Ushahidi’s director of crisis mapping, Patrick Meier, and Meta-Activism Project founder Mary Joyce are collaborating on a project to update and add to Gene Sharp’s 198 "Methods of Nonviolent Action," a manual for civil resistance, with ways these techniques could be adjusted for the 21st century. Together with other contributors, they’re managing a spreadsheet in Google Docs with each of 198 methods from the pioneering researcher in protest and activism. For each — and a few new ones added on — they’re listing ways the traditional method could be tweaked to take advantage of new technology, and ways that those methods could be completely reinvented.
For example, Joyce updated Sharp’s method number 175 — "overloading of facilities" — to suggest that a distributed denial of service attack is an equivalent action for the Internet age. In a "DDoS" attack, so much Internet traffic is directed at a given site that it is unable to handle the load and either performs poorly for visitors or can’t be viewed at all.
THE METHODS OF NONVIOLENT PROTEST AND PERSUASION
Formal Statements
1. Public Speeches
/ MJ: Distribute digital recordings of an offline speech through YouTube, live-tweeting on Twitter, text transcripts on blogs and websites.
/ MJ: Speeches that exist only online, such as Anonymous’s first YouTube video
(Message to Scientology/“we are legion”: http://www.youtube.com/...)
/ MJ: The digital life of the speech (in its recorded form) is now often more
useful to activists than in its first life as an offline event because it is able to reach more people. Organizers should design speeches for their digital life (as digital video, text, or still image) and should have dissemination plans to ensure this digital distribution occurs.
2. Letters of opposition or support
/ MJ: Addresses of recipients can be posted on a website. For example, a searchable database can help supporters find the mailing address of their political representative.
/ MJ: A letter is written and submitted online by a supporter, then printed out and mailed (or hand-delivered) to the recipient by the organizers. / GA: A service Kuda-Komu, which allows to generate a complaint letter to any Russian authority, opened a special page devoted to the 2012 elections. The service helped to create letters that focused on particular types of fraud and suggested where they should be sent.
/ MJ: Letters should be replaced by email where appropriate and the process of sending paper letters should be facilitated by digital supports. Though email is now more popular than letters because they are easier to send, a paper letter carries more weight for that very reason: sending a paper letter takes longer and implies that the sender cares more about the issue.
3. Declarations by organizations and institutions
/ MJ: Activists can now self-publish their declarations on a website, blog, or social media site.
/ MJ: Declarations can be created virtually using a wiki. This may be safer than meeting offline to draft it. It also allows the declaration to be made by people who are geographically dispersed and have never met in person, making declarations by international and national coalitions much easier than in the past.
4. Signed public statements
/ MJ: Activists can now self-publish their public statements on a website, blog, or social media site.
/ MJ: Signed public statements can now exist totally online. Activists can not only post a statement online, but also use this medium to collect the signatures (for example, but using a free petition site). This allows more people from a wider geographic area to sign the statement.
5. Declarations of indictment and intention
/ MJ: Activists can now self-publish their declarations on a website, blog, or social media site.
/ MJ: Declarations can be created virtually using a wiki. This may be safer than meeting offline to draft it. It also allows the declaration to be made by people who are geographically dispersed and have never met in person, making declarations by international and national coalitions much easier than in the past. / PM: Facebook Groups, e.g., "We are all Khaled Said"; "Anti-FARC"
6. Group or mass petitions
/ MJ: If a paper petition is being used, petition forms can be emailed to those gathering the signatures, who can then print them out. After the petitions are signed, they can be sent to the proper authority (or at least recorded to guard against fraud) by scanning and saving a back-up in digital format. The results of paper petitions may be recorded and stored in databases as a form of back-up. If signers agree, organizers can also enter their content information in their content databases, to that the signers can be contacted to participate in future actions.
