Society is Like a Stew

“Society is like a stew. If you don't stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top.”  Edward Abbey would condone the recent revolutions, if he decided to care at all.  In the light of all these revolutions and criticism of social media, most of the discussion has focused on how we shouldn’t use technology.  There has been little discussion on how to effectively use social media as a revolutionary tool.  To do so, we need to look at the downfalls of social media and how to counteract them.  We can also review successful uses of social media for inspiration.

Malcolm Gladwell has pointed out that previous attempts in fighting organized hierarchies required an equally organized effort.  Social media has caused a trend where a movement can gain mass appeal before an effective leaderships are established.  Recently, I have studied our previous efforts against the Colombian drug trafficking organizations and our current efforts in Mexico.  There has been an effective strategy at eliminating the present and future leadership, which causes fragmentation and disorganization of efforts.  The same applies to protest movements, except it no longer requires an effort by government to disrupt leadership.  We are doing it by ourselves.

Many critics of social media believe the nature of the technology inspires disorganization.  However, I believe it is more related to the speed at which the movement gains followers.  It moves at a pace beyond the human ability to keep up.  Although he's better described as a naturalist, Edward Abbey came to mind during our class discussions on technology:

“Life is already too short to waste on speed. I have a friend who's always in a hurry; he never gets anywhere... The utopian technologists foresee a future for us in which distance is annihilated. … To be everywhere at once is to be nowhere forever, if you ask me.”

                            -Edward Abbey in Desert Solitaire

Abbey is not so well at being concise and I had to remove a few sections, but his point drives through.  I am not a naturalist, nor a neo-luddite, but I do recognize the modern dangers of sparking a movement. Revolutionaries should take online marketing strategies as an example to follow.  Before any online marketing campaign is initiated, there are months of preparation.  A comprehensive strategy is devised and goals are meticulously laid out.  Then, once it is implemented and goes public, the company continues its traditional advertising.  Online strategies are low-risk and low-cost only if implemented correctly.  It is enticing to use technology in replace of the higher-risk methods and it takes experienced individuals to know better.

As the commercial world demonstrates, an effective strategy is needed before implementing a revolution.  Also, social media should not replace the traditional, high-risk methods of activism.  I have previously also mentioned how social media reduces operational security.  It may have many faults, but if social media is used correctly, it can be a powerful tool.  For example, Egyptian protesters were effective because they had a clearly defined goal, employed physical protesting methods and reached out to a group with a similar goal, the military.  Keeping protests online makes efforts less secure and also prevents participation from non-internet based groups, like the military, that may have a similar cause.  The military’s role was instrumental in pressuring the resignation of Mubarak and their involvement may have been less likely if the protests were purely digital.  Ultimately, the outcome of the revolution could be viewed in two ways.  Either the military used the protestors as groundwork for overthrowing Mubarak or the protestors worked alongside the military to achieve similar goals.  The point remains that the protestors weren’t solely responsible for the success of the movement.  Social media is a powerful tool to create support for a movement, but that support is useless without traditional protest methods.  Relying too much on technology may cause movements to miss out on strategic opportunities and may ultimately lead to failure.