OUANet308-2011

This article is based on the premise that cities are responsible for destroying social bonds and "rendering man isolated from, fearful of, hostile to, and manipulative of his fellow man" (Fischer as cited in Kaulingfreks & Warren, 2010). It is this view that drives planners to create artificial structures in an attempt to have citizens involve themselves in community affairs. The authors use the example of Rotterdam where a there is a program of community forming (http://www.opzoomermee.nl) to show this idea that something needs to be done to create a sense of community. (2010, p. 213). The authors then look at how the unmanaged process of flash mobs may offer an alternative to the formal organisation structures of organisation in the city environment. They draw on the work of Jean Luc Nancy and suggest that flash mobs challenge the "traditional understanding of community through technology enabled organising" (Kaulingfreks & Warren, 2010, p. 220). In fact through the use of the Internet, email and texting people are able to act together without giving up any of their individuality. In a magazine interview Bill Wasik, the instigator of flash mob said: The flash mob affords an opportunity for doing something and yet completely sidesteps the whole process of discussing how it is going to happen. It's just; 'Here's this opportunity, and if you agree with it, you can come in on it, and its going to be very quick' (Heaney, n.d) A flash mob becomes an ephemeral community; it is formed for a specific purpose and then disbands once that purpose has been fulfilled. It is a network structure rather than a traditional hierarchy and is based on a common interest.

Professor Ruud Kaulingfreks, University of Leicester, School of Management (Kaulingfreks, n.d.) and Professor Samantha Warren, University of Essex - Essex Business School (Warren, n.d.) have written this paper titled, SWARM: Flash mobs, mobile clubbing and the city (Kaulingfreks and Warren, 2010). Both professors have written a number of articles on topics involving organisation and culture. As written above by Hans Dusink, "They draw on the work of Jean Luc Nancy and suggest that flash mobs challenge the "traditional understanding of community through technology enabled organising" (Kaulingfreks & Warren, 2010, p. 220). In fact through the use of the Internet, email and texting people are able to act together without giving up any of their individuality" (Dusink, 2011). By understanding this, it can also be related to the petitioners that act through the Avaaz organisation. To sign up to the Avaaz community, only a name, an email, a country and postcode is required information. The name could be any name or even a nickname. Individual's identities are hidden from each other. Even though you can see the count of actions taken, it is impossible to know who did exactly what action. Concurrently, a hard-copy signed petition is not that much different. Which individual can verify every signature on a page and who is going to read through and check every written address one-by-one to ensure actual authenticity? Both Avaaz and flash mobs use digital interaction to let their members know what is happening and the location; however, Avaaz continues to exist after action is taken, moving onto new causes and plights whereas the basis of flash mobs is to 'flash' congregate then dissipate after their action. References: Avaaz.org. (2011).The World in Action. Retrieved from http://www.avaaz.org/en Dusink, H. (2011). SWARM: Flash mobs, mobile clubbing and the city - Culture and Organizati

This article was interesting as it also considered the impact of music in FlashMobs. Salmond (2010) in their article, "The Power of Momentary Communities" discusses how rave parties have similarities to FlashMob events through the creation of an instant community. Just as Salmond (2010) uses the rave party example Kaulingfreks & Warren (2010) have explored mobile clubbing, with individuals dancing to their music of choice. It should be noted that the lack of amplification, due to those listing to their individual songs may do so in a "silent disco" manner would allow such a gathering. Salmond (2010) raises the legality of events, at night time, with 100 or more people listening to amplified music. Mobile clubbing is supported by Salmond (2010) as more FlashMob as there is an artistic component which is key according to Wasnik. The comment of Jocelyn Peuker (2011) who introduces the Avaaz.org (2011) community highlights that there is a crossover between the SmartMob and the FlashMob. Avaaz facilitates with anonymity but could be considered a more SmartMob type of activity as those signing a petition are doing so in an asynchronous manner. With those signing the petition in with a desire for an outcome to be achieved, moving further away from the art aspect. Salmond (2010) argues that it is structure and organisation would allow one to consider Avaaz to be more SmartMob than FlashMob. As in many aspects of technology the exact line and distinction is hard to be drawn but notwithstanding this Avaaz is a facility service that would benefit both FlashMob and SmartMob events, whilst maintaining anonymity.

Bonnie McGreer (2010) writes an interest piece article that introduces the concept of using a FlashMob to the business reader. FlashMob is summarised in the article by David Southall, President & Chief Executive of Innovations Federal Credit Union[1]; as, "...a group of people come together suddenly, do a certain act, and then they go away just as suddenly, as if nothing ever happened." (p.16). The article is based on two events, both in the business banking sector, staging independent FlashMob performances with different approaches. With Innovations using a grass roots approach towards staging, eventually two, FlashMob performances. Participants were recruited using Facebook[2] and then allowed participants to join group rehearsals when they could make it. As well as providing a DVD of the dance choreographed by a local radio DJ. Contrasted with the ING Direct Canada[3] Flash Mob approach which was a more professional publicity stunt. ING hired a professional choreographer and dancers to perform their FlashMob. McGreer (2010) raises the question of the ING approach is more of a Flash-Performance, rather than a FlashMob. The article also highlights that professionals were used to record the performances which were posted to YouTube[4] but there was no aggressive marketing campaign at the event location. The subtly of the advertising component of the FlashMob was done best by Innovations, who only revealed their brand approximately half way through. This article is a credible general reference for academic research. Whilst the piece is from a credible source it is a generalist approach to the topic of FlashMob but demonstrates that even at a generalist level, the difficulty in defining of a FlashMob is highlighted. Footnotes [1] http://www.innovationsfcu.org/index-flash.asp [2] www.facebook.com [3] www.ingdirect.ca [4] www.youtube.com

