer from the internal discussions of the movement and from the the from and movement the of discussions internal the from infer to able as –
of course of – ccount are formally managed by three distinct groups of activists. of groups distinct three by managed formally are ccount
they clearly indicate both the importance of reposting mainstream reposting importanceof the both clearly indicate they ir actions to the mainstream media. In their second guide they they guide second their In media. mainstream the to actions ir –
that of alternative news; it is unsurprising given that these these that given unsurprising is it news; alternative of that
to explain to 44
n Pes eain o ciit 201: Activists for Relations “Press and
their use of social media. In their two two their In media. social of use their
that are considered here. that are
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CEU eTD Collection mechani just Occupy of makingprocesses decisionconsensual and collective, decentralized inc fundamental the in lies Chicago Occupy of accounts media media backlashed: committeeand failed th in procedures consensual more introduce to attempt the However, OccupyLAexample isonce useful: again socia corporate inherent the of and content media social their to attached movement the importancethat the of both telling is password' the of'tyranny of sort a as expressed being specified. not are content media social the in reflected are opinions movement’s the that ensure might movement” accurate be to has it twitter, or facebook official our
The fact that some of the tensi the of some that fact The In my opinion, the explanation of why so little identity little so why of explanation the opinion, my In 300). of agenda’ ‘reformist group a pushing small of them accused m the other of by insulted opinions routinely and were who actions, admins, views, the communications promote Facebook and to Twitter served the hurdles, these all of result a [as] nightly the at debated be to appropriate be meeting would which decided that ones proposals the were who Assembly, addressed. General the of be committee not the to communications regulating of burden could the shifted committee issues minor meant at be could meetings these Moreover, n the of to comprised up is showed Assembly whoever General the because obstacles of set new a posed this media, However, Assembly. General social the at upon through agreed were promoted actions/statements statements or action their an committee media the email could people where developed protocol new a communications, outward of control the about complaints of lots After
( sms, but values of the movement the of values but sms,
cuy hcg Gol Gop 2011 Group, Google Chicago Occupy . mda n n pn dcnrlzd and decentralized open, an in media l
(Terranova and Donovanand 2013,300) (Terranova ightly meeting and voted on a specific proposal. specific a on voted and meeting ightly ons over internal democracy in the movement ended up up ended movement the in democracy internal over ons
59 -
-
tended by hundreds of people, which which people, of hundreds by tended
and the individual the and
)
. (Terranova and Donovan 2013, 2013, Donovan and (Terranova
However, the sort of processes that that processes of sort the However, n rfet h o pinion o the reflect and -
mes f cuy A who LA Occupy of embers So effectively, the media media the effectively, So ultimately - content is created on the social social the on created is content ompatibility between the open, open, the between ompatibility - centered nature of social social of nature centered
- u ol i the if only but
democratic way. The The way. democratic wr o te social the of work e
difficulties of using using of difficulties
facilitation facilitation - d have have d
which are not are which
[sic]
f the of
CEU eTD Collection identity than more solidarity of feelings to refer generally they because have that activities and concrete more are they because both problematic, less much are hand, other the on content, organizational and events of coverage accounts; movement, the official on platform content identity official one 309) 2013, audience" possible broadest the to access give and useful, familiar, a mechanism, primaryany function technology. of the be should all, after that, something activities, their in activists the help to failing least possibi the restricting effectively not If Occupy that effort collaborative platforms Ha and (Hui collaboration" on based individuation collective for tools the provide Twitter Google+and Facebooknor neither but event,an page, group,aa establish As efforts. deliberative and participatory hand, resembles that anything on agree to movement the of inability the in c build to needed be would that processes deliberative the on than rather undertake on to actions focus about to proposals concrete tend which GAs), the (e.g. mechanisms consensus of basis the on processes Twitte and Facebook like sites networking
