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Kate Namestnik

Kony 2012: The Template for Effective Crowdsourcing? - 25 views

Net308_508 collaboration Crowd social media kony 2012 crowdsouced interventions

started by Kate Namestnik on 25 Mar 12
  • Velia Torres
    #2 Velia Torres on 04 Apr 12
     
    The Kony campaign is an interesting one as its full impact is not yet clear. The integral role that social media has played in allowing people to express their point of view however is undeniable, it is interesting to explore whether this online activity will have real life implications on the desired outcome. This article presents the different opinions from the public and illustrates the online influence the campaign has had. In her lecture Pickerill (2011) mentioned that during the London anti-war protest groups did not use social and online media effectively, the Kony campaign is a direct contrast to that because it has used online platforms so effectively. The campaign may be used as a model to create big movements in the future. Whilst the anti-war movement was not one happy family because of differencing social and religious backgrounds the groups shared a common cause and a more structured approach may have been more successful. Absolute priority was lost.

    In this campaign we can see that people are not stuck in their identity because the campaign has promoted one collective of people to share their views, for and against. This ties in with Shirky's (2011) comment about sites treating all people the same which is what this campaign has done in trying to get as many people possible together to have their say openly. It is an issue that everyone can have an opinion about and one can see the value of mass self-expression coming together for one common cause. This article states "[w]e are entering an age when the shallow political power of the public - will increasingly help shape our policy debates. And yes, that is scary to professional foreign policy experts, much in the same way reference book authors with graduate degrees were rattled by the idea of an online encyclopedia created collectively by amateurs." I believe this is a slightly utopian statement because whilst we might be entering an age of 'more power to the people' in a seemingly large-scale collaboration such as Wikipedia, an opened system, a small group makes most of the edits and most of contributors make only one edit. The seemingly large-scale collaboration is really run by small groups (Shirky, 2011). Understanding how people contribute and how valuable that contribution is, is an important part of understanding online collaboration.

    Additional references:

    Gillan, K., Pickerill, J and Webster, F. (2008) Anti-War Activism: New Media and Protest in the Information Age London: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved on March 03, 2012 from http://dbs.ilectures.curtin.edu.au/lectopia/casterframe.lasso?fid=640749&cnt=true&usr=not-indicated&name=not-indicated

    Linuxcon & Shirky, C. (2011). Clay Shirky: Good Collaboration is Structured Fighting. Retrieved on March 22, 2012 from http://video.linux.com/videos/clay-shirky-good-collaboration-is-structured-fighting
  • Tamlin Dobrich
    #3 Tamlin Dobrich on 05 Apr 12
     
    A very interesting article that I believe presents a good basic understanding of the topic however being a Wordpress blog I would argue that it may not be a perfectly reliable or an unbiased source of information.

    I personally find the topic of Kony 2012 incredibly interesting for its revolutionary use of social networking and crowdsourcing.
    While my personal option is that the campaign itself is full of flaws, I agree with the article's point that "what is undeniable is the integral role that social media played in the campaign" and that the campaign "is a great template for the mobilization of people using social media and social networking systems" (Emenanjo, 2012).

    According to the article by Emenanjo (2012), Kony 2012 is an example of the power and strength of crowds; in my research I explored how Wikipedia utilizes the wisdom of crowds. Both Wikipedia and the Kony 2012 campaign are examples of how crowds can be potentially useful in achieving great things that an individual could not.
    This comment by Noam Cohen of the New York Times suggests this relationship between the Kony 2012 campaign and Wikipedia:

    "[w]e are entering an age when the shallow political power of the public - including those too young to vote - will increasingly help shape our policy debates. And yes, that is scary to professional foreign policy experts, much in the same way reference book authors with graduate degrees were rattled by the idea of an online encyclopedia created collectively by amateurs."

    I anticipate that Kony 2012 was the "trial" and the Internet will soon be flooded with similar movements attempting to utilize social networking to gain support for their own campaign.

    Reference:

    Emenanjo, O. (2012, March 13). Kony 2012: The Template for Effective Crowdsourcing? [Web log post] Retrieved from http://stipcommunia.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/kony-2012-the-template-for-effective-crowdsourcing/

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