This article was published in the Fibreculture Journal[1], a peer reviewed Australian Journal. Nicholson (2005) in this article is primarily focused on mobile communications role in FlashMobs. According to Nicholson (2005) the popularity of FlashMobs and its cultural significance was based upon three practices. It was the conjuncture of individuals communicating via mobile phone, sending text via mobiles and the public performance aspects that were significant. The article discusses various historical events associated with FlashMobs and there are links being formed between FlashMobs and the anti-globalization movement. The more organised FlashMob events were highlighted when journalists capturing a FlashMob outnumbered participants. Nicholson (2005) focused on the concept of "one to many" which has similarities and overlaps with the anti-globalisation movement. The examples used by Nicholson (2005) support this theory that FlashMobs and anti-globalisation, especially in their communication styles are similar. Nicholson (2005) cites Tom (2003) who states that FlashMobbing is, "the power of many, in the pursuit of nothing". Politically motivated FlashMob events ultimately have a pursuit of an outcome and thus questions if the examples given are FlashMob events. Nicholson's (2005) examples certainly allow for exploration of the mobile communication but it isn't entirely focused on the FlashMob phenonomen. The variety of examples on the other hand does allow for the argument that a FlashMob is bounded within the spectacle of the event, activism, being experimental with a prank all rolled into one. This article demonstrates that mobile telephone technology has had a direct influence on the FlashMob culture. The article also implies that the culture of FlashMob events is a past activity which has past it's used by date. Nicholson (2005) doesn't explain how or why this is a past activity and leaves this aspect of FlashMob culture unanswered in her article. Footnote

This article was published in the Aether[1], Journal of Media Geography in 2010. It should be noted that whilst the article is written in an academic style Aether is not a commonly recognised Journal. The editors are academics at three different recognised universities giving credibility to this boutique publication. This paper argues that all FlashMob events are a form of protest. Salmond (2010) contrasts between illegal dance parties or Raves and 21st Century FlashMob events. One similarity between Flash Mobs and Raves is the creation of an instant community. This community in raves and Flash Mobs is the taking of land that is not being used and using it for public good, similar to the squatters culture. Salmond (2010) cites Coco (2008) stating, "The individuals became tied together under a group interest, creating a connection and bond whilst sharing in a local event." (p.92). The ubiquity of technology is discussed throughout the article reinforcing that technology has assisted in the development and promotion of FlashMob events. Salmond (2010) also looks to introduce variances on the FlashMob such as SmartMob and Protest Cell. The SmartMob is a more structured and organised event with a clearly defined purpose or cause, which can be on a global scale. The protest cell is the using of ring tones to protest against the decided cause. Salmond (2010) attempts to connect the legislation designed to stop illegal raves in the UK and apply it to the illegality of FlashMob events. This correlation is fragile but is not the main focus of the paper. There is a strong reliance by Salmond (2010) on the illegal nature of FlashMob events and less on the artistic performance aspect. Footnotes [1] http://130.166.124.2/~aether/index.html

This is an unpublished paper that has been linked to Maxter[1] an online community with links to the Media, Art & Text PhD program known as MATX. The MATX program is linked to the Virgina Commonwealth University (VCU) [2]. It would not be generally considered a reliable resource as a key article in an academic piece it is a well written piece including clear historical information into FlashMobs. Garland (2010) is able to use a recent event of students rioting to distinguish rioting organised via technology contrasted against the original FlashMob at Macy's in 2003. Garland (2010) has a focus on the original Macy's event as organised by Wasnik throughout the article. The question of why people are participating in FlashMob events is also considered. This paper also considers how cooperation and participation by individuals is implied when they participate in a FlashMob. The participation of a FlashMob allows individuals to remain anonymous through the free exchange of information, even the creator of the original FlashMob, Wasnik was able to remain anonymous. It was after FlashMob phenonomen became commericalized Wasnik felt comfortable revealing his identity and role in the original Macy's FlashMob. Throughout the article Garland (2010) draws connections between FlashMob and SmartMob, supporting and citing Rhinegold, agreeing that FlashMobs were part of SmartMobs. There is also an interesting connection drawn between FlashMobs and Flux Art [3]. Despite the article being unpublished key areas of FlashMob are clearly explored. Garland (2010) takes a wide approach to FlashMob and widely explores various aspects. There is a strong reliance on the experience of Wasnik in proving the differences between FlashMob, SmartMob and rioting organised through social media which is the main weakness of this article, which otherwise addressed the topic soundly. Footnotes [1] http://matxer.org [2] http://www.vcu.edu/ [3] http://www.fluxus.org/12345678910.html

Project: Carousel! » How to organise a successful student protest using online tools The author of this article is Pontus Westerberg is a member of the Project Carousel! Team, "a student-led online community working under the auspices of the Centre for Media and Film Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London". This brief article advises student protesters which online tools may be useful for organising protests and keeping protesters informed. The recommended tools include Twitter, blogs, video, plus online mapping tools. The article also recommends creating a central node, such as a website to tie all these disparate elements together, and as an example links to the UCL occupation page (http://www.ucloccupation.com/), which shows an example of this being done. Westerberg gives an overview on the use of Twitter hashtags to organise protest conversations, making them easier to keep track of, citing examples of these such as the #demo2010 that was used to organise conversations around the student protest that took place on the 24th October 2010. The 140 character limitation imposed by Twitter, also makes Blogs an attractive online tool for protest, offering a forum where ideas and issues can be disseminated and discussed in a lengthier format. Westerberg also provides examples showing the effectiveness of images and video in getting a message across, and indicates that there are benefits in utilising humour and encouraging user generated content. Overall the article provides basic information, but links to quite a few interesting examples of sites and tools that are being used by the student protest movement in the United Kingdom. References: Westerberg, P. (2010). How to organise a successful student protest using online tools. Retrieved from: http://www.projectcarousel.org/2010/11/how-to-organise-a-successful-s

