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Today, without warning and without comment, Facebook deleted the pages of fifty predominantly left and student-run organizations in the United Kingdom. Having forged an uneasy relationship with Facebook, activists, culture jammers and revolutionaries around the world now face a tremendous dilemma.
On the one hand, it is true that Facebook's social networking platform has served revolutionary organizers well in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere. The speed by which a call to protest can snowball into bodies on the streets intent on toppling a regime is awe inspiring and for the foreseeable future, Facebook will continue to play an important role in organizing protests and insurrections. And yet, Facebook is, in its essence, a capitalist business venture whose raison d'être is the commercialization of human relations. It is terrifying, and ultimately self-defeating that a commercially driven enterprise has insinuated itself into the soul of global activism.
On a deeper level, however, beyond all self-recriminations and angry tweets against Facebook's latest #zuckup the question remains: How will we, culture jammers, escape this dilemma? What are activists and revolutionaries to do in a world where a for-profit company has a near monopoly on social networking? Would thousands of us committing Facebook suicide wake Zuckerberg up? Could we jam Facebook into submission? Or must we develop our own non-commercial platform better suited to insurrection? What is the solution to this dilemma? How do we break the Gordian knot?
Agreed that alternatives to
Agreed that alternatives to Facebook and commercial sites are the better option for the sake of independence. Once they object to the message it's time to make the switch and try to establish critical mass elsewhere. The time is now.
Before facebook, people had
Before facebook, people had personal websites, which were on their own or their ISP's server. I think we should go back to something like this. We need a new system which contains many of the benefits of social networking but which is distributed peer-to-peer and open source.
check out
check out http://freedomboxfoundation.org
Diaspora is the most
Diaspora is the most efficient and likely alternative.
I am split on this issue. I
I am split on this issue. I can see the upside of quitting facebook. But it is a place for writers and intellectuals to get together. Maybe I will commit a facebook suicide as part of Carnivalezque rebellion.
What other site is used to
What other site is used to organize people to protest and stand up like Facebook? Are their any as big or near as big?
There are lots of open source
There are lots of open source social networking platforms already we don't have to invent them. What we need to do is pick those instead of facebook to use and maybe to figure out a way to benefit from that diversity instead of suffer from it. Facebook is so big because it is so big, everyone uses it so it is useful. If we networked smaller systems so they would work together then they could have some of that utility.
I do agree with Le Tigre's 2001 "Get Off The Internet, We'll Meet You In The Street."
I often wonder if Egypt shutting down the Internet contributed to the revolution there mostly because people stopped wasting time with computers and went out into the street.
And if we must use computers use Ubuntu, use FOSS software. Don't use it ignorantly. Stop being so lazy about it. Open Source is OFTEN better software and it isn't harder to use if people make the choice to switch.
Excellent piece. Facebook has
Excellent piece. Facebook has indeed "insinuated itself into the soul of global activism" thanks to a media hungry for ways to explain social change in terms of U.S. Internet companies.
Today, we find that two companies control or capture vital pieces of the human social enterprise: Google, the largest advertising company in the world, and Facebook, the master of our social connections, are poised for the takeover–
–of nothing less than your mind, that is.
What we have here is truly a problem of Gordian complexity, as you point out.
I believe that the problem is not that one single company has power over our social connections, but that we are addicted to a debased form of social networking--that is, digital or Internet social networking. This mediated form of communication lacks the power of face-to-face interaction, which is the basis for all grassroots movements that actually have impact. By overstating the value of Facebook as a tool for activism, we empower it, and lend ourselves an excuse for laziness and inaction.
Adbusters fans are great, but
Adbusters fans are great, but this is for the staff:
Look back to your "Do You Facebook?" link. You'll notice that Facebook was financed by the CIA. Regimes were toppled in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere because that's what the CIA wants. The CIA does not want the British regime toppled.
What to do? Social network with people who will listen: your neighbors. Organize.
-Michael
How the hell can you work
How the hell can you work within facebook to contribute to the downfall of facebook? FAke book, brag book, it's all a waste of time... personality disorders are exposed, online feuds created, massive amounts of time wasted!
I deleted my account after about 6 months of tolerating the BS... I drive with an anti facebook bumper sticker and thumbs down next to it... it looks legit and I have had a couple of compliments and supporters...but just creating a situation to discuss the merits of fake life, electronic communication... etc. Other drivers stopped behind me will see my sticker, then hop on their smart phone to check FB. It's comedy!
Delete yourself from FB!!
We don't need a "revolutionary" social networking application for oursselves! My revolution begins with myself and my family and loved ones... life is short... I will take my freedom where I can get it.
"How will we, culture
"How will we, culture jammers, escape this dilemma? What are activists and revolutionaries to do in a world where a for-profit company has a near monopoly on social networking? Would thousands of us committing Facebook suicide wake Zuckerberg up? Could we jam Facebook into submission? Or must we develop our own non-commercial platform better suited to insurrection? What is the solution to this dilemma? How do we break the Gordian knot?"