l thi All their choice of relying on Facebook and Twitter has not helped them in supporting their supporting in them helped not has Twitter and Facebook on relying of choice their from an official social media account could be perceived as the attempt to impose an impose to attempt the as perceived be could account media social official an from –
- as they are now now are they as
ng and the the and solution that bridges that solution cniee, age ht t that argue I considered, s been approved by the movement. Coverage of events might then reinforce then might events of Coverage movement. the by approved been - content. content. existence of multiple possible identi possible multiple of existence lear and coherent political positions for the movement. This results results This movement. the for positions political coherent and lear –
simply do not allow the sort of complex interaction, debate and and debate interaction, complex of sort the allow not do simply Since would require would
this kind of content content of kind this the need to use social media platforms media social use to need the
ciit ae wr ta psig some posting that aware are activists lities of the movement, these social networks are at at are networks social these movement, the of lities - content, which can be perceived as imposed on the on imposed as perceived be can which content,
u ad Halpin and Hui r. On the one hand, Occupy organized its political political its organized Occupy hand, one the On 60
e bec o identity of absence he
to be able to make sense of itself and its ideas. ideas. its and itself of sense make to able be to
is simply reduced to ami reducedis simply ties, and thus the unavailability of of unavailability the thus and ties, explain , "[on] Facebook, one can can one Facebook, "[on] ,
(Terranova and Donovan Donovan and (Terranova
a platform. On the other the On platform. a lpin 2013, 111). The 111). 2013, lpin - content -
"because they are are they "because
identity nimum in the the in nimum s coping a is - related related se
CEU eTD Collection the for important so are movement. platform that decentralization networking political social of principles behind the logic compromising the changing by way better individual and identities multiple between clash the that suggests expl also it to but movements; identity social contemporary of of processes notions communication on rely heavily that media the alternative challenges of This are”. definitions they “who about than rather do”, they “what about something Twi the to abiding When movement. tr moe n hi (niiul users (individual) their on impose tter I ofperspectiveexplore bothoftheseconclusions. shifts inmy
procedures that corporate social networks like Facebook and Facebook like networks social corporate that procedures , for the activists of Occupy it is easier to say say to easier is it Occupy of activists the for , 61
- centric social media might be addressed in a a in addressed be might media social centric
s, rather than than rather s, i the ain
CEU eTD Collection The technologies. digital with relationship overall its or processes making decision political Therefore, life. US predominantly a (itself study case a Limitations the specific needs of should employ they technologies the communication Internet of nature changed the for account to rethought be should media alternative of theories that suggest the movement. the within groups different for and Chicago in movement the for perform might networks social m NATO and G8 the Occupymovement, a uses understand on existing so the of emergence the by the engaged discussion
h itrcin ewe sca mvmns n Internet and movements social between interaction the practices of media production and political decision making of the Occupy movement, movement, Occupy the of making decision political and production media of practices n hs hss hv ivsiae oe f the of one investigated have I thesis this In As discussed in the description of my methodology in Chapter III, this thesis is based is III, on ofmy thesis As discussed this inthemethodologyChapter description
content analysis of social media content produced by one local expression of the the of expression local one by produced content media social of analysis content
theories of alternative media, but more importantly they also change also they importantly more but media, alternative of theories
of social movements: the use of social networking platforms. platforms. networking social of use the movements: social of the actual the
and its empirical findingsempirical its and literature on alternative media alternative on literature
The empirical results, interpreted in light of the available information about about information available the of light in interpreted results, empirical The t ant provide cannot it Occupy Chicago, in Chicago, Occupy these movementsthese practices eig. y nlss oue o te ifrn psil fntos that functions possible different the on focused analysis My eetings. - based experience), based - called web 2.0. I argue I 2.0. web called connected to the use the to connected s
cmrhnie con o te cuy movement, Occupy the of account comprehensive a and that the relationship between social moveme social between relationship the that and Conclusions primarily .