This article from the Project Carousel website is a step by step guide describing how to organize "a successful protest using online tools" (Westerberg, P. 2010). It was created specifically for student activists however it would be adaptable to many forms of online collaboration since it shows efficient strategies for creating independent networks using free web services and social networking tools. This is similar to a guide describing how to create localized 'cell' based networks from 'Tools to help the Revolutions Part II - Online resistance cell organization', an article that I have posted to Diigo. Both of these guides explain practical methods for creating and working across decentralized networks, focusing on free online resources and web services. They also identify the primary need for a central point of contact (or node) which is connected to multiple communication and content sharing websites (as satellite services). These methods of collaboration describe "local cells that keep in touch through their decentralized networks" (anon, 2011), yet they are also effective ways to organize, manage and create widely accessible and secure channels for global communications. Both articles show techniques that allow a group to form strong and flexible networks with like minded people from across world. Refeences anon. (2011) 'Tools to help the Revolutions Part II - Online resistance cell organization'. Anonymous Hamburg. 23rd of February 2011. Available from: http://hamburger-anon.blogspot.com/2011/02/tools-to-help-revolutions-part-ii.html Westerberg, P. (2010). How to organise a successful student protest using online tools. Available from: http://www.projectcarousel.org/2010/11/how-to-organise-a-successful-student-protest-using-online-tools/

Project Carousel is a 'student-led online community based at the Centre for Media and Film Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London' (Project Carousel, n.d.). The article was written Pontus Westerberg in 2010, during the student protests regarding student fees. It was written as a how-to guide to help would-be protesters make the most of social media to add their voices to the campaign in an open, transparent way. Westerberg is less informational and more instructional in his advice to establish a profile using popular social media tools like Twitter, with hashtags, creating a blog and making videos, making a particular point to be humorous at the expense of authority. 'Do something funny', suggesting that positive attention may be garnered through fun and humour. Unlike the Anonymous movement, Project Carousel appears to endorse, if not outright encourage, transparent participation with user-generated content and boldly putting faces and names toward the campaign. The points made in the article may seem obvious, but new inductees to the social media mechanism, eager to participate, would find these easy-to-follow steps a clear guide to joining the protests and being heard. Though not a crowd-funding or crowd-sourcing tool, it does provide a useful guide to generating interest from 'the crowd', be it a personal project or a community-conscious endeavour.. Westerberg, P. (2010). How to organise a successful student protest using online tools. Project: Carousel!. Retrieved from http://www.projectcarousel.org/2010/11/how-to-organise-a-successful-student-protest-using-online-tools/.

This article presents tools and strategies for setting up collaborative networks in the form of localized resistance 'cells'. Anonymous use this system of local and semi-independent networks as storage points for resources and to maintain its global communications beyond larger web services. It is these "autonomously acting local cells" that allow Anonymous to keep "resources, videos, pictures, and most important (their) protest and resistance organization online"(anon, 2011). While these strategies have resulted from challenging oppressive political regimes and fighting to maintain freedom of information, the ideas can be adapted to working in more general and everyday online environments. Anonymous see small local groups acting as autonomous and self-reliant parts of a larger network, to make the entire structure stronger and more resilient as a whole. Their tactics have grown "organically in cyberspace rather than reflecting the cyber version of existing real world phenomena" (Keane, B, 2011) and show how local sub-groups can effectively create strong, flexible networks when collaborating on a global scale. Some of the major advantages of working in a localized cell are identified as being "Local organization only needs a local focus" (anon, 2011), hinting at the benefits of a simpler organizational structure; "You can continue the fight as a team even if cut of from all the other protesters/activists"(anon, 2011), which if adapted to collaboration in general suggests more resilient and efficient networks; and "you can gather resources there, videos pics, voice files, flyers and re-upload it from there if you lose resources to deletion or block"(anon, 2011), showing the benefits of decentralized networks as both data protection and archiving tools. References anon. (2011) 'Tools to help the Revolutions Part II - Online resistance cell organization'. Anonymous Hamburg. 23rd of February 2011. Available from: http://hamburger-anon.blog

Anonymous, being a decentralised network, relies upon the interest of tech savvy individuals to contribute to their campaigns. When challenged by legal representatives of the targets of their attacks, such as the 'Cult of Scientology' (Anonymous, 2011), their efforts to disseminate information through mainstream channels may be thwarted by take-down notices. In the case presented in this article hosted by Blogspot, they admit to having been frustrated by such interference with distributing videoes, pictures, and other resources online (Anonymous, 2011). The blog entry continues with offering alternatives and suggestions for anyone interested in contributing to Anonymous' on-going campaigns, providing advice and recommendations for useful tools and techniques. It outlines the advantages to contributing in the online movement, such as 'continue the fight as a team even if cut off from all the other protesters/activists' (Anonymous, 2011), suggesting a reward through participation, which is a prime motivator for other online crowd-sourcing initiatives (Belleflamme, Lambert, & Schwienbacher, 2011). The article proceeds to then explain how a user can participate by listing potential resources the assist without danger of being identified, and caught, suggesting such websites as wall.fm, noting that the service probably has a server farm that won't suffer in the event of a Distributed Denial of Service attack. It also explains how to create a social network, including links to free domain registration services, and free webhosting, to facilitate the potential new member of the Anonymous network into building an online resistance cell. Anonymous Hamburg. (2011). We do what we must, because we can. Retrieved from http://hamburger-anon.blogspot.com/2011/02/tools-to-help-revolutions-part-ii.html. Belleflamme, P., Lambert, T., & Schwienbacher, A. (2011). Tapping the Right Crowd. Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=157817.

