[iDC] The Twitter Revolution Must Die

[Mallory Knodel]

Thanks to everyone and especially to Ulises for raising the real
question that this list can address directly: Solidarity.

It's obvious that this is not a Twitter/FB revolution for two reasons.
First, that the recent mobilization in Egypt was carried out with an
obvious lack of Internet. Second, because the essence of revolution is
always grander than any medium which conveys it and represents it to others.

Given the posts in recent days, I'll also assume that we are
co-witnessing from our places within media, academia, artist spheres,
and the like. A deep question for us is what can solidarity look like
given that we now have these revolutionary (in their own right)
communication tools?

As I write this, I'm actually sitting in an international convergence of
nearly 50 independent media makers and activists affiliated with local
IMCs in Africa in preparation for the World Social Forum. As I work in
these environments on a regular basis, I face the question of
ideological solidarity as a white, employed American. There is also the
need to face questions of geographic, or proximal, solidarity. The first
is a life-long struggle that requires infinite trust, love, and
humility, a strategy which can be simply put as being an unconditional,
active follower and supporter. The second, in tandem with the first, is
to simply be a megaphone. The work we can collectively build here in
subsequent posts should address how we might best embody the work of a
solidarity megaphone.

You can:
1. Text: Write an analysis. Watch video footage and make your own
commentary. Publish something!
2. Social Networking: Tweet, re-post articles, do #1 in 140 characters
or less. Send a short-and-snarky or long-and-intense email to your 10
closest friends.
3. Art: Create art, mash-up art (maybe using the Al Jazeera Creative
Commons content?). Write poetry. Compose music. Proliferate graffiti.
4. Events: Put on an event to showcase your #3 using your #2s. Raise
money to support an independent journalist's ticket to travel to the
region. Light something on fire. Organize a solidarity march in Des
Moines, Iowa with Cairo!
5. Use your contacts to establish one-to-one needs. For example, my
organization can help create website mirrors or proxies for servers or
websites under attack by governments or bots. Maybe someone needs you to
purchase and ship a hard-to-find piece of medical equipment, setup a US
bank account and paypal donation system, or create bots to take down a
site. And then do #1!

Just be part of the echo chamber for the right message. Figure out what
the message is and send it out. I'm hopeful that others will respond
with their own interpretations of solidarity.

-Mallory


On 02/02/2011 03:56 PM, Ulises Mejias wrote:
> Thank you, all, for your comments.
>
> I'm afraid that while I was trying to get beyond the "media did it"
> (as Mark Deuze puts it) v. the "people did it" dichotomy, my
> condemnation of corporate branding seems to have skewed my argument
> towards "people did it." While this is a function of my own biases,
> and it felt like it needed to be said at the moment, it is nonetheless
> problematic. I agree with Mark when he says that "lived experience is
> synonymous with mediated experience" (specially when we take into
> account all forms of mediation, including language and non-verbal
> communication, not just digital mediation).  
>
> Actor Network Theory has taught us that agency is a complex web of
> interactions in which humans and non-humans intervene, and I agree
> with you, Anna, that we need more nuanced maps of the assemblages. I
> also agree with you, Biella, that these assemblages provide new
> affordances for co-witnessing the event.
>
> But is analysis and co-witnessing the only modes of participation?
> What is our responsibility, as media
> practitioners/scholars/artists/educators/etc., at a time like this?
>
> -Ulises
>
>
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-- 
Mallory Knodel

May First/People Link Leadership
...Growing Networks to Build a Just World...

mayfirst.org
malloryknodel.net/blog

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