are
May, 2012, 2012, May,
certainly limited to one local experience of Occupy Occupy of experience local one to certainlylimited
by providing an account of the changes provoked provoked changes the of account an providing by 62
be assessed in terms of the political goals and and goals political the of terms in assessed be to
one particular moment of this movement's this of moment particular one d that these changes these that d during the during
of social media, media, social of ot prominent most
- ae technologies. based
intense protest activity against against activity protest intense my t opics seriously
Firstly empirical analysis analysis empirical our perspective perspective our n h recent the in critically I , n re to order In
challenge nts and and nts
its its
CEU eTD Collection point analysis my of T media. mainstream of ethics and work the criticize to and identity their and ideas th assumption the on based are that approaches theoretical the challenge clearly findings These 2%. for media mainstream of criticism and content) ironical include we if (7% 6% for accounts only identity while content, alternativ Chicago: Occupy by produced content media alternative of theories media alternative Rethinking processes media production content of fo calls option of aware be might activi that possible also is it tools, online through interviews conducting of difficulties the to attributable entirely be could this While production. media to connected processes internal ha to seem interviews, for available generally being despite interviewees, the production; content media social influence day important the of some clarify to sufficient not is interviews inf the Chicago, Occupy of activists to access gain to tried have I While Chicago. Occupy by produced content visual and textual with mainly of definition would field this in research comparative c of speak to findings problematic and empirical the platforms of media discussion my social As movements. between interaction of patterns possible Chicago Occupy of study case The results of my analysis clearly indicate that the content most connected to the the to connected most content the that indicate clearly analysis my of results The the r different methods of research of methods different r possible strategies strategies possible hi on hrcmns n thus and shortcomings own their
towards towards
movements’ use of “the Internet” or social media in general; further further general; in media social or Internet” “the of use movements’ ve deliberately avoided to disclose detailed information over the the over information detailed disclose to avoided deliberately ve
r per t b lmtd r vn agnl n h sca media social the in marginal even or limited be to appears ethinking alternative media theories in terms of understanding understanding of terms in theories media alternative ethinking at alternative media are created by movements to express their express to movements by created are media alternative at can however can
of , which were at notpossible this
thus oil movements. social
63 be needed to advance to needed be provide a meaningful insight into some of the of some into insight meaningful a provide
that allow for allow that
e news constitutes 11% of the overall overall the of 11% constitutes news e ormation I was able to gather from the the from gather to able was I ormation conceal them to the outsiders. Either Either outsiders. the to them conceal
Moreover more emphasizes - to -
day practices that seem to to seem that practices day
direct observation direct towards a more complete complete more a towards
point , this thesis has dealt dealt has thesis this , i is it , .
ontemporary t s deeply is it he results he s
of the the of sts sts
CEU eTD Collection a to confined often is production from problematic t Changing determinants of suggest it be also because should considerations production media alternative of picture of This media. social on relevant very become can that content of kind the producing by movement their for visibility gain to try and life internal their of boundaries the meaningfo a has that and movements the about something says that content of production the on focus theories media alternative While Facebook. and Twitter on relevant become could thought Com Press the particularly analysis my Internet; the on activism political have 2.0 web the by caused changes the how discussed I II Chapter In landscape. justice produced. they that content reporting protest of amount the and Committee Press the of strategy the establish to media social movem their used of activities the about source primary the as (successfully) themselves have they content; media social its with so do to tried not has Chicago Occupy that evident is it media, mass mainstream substitute to overlook it that Center Media Independent the of example the on focused so be to seems literature n the eeds of movements and the ways in which technologies can serve these needs. The The needs. these serve can technologies which in ways the and movements of eeds Not only can movements have different needs from the ones expressed by the global the by expressed ones the from needs different have movements can only Not As discussed in Chapter II, alternative media experiences on the Internet seem to be be to seem Internet the on experiences media alternative II, Chapter in discussed As
movement, but these needs should also should needs these but movement, ed
r the activists, Occupy Chicago shows us that activists of the web 2.0 think beyond beyond thinkweb the 2.0 activistsof that activists,us Occupythe shows r Chicago how the needs of movements of needs the how he perspective: technologies that help movements thathelp technologies he perspective:
the content that movements create. the content the point of view of movements' internal democracy, because such media media such because democracy, internal movements' of view of point mittee ae it account into taken – limited number of number limited