This ABC online article highlights some important aspects about the use of social-media and the role it played organising, coordinating and documenting Egypt's 2011 uprising. Firstly, the initial ban of web services such as Facebook and Twitter was an indication of the Egyptian government recognising the power, connectedness and participatory nature of social-media . In an attempt to silence the demonstrators and to avoid a repeat of the 2009 Iran revolution, Egyptian authorities took it one step further and not only blocked certain web site but completely shut down access to the entire world-wide-web (Stone, 2009). This act alone illustrates the fragility of the Internet, despite its decentralised design. Literally, with the flick of a switch, Internet Service Providers acting on government instructions blocked web access within the country. It can be argued the political protesting in Egypt would occur with our without a social-media influence; however, it is still important to examine the length Egyptian demonstrators went to in order to circumvent the Internet block and continue to take leverage from popular social media services. An example is the use of 'voice-to-tweet' - a cooperative development by Google, Twitter and an online voice provider called SayNow. This innovation allowed Egyptians to call a telephone number and leave a message which would automatically be converted to text, published on Twitter and tagged with #Egypt. This example highlights Twitter and new media being used for collaboration and participation; specifically between citizen activists and journalists around the world. Much like the Internet, news media was also blocked within Egypt and reporters faced the same communication challenges as everybody else, this workaround however was an effective way for Egyptians to stay connected and ensure their stories were continuing to be voiced to the eagerly listening global audience. Stone, B. (June 15, 2009). Social Net

The events that unfolded during the uprising in Egypt are a good example of how flexible and mobile social networks can be in relation to effective communication between members of society. Through the Egyptian government shutting off all Internet connections collaborative efforts were made by both Twitter and Google to still allow information to be distributed throughout the country. As stated above, the speak-to-tweet services were available in which voicemail messages were left and then converted into text messages, which were then posted via twitter (ABC News, 2011). This is a great example of how devices can be implemented and used to adjust to the situation at hand. In one of my previous posts I talked about the United States becoming concerned around social media's effectiveness in relation to social protest, in which they have made plans to impose legislation to create a 'kill switch' to re-create what the Egyptian government previous did, cut all lines of Internet communication in times of political disturbance (Grubb & Moses, 2011). The elements that unfolded in Egypt after the lines of Internet communication were cut is a good example of how other devices can be implemented for information to be distributed amongst society. It is not as simple as cutting off an Internet connection and assume that collaborative communication will cease. Just as the US government has seen the warning signs of the power of social networks, society has also seen the weakness in relying on a national Internet service. 'Mesh' Networks as I previously stated in another post are currently underdevelopment for mobile phones in which there is no central device, instead each node is equipped with radio communications which acts as a relay point to other nodes, placing the pressure off obtaining a connection from a main server (Gedda ,2010).

References: ABC News (2011). Voice tweets sidestep Egypt web ban. Retrieved April 17, 2011 from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/01/3126626.htm Grubb, B; Moses, A. (2011). As Egypt goes offline US gets Internet 'kill switch' bill ready. Retrieved April 17, 2011. From http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/as-egypt-goes-offline-us-gets-internet-kill-switch-bill-ready-20110131-1aah3.html Gedda, R. (2010). Mobile Phone Coverage Expanded Via 'Mesh' Networks. Retrieved April, 17, 2011. from http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/352948/mobile_phone_coverage_expanded_via_mesh_networks/.

Spencer Ackerman is an American national security reporter and blogger. This article appeared in Wired magazine's national security blog, Danger Room. In this article, Ackerman describes how in late January, 2011, the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, responded to hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators protesting on the Egyptian streets by shutting off the internet and mobile phone access. The purpose of this was to keep the activists from organising further protests. This move did not work however, and the protesters didn't disperse. They did not have access to Facebook and Twitter, but instead took to the streets and protested in the traditional way. Al Jazeera, and other satellite news networks kept the public worldwide focused on the events. Mubarak then "began a brutal crackdown, with regime loyalists targeting dissidents and foreign journalists alike." (Ackerman, 2011) Despite the crackdown, says Ackerman, "the world still had viral-ready video footage of the truth of Egypt's precarious uprising", some of which can be viewed by clicking on the images in the article. A particular comment by a young female street protestor featured in one of the videos was interesting: "It's not about the internet," she said, "it's about the needs and demands of the Egyptian people". REFERENCE: Ackerman, S (February 4, 2011) Prayers, Protest, Police Brutality: Raw Videos From Egypt's Uprising Wired Retrieved 8th April, 2011 from http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/02/cairo-protest-videos/?pid=345

References: Ackerman, S. (2011). Prayers, Protest, Police Brutality: Raw Videos From Egypt's Uprising. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/02/cairo-protest-videos/?pid=345 Kravets, D. (2011). What's Fueling Mideast Protests? It's More Than Twitter. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/social-media-oppression/

The spotlight on the Northern Africa has been reignited on 15 April 2011 by release of the letter signed by US, British and French leaders. US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have said in a joint letter that there can be no peace in Libya while Muammar Gaddafi stays in power. They want to put a stop to the terrible horrors at Gaddafi's hands. The joint letter holds out the prospect of reconstruction for Libya with the help of the "UN and its members" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13090646). The 'domino effect' political situation in Northern Africa has been closely watched by the whole world. The Egypt attracted attention not just for its political protests but how the country's Internet and its services were shut down by its government during the protests. This demonstrates a level of power government can have over its people and communication. At the time of revolution the Egypt's dictator Hosni Mubarak messages and intentions were clear to grasp by anyone paying attention to politics: It is me 'Hosni Murabak' who controls the power in this country including the media; shutting down of the Internet and its services will put a stop to a fast communication platform for Egypt's people and connection with rest of the world; Egypt doesn't want any interferences from other countries, this is 'our revolution'; we will sort it out and I will stay in power as long as possible. According to Spencer Ackerman 'Suddenly, a protest movement that used Facebook pages and Twitter hashtags to coordinate and push its message out was back to the old-fashioned methods of street politicking'. However, according to other media coverage the Twitter was found as most powerful tool in network communication during the Egypt's Internet service government shut down. (e.g. Bergstrom, G. (2011). Egypt: The First Twitter