Is this hyperbole? I mean, come on! How will we face this dilemma...let's see....word of mouth, maybe? Actually talking to people? There doesn't need to be an online platform to help activists connect. Why are we so scared of having local meetings in our own towns and cities by calling each other or even e-mailing? The decrease of real human connecting in the past 10 years is scaring me; Adbusters is even hyperventilating that no one will be able to do anything without facebook. I deleted my account long ago, as facebook is a wasteland. Have you noticed that you're much more apt to do something if you are invited by an actual human voice, rather than an impersonal fb invite that went out to 843 other people as well? Delete your accounts and get out in the real world!
I agree...well said.
I agree...well said.
Wikileaks Founder: Facebook
Wikileaks Founder: Facebook is the most appalling spy machine that has ever been invented
http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2011/05/02/wikileaks-founder-facebook-is-...
Its a private company
Its a private company so...
they can do whatever they want in their arena because… its their arena …
Now if they are going certain ways to silent the opposition outside their arena then yes they are illegally oppressing free speech… But overall its on the individual who decides to enter their arena that must comply with the arena rules…
—
I Hope that analogy helps illustrate my point..
Companies that offer services
Companies that offer services to the public can't discriminate in who they offer those services to on the grounds of race, religion, sexuality or political affiliation. That is the law as it stands in the United Kingdom. It is is exactly the same reason that registrars can't legally refuse to perform civil partnerships and hotels can't say: "No dogs, No Blacks, No Irish."
"...it is true that
"...it is true that Facebook's social networking platform has served revolutionary organizers well in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere..."
---
Julian Assange has debunked this factoid:
"Yes [Twitter and Facebook] did play a part, although not nearly as large a part as al-Jazeera. But the guide produced by Egyptian revolutionaries … says on the first page, 'Do not use Facebook and Twitter', and says on the last page, 'Do not use Facebook and Twitter'.
"There is a reason for that. There was actually a Facebook revolt in Cairo three or four years ago. It was very small … after it, Facebook was used to round-up all the principal participants. They were then beaten, interrogated and incarcerated."
- Julian Assange tells students that the web is the greatest spying machine ever
which speaks to the woefully-absurd and -counterproductive idea that the internet is somehow magically "revolutionary" by default:
"[T]hat is another example of failing to take a systemic viewpoint. People may edit their copy, communicate with their friends, connect with other like-minded people, and so on. But the computer doesn't change the fact that great centralized institutions — corporations, trade bureaucracies, militaries, governments and so on — are able to use those same computers with far greater connections and with far greater real power. So the Internet will not stop a forest from being cut down or global money speculation from affecting the fates of whole societies. These technologies have to be viewed in all their dimensions.
"If computers enable you to do your work a little better, I don't argue with that. But it's an illusion for us to believe that our use of the computer will somehow change the centralized system of power. For those who would like to see equitable and sustainable systems develop, the use of the computer amounts to a net loss, not a net gain."
- Megatechnology: An Interview with Jerry Mander
Maybe, just for this article,
Maybe, just for this article, you should move the facebook icon to last on the list in your "support and share" section. I realized you addressed the conundrum in your article, but the irony hurt a bit when it slapped me in the face.
A good idea would be to
A good idea would be to create a new social network as a platform of fighting, and independent of the networks of consumerism. The dilemma is that this new network could then become on a new Facebook
Agreed! Capitalism is
Agreed!
Capitalism is falsely presented as part of humanities natrual evolutionary path. Newspapers, for example, dedicate entire sections to finance and business, without analysis of the economic system behind it all. When the price of oil shoots up and down chaotically, journalists blame demand in China, rather than capitalism itself. Thus, it is now difficult for many to imagine a world without capitalism.
Similarly, facebook is currently presented as "the future of activism." Rarely is a media report of the current uprisings free from the tag "facebook revolution." The contribution of people taking to the streets is pushed aside for our saviour, Mr Zuckerberg.
Activism with a built in one way window to the CIA. Fuck.
Has anyone talked about this?-http://freenetproject.org/
Surely an independant
Surely an independant platform currently exists?
Well, a very good idea will
Well, a very good idea will be, create a new social network, like a fight platform... independent from the consumerism networks!
There is a replacement in the
There is a replacement in the works - I'm not going to spam links, but you should check out Diaspora, it's the open-source facebook replacement. it is in the alpha stage with very few features so far, but people want it - it received over $200K when it was on kickstarter, well over the $10K it was asking for.
Diaspora!! And soon I hope!
Diaspora!! And soon I hope!
"It is terrifying, and
"It is terrifying, and ultimately self-defeating that a commercially driven enterprise has insinuated itself into the soul of global activism."
No it isnt. But you just can't get over the "corporations are evil" mantra.
Corporations are not evil,
Corporations are not evil, they are amoral. Their only goal is profit. Often that goal leads them into what we would call evil acts.
Two sides to every coin.
Two sides to every coin.
Perhaps you missed the
Perhaps you missed the paragraph detailing Facebook's recent anti-activist action (shutting down 50+ protest pages). Don't feel bad, though, it's easy to miss such critical information in such an expansive article.
However, until you've learned to consume information presented in greater length than Twitter's maximum (140 characters), perhaps it is best not to comment.
"Sincerely"...that was the
"Sincerely"...that was the greatest comment ever. I love you.
Diaspora is in the works.
Diaspora is in the works. It's in Alpha right now and hopefully soon it will be the new "in" social networking tool!
Help fight fascistbook please
Help fight fascistbook please and break the facecrook empire for the peoples sake
facebookusersunion.ning.com