the most important lesson i learned from the arab spring is… “power to the people” just got an operating system upgrade. – Jim Moriarty (CEO, Surfrider Foundation + MAP Network) Yesterday was the one year anniversary of #Jan25, the first day of the Egyptian Revolution, the day regime change in Tunisia blossomed into an unprecedented [...]

The wave of protests that swept through the Arab world last year – what we all call the “Arab Spring” – involved various methods of mobilization and communication of citizens that have since led to region-wide, progressive instances of revolutionary upheaval.  At MAP, we’ve of course been paying most attention to the use of digital [...]

As hundreds of thousands throng Cairo’s Tahrir Square today in celebration, remembrance and continued vigilance, it is worth thinking through the implications of these remarkable events for our understanding of digital activism. My book on the Egyptian revolution is forthcoming, but if I could distill 5 important takeaways, they would be this:       [...]

Note: This post by David Karpf, Assistant Professor in the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information, was originally published on shouting loudly. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – So… this happened yesterday.  It’s too early to pronounce SOPA firmly dead, but [...]

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I’m currently working on a book about the effect of the network on global political power dynamics, and one of my big questions is how networks affect nation states. In the past few years networks have had dramatic effects on nation states, both positive and negative.  As always, these effects are complex and contradictory.  Networks [...]

A crowd that’s always connected can never be dispersed.  It’s always still out there. So I am back from holiday break and finally read the Wired digital activism article with the vaguely sinister title: #Riot: Self-Organized, Hyper-Networked Revolts—Coming to a City Near You by Bill Wasik. Wasik invented the flash mob by organizing strange and spontaneous [...]

With the help of Eric Tyler, I’ve pulled out a few more “Best of” posts from our (last) year of blogging (oops, we’re a few days into 2012, but we’re making this work!): Will Facebook Delete Sarah Lou’s Account? What happens when activists using pseudonyms are asked (or forced?) to use their real names on social [...]

In the often misunderstood world of digital activism, 2011 will be remembered as a landmark year. Historic revolutions, turbulent aftermaths, fierce debates and misunderstood claims were rampant. While the digital activism idea space was abuzz with cyber-utopians and constant rebuttals from cyber-pessimists, few conversations focused on understanding the evolving field itself. Looking back at the [...]