Crowdfunding creative projects and ideas Australia's 1st crowdfunding platform developed for creative individuals, groups and organisations. Pozible declares itself a new platform for crowd-funding community and creative projects; 'developed for artists, musicians, filmmakes, journalists, designers, entrepreneurs, inventors, event organises, software developers and all creative minded people to raise funds, realise their aspirations and make great things possible' (About Pozible, n.d.). As a design, the website is clean, clear, and dynamic, articulating its purpose and guiding visitors easily to content. However the most interesting content is concealed away upon first load and only exposed when a visitor 'uncovers' it, presenting a slideshow of success stories detailing the amount earned by each project from how many supporters, ranging from over $175k from 1145 supporters for an independent journalism project to $786 from 13 supporters for a short film production. The site instead displays by default the current, on-going projects in need of funding, including the amount raised so far, the percentage of the overall goal that amount equates, and how many days remain for the project to achieve their projects goal. A section below the featured projects displays the weeks Top Supporters, providing a reward for generous supporters through public recognition. On the first page visitors can find evidence of success stories, creative projects in need of their support, and see the acknowledgement afforded to supporters.

The 'Intro Video' does not give greater detail, but the website claims to have been featured in the Sydney Morning Herald, ABC, CREATIVE, and mybusiness. No direct links to these articles are included. Delving deeper into the site following the main menu links reveals more information and articles about crowd-funding, more projects and options to arrange and search, as well as guidelines, tips, and FAQs. 'Got a project. Need funding?' Follow the banner to get an invitation. You will need to apply for an invitation. Pozible. (n.d.) Hi. Meet Pozible. Retrieved from http://www.pozible.com.au.

Action for Australia GetUp! is a not-for-profit 'independent, grass-roots community advocacy organisation giving everyday Australians opportunities to get involved and hold politicians accountable on important issues' (About GetUp, n.d.). Rather than users starting individual projects and promoting them for donations from supporters, GetUp! hosts movements for causes of specific interest to Australians, including financial support for advertising and other schemes, to gain attention from politicians and the government at large, such as collecting 27,000 signatures petitioning the repeal of undemocratic laws preventing thousands from voting in the 2007 elections. A few dollars each from tens of thousands of supporters has produced high-profile ad campaigns that have helped raise awareness for issues important to the Australian people. GetUp! campaigns rely on social media and word-of-mouth to get the community informed and involved, requesting recommendations for new campaigns from everyday Australians concerned about government policies. According to Belleflamme, Lambert, and Schwienbacher (2011) this community involvement constitutes crowd-sourcing, where ideas and suggestions are sourced from the 'crowd', along with volunteers and appeals for solutions. In the spirit of transparency the movement advocates, GetUp! provides access to its annual reports as well as a 'real-time snapshot' of the donations members are contributing to campaigns, updated half hourly. This snapshot includes unique actions, new members, number of donations, the total collected from donations, average donation, and how many are first-time donors.

Financial donations are not required to participate in GetUp! campaigns, but the necessary funds to produce a commercial for exposure on national television is sourced from contributions by supporters: crowd-funding for a community cause. Unlike crowd-funding for individual projects, such as those found on online crowd-funding tools such as Pozible, investors in community campaigns may have no expectation of reward. The GetUp! website clearly indicates its intentions, guiding visitors to campaigns to inform, raise awareness and make contributions toward improving the Australian community through policy and reform. GetUp. (n.d.) GetUp! Retrieved from http://www.getup.org.au. Belleflamme, P., Lambert, T., & Schwienbacher, A. (2011). Tapping the Right Crowd. Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=157817.

by Paul Belleflamme, Thomas Lambert, and Armin Schwienbacher, February 13, 2011. This academic, peer-reviewed article defines crowdfunding as belonging within the broader concept of crowdsourcing, in which a 'crowd' is used for gaining feedback, solutions, and ideas. The objective is to use the crowd to collect investment money in cases of financing individual projects (Pozible), or to raise social awareness in community-minded ventures (GetUp!). Belleflamme, Lamber, and Schwienbacher equates crowdfunding with pre-ordering, menu pricing, and price discrimination, and studies the circumstances under which crowdfunding is preferred to more traditional forms of acquiring funds. They describe crowdfunding as sharing a model with pre-ordering due to the expectation of investors receiving some form of reward for their contribution, in much the same way as pre-ordering a product, such as a game, entails some reward for investor support and interest, such as receiving a copy of the game early, and at a better price. Price discrimination is the disparity between the cost for the investor and the consumer (someone who waits for official release before purchasing). The article describes the advantages of enhanced user experience for investors and the allowance of price discrimination for 'a larger share of the consumer surplus', and the disadvantage of constraints in the amount of initial capital required (Belleflamme, et. al, 2011). The article continues with an empirical survey analysis, and key features from the perspective of industrial organisations, including sourcing information, building communities, and generating product interest, as well as the success of non-profit organisations using the crowdfunding model.

It is suggested (Glaeser & Shleifer; Ghatak & Mueller, cited in Belleflamme, et. al, 2011) that 'crowdfunders care about social reputation and/or enjoy private benefits from participating in the success of the initiative'; a vital asset for charities and entrepreneurs alike. The article concludes with the implications crowdfunding has for market research, and that it may be viewed more broadly than simply raising funds. Belleflamme, P., Lambert, T., & Schwienbacher, A. (2011). Tapping the Right Crowd. Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=157817.

[Part 1] Lemos' paper depicts map-making as a socio-political act, an expression of power. Maps themselves are a visual way of presenting geographic information, and have been traditionally controlled by technicians, governments and private companies, but since the advent of interactive online tools, some of the power inherent in map-making has shifted to ordinary people. Interactive tools such as Google Maps, allow the everyday person to experience a new practice of place, as Lemos writes "mapping our moves on the streets allows us to control the space; it is territorialization. […] The use of GPS and other devices for location and location-based services puts the emphasis on control and domination over a territory" (Lemos 2008, p.15). From the perspective of student protesters in London at the end of 2010, the use of an interactive Google map (see and example at: http://www.movements.org/blog/entry/maptivism-in-london), allowed protest organisers to control the flow of digital information between cyberspace and the urban environment. Protesters themselves, those armed with locative media such as smart phones, had access to near real time data superimposed upon street maps relevant to their own position. This allowed protesters to collaborate by providing feedback to organisers or by reacting geographically to reported police location and action.