fully developed social media content in light of what they they what of light in content media social developed fully might 64
be very different. While the IMCopenly the While different. verybe indicates clearly indicates be understood in light of light in understood be
n ta te mgt culy e crucial be actually might they that and mostly media mostly
that Occupy Chicago Chicago Occupy that ta atvss strategic activists' that s - literate literate ent, as it is evident from evident is it as ent, a course changes the the changes course
users. This holds This users. different Internet different
influenced –
tried tried
and and has has
CEU eTD Collection s the with Occupy provided platforms corporate using While of choice the how explored netwo social thesis preexisting employing this policy'; media 'social consistent a in translated specific a around organized group a th wrongin is what about ongoingconversation encompassing multi its and character decentralized unstructured, open, its both acknowledged in and websites (activist2). and conflicts amon tensions particular, in Street, Wall Occupy of case the in account: new a of creation the in results often content published over conflict with dealing of processes the Occupy, dealt be could could ideas and groups movement the of c local of network its with Indymedia, of structure The democracy, to but rather th platforms, to contrary 2.0 web other the and media social Corporate activists. exclusionary media the the from of result practices can than tensions of sort the of example an is group media Y New in committees media e.g. social and press professionals, the up setting aspiring in role important (or an played have professionals students) journalism media where Occupy, of case the in also - progress identities that coexist in the Occupy movement. Occupy the in coexist that identities progress The global justice movement was a plural and diverse movement, not movement, diverse and plural a was movement justice global The The individual The e expectations of many, do not seem to solve these problems of inclusion and inclusion of problems these solve to seem not do many, of expectations e g groups have led to led groups have g with aggregation : under one website, one label label one website, one under : publicly, t publicly, - centric nature of social media clashes with the flexible, multiple, work multiple, flexible, the with clashes media social of nature centric r ad lehr, nldn Ciao Te cuy A ni Social Anti LA Occupy The Chicago. including elsewhere, and ork
author and author
exacerbate
of (unclear) demands. They have presented themselves as an an as themselves presented have They demands. (unclear) of hrough responses also published by the Indymedia website. In website. Indymedia the by published also responses hrough
the
rking sites has imposed some constraints on the activists. the on constraints some imposed has sites rking them. publish articles. Conflicts over the content of such texts texts such of content the over Conflicts articles. publish
creation of several Twitter accounts, Facebook profiles Facebookprofiles accounts, Twitter several of creation manifesto
65
e political and economic sphere, rather than as as than rather economicsphere, and political e
– .
that of Indymedia of that These choices, however, have not been been not have however, choices, These hapters, also represented the structure structure the represented also hapters,
Since its very beginning, Occupy beginning, very its Since olution to some of their needs their of some to olution
– , activists of different of activists , unlike - faceted, all faceted,
Occupy. – - -
CEU eTD Collection political the at looking by both topic the approach Internet the and needs and practices movement social between interaction the of studies comparative research of Further lines social of decisions movements. political the shaping in influence an have can features technological but reviewed, have I that media alternative of theories the this 2.0, web the of structures new the with interacts movement Occupy the how understand to key the indeed is relevance of logic the If networks. social the as thus, (and corporate of media rules the by play to willing are they socialthat public), the for relevant goes, reasoning on relevant being about much so care activists Occupy be to seems movement the that relevance of work insup collaboration, allow could platform a such that provided However, building. consensusand collectiveorganization would it suggest, Square Global promoting activists the as Twitter; support democraticand participatory efforts? be media social corporate of logic the can How movement? a of aims political the serve technologies can how angle: different a from approached be should media social centric ind and identities multiple practices, decentralized between interaction the of question decision inclusive prom either public the to access A social networking networking social A The - based technologies used byactivists. used technologies based potential implications of my research certainly call for more comprehensive and and comprehensive more for call certainly research my of implications potential porting the political processes of the movement, it might not give Occupy the kind give Occupy thekind movement, might it not processes ofthe political porting the t is utpe n work and multiple its ote
- making that could come to terms with such different identities. Thus the Thus identities. different such with terms to come could that making
and a reliable infrastructure reliable a and platform for the 99% would probably not look like Facebook and and Facebook like look not probably would 99% the for platform
- in - rges dniis or identities progress
As underlineds As above, 66 iig at aiming
–
it did not give the movement any means to to means any movement the give not did it choices . My analysis seems to indicate that that indicate to seems analysis My .