[Part 2] The act of real time digital mapping and urban annotation by protest movements potentially creates a new dynamic where the distribution of power relative to a location is altered. The ways in which citizens perceive the city and interact with its structure is changed when citizens have access to information about proximity and distance, when they are kept informed of lines of escape from controlled spaces. The act of protesting creates a temporary urban space, changing a location's social meaning. With the use of digital mapping tools a mobile social network is created, one that has the potential to communicate more effectively than the police forces arrayed against them. References: Cullum, B. (2010). Maptivism in London. Retrieved from: http://www.movements.org/blog/entry/maptivism-in-london Lemos, A.(2008). Mobile communication and new sense of places: a critique of spatialization in cyberculture.  Retrieved from:  http://www.andrelemos.info/artigos/spatialization.pdf Live Protest Map (2010). Retrieved from: UCL Live Protest Map

Lemos' journal examines the notion that recent mobile innovations have facilitated new and socially focussed communication systems. Locative media is the primary focus of the article and Lemos argues that technology and its relationship with mobility, community and place are creating new forms of 'territorization' - a socio-political act that involves control, surveillance and tracking. The distinction is made that locative media creates new uses for non-virtual space and bridges the gap between the physical and the virtual. This is achieved through augmented reality, mobile information consumption, events and geo-mapping; all which reinforce collaboration and participation among real world communities. Examples of locative media and territorization include CitizenMap, a community focussed web service which utilises Google Maps, Twitter and news sources to identify and detail environmental incidents throughout Hong Kong and the South China region. Sukey, an anti-police kettling application is another example of locative media, this service aims to improve communications throughout demonstrations by feeding police tactics and information from an assortment of data sources such as Twitter, Google Maps, Flickr and directly aggregating it to mobile / SMS enabled devices (Sukey, 2011). What Lemos fails to expand on in the journal is the technical and participatory expectations required for the services to be successful. Without regular and active participation these services add little or no value to the community or the cause.

Nelson, A. (2011). The limits of the 'Twitter revolution. The Gaurdian  Retrieved 11th April 2011, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/24/digital-media-egypt   

Nelson makes a strong argument suggesting the 2011 Egypt uprising was not necessarily fuelled by social media; instead she links it to years of oppression and dictatorship as the main triggers. On the flipside, many of Nelson's statements need to be challenged. Firstly, she states that only 15,000 Egyptians were tweeting - out of a population of 80 million - throughout the protests. What she fails to mention is that less than 20% of Egyptians actually have Internet access (Internet World Stats, 2011). In addition, many of these users also reside outside of Cairo and may not have directly participated in the demonstrations. Lastly, the Internet and SMS services were shutdown in Egypt two days after the initial January 25th demonstration and this act would drastically reduce numbers as the only way to circumvent the block was through dialup or a voice-to-tweet service. An interesting concept raised in this article is 'slackivism', a term coined to describe the attraction of getting caught up in the euphoria of online activism. The benefits however have little or no impact on society because clicking a 'like' button within a Facebook group is far from participatory and adds very little value to the cause. Instead, Nelson argues that web users need to be better educated in the use and the expectations of crisis-mapping platforms to effectively participate. Sukey , an anti-police kettling web application is a recent example of internet enabled, active participation. Its use during a recent political demonstration in London resulted in successful, non-violent outcome (Kingsley, 2011). This was attributed to activists working together and feeding information from Twitter, Google Maps and news feeds into Sukey to counter the act the police kettling. This example highlights that technical aptitude and active participation are required to effectively coordinate a internet enabled, protest. Internet World Stats - Usage and Population Statistics. (2011

References: Morozov, E. (2009). Moldova's Twitter Revolution. Retrieved April 13, 2011. From http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/07/moldovas_twitter_revolution Nelson, A. (2011). The Limits Of The "Twitter Revolution". Retrieved April, 16 2011. From http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/24/digital-media-egypt

This article was posted on theage.com.au by Ben Grubb and Asher Moses. With the recent events unfolding in Egypt the Egyptian government attempted to crack down on street protestors by shutting down all Internet and mobile phone services. This is an event that has been unprecedented in the history of the web and has sparked concern for western countries such as the US (Grub & Moses, 2011). The US is trying to pass a bill that could be used to shut down the Internet, this legislation or "Kill Switch" as it has been labeled would grant US president Obama the power to stop all Internet connections if there was a cause for concern (Kravets, 2011). The proposed legislation, introduced into the US Senate by independent senator Joe Lieberman, who is chairman of the US Homeland Security committee, seeks to grant the President emergency powers over the Internet in times of national emergency (Grub & Moses, 2011). This has been met by concern of dozens of groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Library Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Center for Democracy & Technology, who are concerned that the measure, if it became law, might be used to censor the Internet (Kravets, 2011). Others do not see this necessarily as a concern and are currently working on different ways of connecting people without relying on a central access point. 'Mesh' Networks for example are currently underdevelopment for mobile phones in which there is not central device, instead each node is equipped with radio communications which acts a relay point to other nodes, placing the pressure off obtaining a connection from a main server (Gedda ,2010). This article was an interesting insight into the repossessions that the events in Egypt has placed on the rest of the world, with a great concern for the Internet being used as a tool for power and large scale online collaboration.

References: Gedda, R. (2010). Mobile Phone Coverage Expanded Via 'Mesh' Networks. Retrieved April, 17, 2011. from http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/352948/mobile_phone_coverage_expanded_via_mesh_networks/. Grubb, B; Moses, A. (2011). As Egypt goes offline US gets Internet 'kill switch' bill ready. Retrieved April 17, 2011. From http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/as-egypt-goes-offline-us-gets-internet-kill-switch-bill-ready-20110131-1aah3.html Kravets, D. (2011). Internet "Kill Switch" Legislation Back In Play. Retrieved April, 17, 2011. From http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/01/kill-switch-legislation/

CitizenMap - a South China Morning Post initiative is a web-based reporting tool which geo-maps news, community generated media and other local citizen reports throughout Hong Kong and the South China region. Its primary focus is environmental incidents including; the illegal dumping of waste, unauthorised construction and the removal of native plantation. Moving forward, CitizenMap will eventually branch out to include other topics in the future. CitizenMap utilises an array of online services such as; Google Maps, Twitter, Flickr and other Web 2.0 features like tagging, verifications and geo-mapping to encourage local participation and information sharing among the community. Although CitizenMap is not directly linked to the coordination of political demonstrations, it can still be a useful tool for environmental activists. The documented evidence contained within this web service can act as ammunition for protestors and further fuel their campaigns - especially once the report is official verified by the South China Morning Post. Example includes green groups challenging the HK Environment Bureau over a flawed policy which will allow a 5 hectare clearing to be used as landfill. Another incident involves journalism students providing photographic evidence that details the illegal dumping of waste in a Mong Tseng Wai pond (Reports, 2011). Encouraging the community to engage in citizen journalism surrounding environmental issues is an effective way to promote accountability, responsibility and the notion to 'think green' among the community. CitizenMap. (2011). Retrieved from: http://citizenmap.scmp.com/main Reports. (2011). CitizenMap. Retrieved April 15, 2011, from: http://citizenmap.scmp.com/reports/view/238

[Part 1] The CitizenMap, created by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP), is a good example of a combination of crowd sourcing and crisis mapping. According to Blogger Jennifer Jett, the project's aim is to make up for the shortfall in staffing at Honk Kong's planning and lands departments. Jett wrote on her blog that "Almost 60 percent of government investigations into improper land use stem from citizen complaints, and the percentage rises to 90 percent for dumping". The SCMP mapping project's use of crowd sourcing to report illegal and polluting acts, therefore meets an identified need within the Hong Kong community. The South China Citizen's map uses an open source crowd-sourcing tool called Ushahidi to map environmental issues in Hong Kong. The Citizen Map site's tag line "For Hong Kong by Hong Kong" suggests ownership of both the project and the land itself by the people, it invites citizens to report instances of environmental destruction and disputed land use. As such it is a form of citizen surveillance. The map is interactive; sites of improper land use are pinpointed on a map by the placement of circles, the larger the circle, the larger the number of reports there are for a particular incident. Clicking a within a circle opens a dialogue box with brief details, clicking within that box opens an incident report page containing more comprehensive details including photographs and the option to append further details to the report. The act of digitally mapping and tagging environmental events provides the citizenry with a widely accessible forum for complaint, and the prospect of exerting some form of power over their environment.

[Part 2] References: Citizen Map (2010). Retrieved from: http://citizenmap.scmp.com/main Jett, J. (2010) SCMP uses citizen reporting to map environmental destruction. Retrieved from: http://jennjettkw.wordpress.com/2010/11/16/scmp-uses-citizen-reporting-to-map-environmental-destruction/ Ushahidi (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.ushahidi.com/

[Part 1] This article brings together a number of links to UK student protest sites. Reading this and related articles it becomes clear that the students protesting about the UK government's fee cut policy are willing to use any tools at their disposal. Their primary aim has been to collaborate with, and inform supporters of offline physical protests; predominantly marches and occupations. The article itself is posted on the movements.org website, a non profit organisation whose stated mission is to identify, connect and support grassroots digital activists from around the world. The support offered by movement.org goes beyond the mere publication of articles and offers advice to individuals and groups on how to choose and best use digital tools. It is interesting to see the number of freely available digital tools that student protesters have used to disseminate information: Facebook, Twitter, websites, blogs, Google maps, YoutTube, open calendars and Flickr are all part of the student protesters' arsenal. Fast adoption of new technologies seems to be one of the strengths of the UK students' movement. Recently, for instance, student protesters in London used the new "Sukey" application, a conglomeration of tools like google maps, twitter and SMS, to avoid clashes with police (Kingley 2011). Google Maps too have been a useful tool and have been utilised to show the locations of upcoming protests, the map posted at http://www.feesprotest.com/ gives a good indication of the nationwide spread of student dissatisfaction, while at the same time hyperlinking to fairly detailed information for each locality and directing viewers to facebook protest pages for up to date information and interaction.

[Part 2] References: 30th November Here We Come. (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.feesprotest.com/ Cullum, B. (2010). NETWORKED PROTESTS IN THE UK: hOW OLD AND NEW TACTICS ARE BEING USED TO FIGHT RISING TUITION FEES. Retrieved from: http://www.movements.org/blog/entry/networked-protests-in-the-uk-how-old-and-new-tactics-are-being-used-to/ Kingsley, P. (2011). Inside the anti-kettling HQ. Retrieved from:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/feb/02/inside-anti-kettling-hq?INTCMP=SRCH