it also opens up the possibility that possibility the up opens also it of movements and how they shape shape they how and movements of not to uch investigatiouch
only support processes of of processes support calls into question into calls ns should should ns made ividual
to -
CEU eTD Collection their potential impact onsocie years last the in about brought have technologies new that transformations of sort the the connecting journalistic and media mass media alternative movements' that by Given practices. undertaken transformations general the of context the Therefore, t about sources primary of that as role their interpret activists interestingfor investigation. starting point media social corporate between political of relationship The movements. vision social of nature collective a the with odds at promoting is that participation be might use media social that possibility the embrace g should analyses Such offline. and online sites 2.0 web the of characteristics movements. tech nological practices and at how at and practices nological – Lastly, the prominence of protest reporting in my analysis seems to suggest that Occupy that suggest to analysis seems my in reportingprotest of prominence Lastly,the exp be should that possibility interesting Another
might be permanently changing the picture of social engagement and activism, both activism, and engagement social of picture the changing permanently be might
an analysis of social movements' use of the Internet should probably be placed in in placed be probably should Internet the of use movements' social of analysis an
research
about the changes in these two spheres could help to further clarify clarify further to help could spheres two these in changes the about
ty – .
chiefly the individual the chiefly
n te utrs f elbrl lblzto poie an provide globalization neoliberal of cultures the and –
in return in
67 o beyond the debates over over debates the beyond o
–
technology can shape the politics of social of politics the shape can technology
emerge in response to mainstream media, media, mainstream to response in emerge - etrdntr f oil networking social of nature centered lored is that certain specific specific certain that is lored er oeets activities. movement's heir “clicktivism”
and and and and
CEU eTD Collection “NATO3” demonstrators three arrested police day, the During march. spontaneous a into rally the transformed protestors the ground, the on Once Plaza. Daley at rally a as only but demonstration, the allowed ultimately administration city The problems. his that claiming event the l planned Although America Heal and Street Wall Tax to “Rally Union Nurses’ The May 18 social justice”ItChicago (Occupy workshops. consisted ofplenary 2012). sessionsand and activists rights immigrant leaders, faith environmentalists, anti unions, labor groups, “community together bring to two a was Summit People’s The May 12 reports media mainstream America; acknowledge and of 1500demonstrators. between 1000 Bank of branches 5 blocked successfully have to report Occupiers day the During 2012). (Macaré 12 at march (permitted) a around mainly 1, May for Strike General a declaring of proposal the down voted Chicago Occupy of Assembly General the discussions, heated After May 1 -
-
– 13 Day Labor
because of the announced participation of Tom Morello (a well know musician), know well (a Morello Tom of participation announced the of because National Nurses United’srally – –
the People the h hd en rvosy tpe ad usind y h plc; n ht first that in police; the by questioned and stopped previously been had who List of relevant protest events in Chicago, May 2012 May Chicago, in events protest List ofrelevant presence ong before, the city administration tried to revoke the permit the revoke to tried administration city the before, ong
’s Summit
would have caused more participation and thus increased security security increased thus and participation more caused have would - day forum for activists and grassroots groups, which aimed aimed which groups, grassroots and activists for forum day
Appendix
pig nta for instead opting 68
–
which the which
- racist organizers, Occupy activists, activists, Occupy organizers, racist
dy f cin th action of day a movement later referred to as to referred later movement
anyone else committed to to committed else anyone ”