"Sukey apps help protesters avoid police kettles" Sukey is a recently developed online tool for protesters. It is made up of a suite of applications that allow protesters to either submit or access information about police presence on roads or junctions during protests. Sukey can be accessed and updated online from any connected computer and also via mobile phones, meaning that protesters potentially have access to relevant information no matter where they are. There are two flavours of Sukey for mobiles, smart phones with GPS and Internet browsers can use the "Roar" version of Sukey which includes helpful graphics like a compass and an interactive google map (Doctrow 2011). The "Growl" version of the application is suitable for older mobile phones and is basically an SMS update service. Information is gathered by people on site at protests, from specially tagged Twitter comments, from news broadcast footage and geotagged photos from Flickr. Location information can also be submitted via Google Latitude or by SMS. This crowd-sourced information is intended to allow protesters to make informed decisions and hopefully avoid kettling. Kettling is a practice used by police whereby protesters are surrounded and confined, sometimes for hours on end without access to food, shelter or toilet facilities. At present the platform is only available in London, but the developers have plans to release national and international versions. References: Doctrow, C. (2011). Sukey: an anti-kettling app for student demonstrators in London. Retrieved from: http://boingboing.net/2011/01/28/sukey-an-anti-kettli.html Geere, D. (2011). Sukey apps help protesters avoid police kettles. Retrieved from: http

Thank you for sharing Alio. This is the first I have heard of Sukey and after reading Geere's blog post, I can really appreciate its usefulness throughout political demonstrations, in particularly the recent protests in Egypt. After some further research it appears Sukey emerged on January 27, 2011, two days after the initial January 25th 2011, Egypt demonstrations; however, there appears to be no connection between the two. The purpose of Sukey is to improve communications during protests and to counter the act of kettling, a crowd management tactic used by police that involves cornering protestors in a confined space with only one possible - normally guarded - exit (Kingsley, 2011). Sukey facilitates this through the amalgamation of information sources such as; Google Latitude, Geo tagged Flickr photos, Twitter and television news, feeding the content to web enabled phones or for a small fee traditional SMS. Throughout the Egypt uprising, there were many instances of kettling captured on video and submitted to YouTube - as per the below links. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXbRdumboZ0&feature=related. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xWiBCIxjIk&feature=related If available at the time Sukey may have been an advantageous asset to Egyptian activists. It can be argued that the police clashes - which resulted in numerous injuries and 125 deaths - could have been minimized if protestors had access to real-time information indicating police strategies. It is worth mentioning that Sukey would have been effective up to the point the Internet and mobile networks were shut down by Egyptian authorities. Provided there is robust communication infrastructure is in place, Sukey proves to be a powerful participatory tool that has the potential to reduce injuries and fatalities throughout demonstrations. Geere, D. (January 31, 2011). Sukey apps help protesters avoid police kettles: Wired [Blog Post]. Retrieved April 11, 2011, from, http://www.wired.co.uk/

[Please note: This comment is in two parts due to Diigo restrictions on length] Topic of Study: Flash Mobs Eric Kluitenberg is a researcher studying the significance of new technologies. In this article, he "draws attention to a number of activist strategies to encourage public and private action in a hybrid space." Flash mobs are "semi-spontaneous public gatherings of groups of people...[not usually] known to one another, nondescript, with no determining characteristics [who] briefly perform some collective synchronous action, and then dissolve...back into 'the general public'..." who are alerted to "Directions and information about...[gatherings via]...text messages, or e-mails...with the aim of starting a chain reaction resulting in...an unpredictably large mob at a predetermined time and place" (Kluitenberg, 2006). Kluitenberg (2006, p. 8) believes that Flash Mobs and other earlier examples of mass public gatherings, street parties, and demonstrations, all highlight the fact that "we are living in a space in which the public is reconfigured by a multitude of media and communication networks interwoven into the social and political functions of space to form a 'hybrid space.' [Continued in the comment below]

[Continued from previous comment above] This unique explanation of why and how Flash Mobs and other spontaneous public gatherings occur is based on the fact that the 'traditional' space found in cities has now been "overlaid by electronic networks...creating a highly unstable system, uneven and constantly changing" (Kluitenberg, 2006, p. 8). Although I feel that Kluitenberg's rationale may be too removed from what is actually occurring in relation to Flash Mobs, I believe he is correct in stating that the increasing use of mobile communication technologies has assisted the rise of "new social morphologies...[such as]...the flash mob" (Kluitenberg, 2006, p. 8) and that this type of phenomenon is perhaps indicative of the transience of modern life and the way community spaces are employed in modern times. The populace is increasingly pressed for time and usually always on the move, so the phenomenon of flash mobs, in one sense, is a unique response to the temporality of modern suburban and city life. REFERENCES Kluitenberg, E. (2006). The Network of Waves: Living and Acting in a Hybrid Space. Retrieved April 5, 2010 from: http://www.socialbits.org/papers

This article describes various scenarios showing individuals and groups using technology to engage with traditional public spaces in socially and politically influential ways. As the author of this work explains, "traditional space is being overlaid by electronic networks such as those for mobile telephones and other wireless media"; and the resulting environments "...can not be properly understood without a very precise analysis of the structure of that space"(Kluitenberg, 2006. p8). By looking at the social and technological factors that allow these events to take place, we can understand how networks and collaboration projects are carried out in these 'hybrid spaces'. This way of analyzing a group's or individual's uses of technology in public spaces supports research from an article that I have posted to Diigo - 'The Internet is Here': Emergent Coordination and Innovation of Protest Forms in Digital Culture'. The author of this work states that 'as modes of social interaction... become increasingly rich it becomes easier for online culture to bleed into what William Gibson dubbed the "meatspace", and for events from the "meatspace" to reverberate back into the computer mediated world' (Underwood, P., Welser, H. 2011). While Underwood's paper investigates Anonymous' internal workings and uses of technology as they battled with the Church of Scientology in 2008, it also shows that Anonymous exists in what Kluitenberg's acknowledges as 'Space Flows', surviving on the "intangible flows of information, communication, services and capital"(Kluitenberg, 2006. p9). This is a benefit of Anonymous' decentralized networks and both articles reflect the fact that "the more decisions that are made at the 'nodes' ...instead of at the 'hubs' ..., the more chance there is of a space in which the sovereign subject is able to shape his or her own autonomy."(Kluitenberg, 2006. p14) Referneces Kluitenberg, E. (2006). The Network of Waves: Livi