took place on May 18. 18. May on place took
right before before right t revolved at
CEU eTD Collection campaign. Reelection Obama the of Headquarters the to activists the took march spontaneous strongl Chicago the to march protesters Occupy Chicago saw a Boeing, Summit of headquarters NATO the of day last and second The May 21 neither p significant was there march impromptu the During events. Summit to due located was Obama Barack President where Institute, Art the reach to t After operations. war to opposition their signal to NATO to medals their back gave symbolically veterans some rally, the During pacifists. committed now are who veterans wars’ Afghanistan and Iraq of group a Peace, for Veterans Chi Occupy and CANG8 Summit, NATO the of day first the On May 20 byand amateur livestreamers pictures. documented was accident the van; a with D’Amico Jack protester over ran police the march, During place. took NATO3 arrested the with solidarity in march spontaneous another day, the in Later house. private Emmanuel’s Rahm Mayor of front in yard the of occupation m healthcare of topic the on rally planned the 19, May On May 19 threats received from thatthe protesters the policemen. Chic Occupy agents. the by harassed being their documenting thus them, stopping policemen the filmed secretly protesters three the occasion, blzto fr cuy Chicago Occupy for obilization
tear gas tear – – –
Veterans Peacemarch for rally and to the Art Institute occupationof Emmanuel’s and Healthcarerally house march Obama and toheadquarters Boeing Campaign or ciiie fr t pouto ad upy f iiay qimn. Another equipment. military of supply and production its for criticizes y
LRAD sound cannon - – based aircraft and defense corporation, which Occupy Occupy which corporation, defense and aircraft based
turned into a spontaneous march and later into an an into later and march spontaneous a into turned were
used. used. 69
he Veterans’ rally, a spontaneous march tried tried march spontaneous a rally, Veterans’ he g rlae te ie t mk pbi the public make to video the released ago
–
one of the most important topics of topics important most the of one lc rpeso, vn though even repression, olice cago held a rally with the the with rally a held cago
- related the the
CEU eTD Collection to occupy Chicago a space in downtown unsuccessful. proved b day, the in Later oth an attempt to hold a NATO farewell party by occupying the beach and and beach the occupying by party farewell NATO a hold to attempt an oth
70
CEU eTD Collection Couldry, ed.and 2003. James Curran, Nick Chadwick, Andrew.200 Manuel.Castells, 2012.NetworksInternethope: ofoutrage socialmovements and the in age. Captain, Sean. 2011.Occupygeeks are b Bruns, Stefan. andStieglitz, Axel 2012.Quantitative approaches tocomparing Lotan, andboyd, Scott Tweet, Golder, Conversational danah, Gilad. 2010. retweet. tweet, Benford, Robert a Radical 2007. Atton, Chris. Alternative mediaIn Journalism: inpractice. Adbusters.Global Briefing 2012c. #laughriot. Tactical Newsletterand 18 post, blog #27.May MarchAdbusters. G8Backdown.Blog 7 2012b.Surprise post, Adbusters. Briefing 2012a. inChicago. Tactical Newsletter and #25.Showdown blog Interview 2.2013. Activist byauthor. May 2013. Interview 2013. Activist1. byauthor. May 2013. Atton, Chris. 2002. 2002. Atton, Chris. technologies. Cambridge: Polity Press December 27. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/12/occupy 160 communicationon Twitter. patterns aspectsTwitter. Pa ofretweeting on overview assessment. and York: Routledge. media handbook, Publications. April 23,2012). March 12 April 23,2012). http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters (accessed 23,2012). April January 25 networked world - 185.
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blog/surprise
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blog/laughriot.html (accessedblog/laughriot.html - 26: 611 th - blog/tactical g8 . - - backdown.html ( backdown.html 43, Kauai, HI. January43, Kauai, HI. 6. - 641. - The alternative The facebook/ Wired -
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accessed - 25.html 25.html
post, post, 30:
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- 264. - 242. Bristol: Intellect. 242. Bristol: - and
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