/ MJ: e-Petitions allow much larger number of people to sign the petition, and much more quickly, since the petition can be signed remotely. SMS petitions (signature sent via SMS) should be used when participant population has easy access to mobile phones. / PM: Facebook groups
Communications with a Wider Audience
7. Slogans, caricatures, and symbols
/ MJ: Video or photos of the offline use of slogans and symbols should be recorded and disseminated online (example: "We are the 99%" posters), Caricatures printed in newspapers can also be scanned and disseminated online.
/ MJ: These can be shared on a wide variety of digital platforms from website and blogs to social media sites. Iconic images can even be used as social media avatars, allowing people to publicly link their own identity to the movement while in an online space such as Facebook / PM: Using digital symbols as part of movement, eg "Downloading Democracy…" (from Egypt)
/ MJ: Resonant (viral) slogans and symbols are just as likely to be created on the periphery of a movement, by talented supporters, as by the central organizer group. Savvy organizers will reach out to the edges, both to request the creation of this type of content and to appropriate it (with permission) when it is created spontaneously example: “where is my vote?” meme, Iran 2009)
214. Maps/Maptivism
/ MJ: Any piece of content with a physical location (an instance of police abuse, a polling station, a forest fire) can be marked on a public digital map, making mapping an excellent example of how the Internet can amplify offline information. Content for the map can also be collected by diverse participants and then sent to the people updating the map. The most popular free mapping tool for activists is Ushahidi / GA: An interesting attempt to make a crowdsourcing platform for support of a presidential candidate was made by Putin’s supporters. “What Putin has done” is based on a map of Russia where anyone can submit information about Putin’s good deeds
8. Banners, posters, and displayed communications
/ MJ: Paper banners and posters find a new life online where images can be shared as static images on Facebook or Flickr or as video on YouTube or DailyMotion. Banners and posters are actually likely to have greater influence in their digital life than in their initial offline manifestation because more people see the image online than in the initial demonstration (true of TV as well)R iconic images can even be used as social media avatars, allowing people to publicly link their own identity to the movement while in an online space such as Facebook. / MR: "paint as protest" was done by a group of graffiti artists who used lasers to project new images on a censored mural in Los Angeles. Another example by done around art was the use of ipads to create a video sign during a protest against censorship of an exhibit at the Smithsonian.
/ PM: Activists could rename their wifi networks to extend message of movement / MJ: As with slogans, poster designs are just as likely to be created on the periphery of a movement, by talented supporters, as by the central organizer group. Savvy organizers will reach out to the edges, both to request the creation of this type of content and to appropriate it (with permission) when it is created spontaneously (example: April 6th general strike posters, Egypt 2008) / GA: Online space started to be a source of creation, production and distribution of leaflets and protest posters in Russia. The most advanced platform where people can share, find, and produce posters is rosagit.info.
/ MJ: Organizers should request and seek these materials at the periphery (from supporters) instead of trying to do everything themselves. They should also post these materials for download rather than printing materials themselves.
9. Leaflets, pamphlets, and books
/ MJ: Paper books can be sold online through an org’s website. Pamphlets can be digitized and emailed to supporters who them print them out a distribute them. This allows design and distribution to occur in different parts of the country (or world), saves designers the cost and security risk of printing massive amounts of leaflets, yet still allows paper to be used as a medium if the target audience is offline. / PM: New ways to deliver leaflets, eg., by remote control planes/helicopters (civilian drones/UAVs)
/ MJ: If books and pamphlets are digitized (ie, as a PDF) they can be distributed more widely at near-zero cost via email or posting on a website or blog. If the audience has access to laptops or tablet devices (or a Kindle), the materials can be designed, distributed, and read without ever being printed out.
205. QR codes
/ MJ: Quick response (QR) codes are funny-looking bar codes that are used to connect an offline experience with digital information. As such they are a perfect digital enhancement of an offline method. The QR code is posted visibly at the public event and interested citizens can photograph it with their smartphone. The phone then interprets the code and takes an action, such as sending the citizen to the organization’s website. / PM
10. Newspapers and journals
/ MJ: Even if they remain in paper form, activists can accept submissions online, design the paper using publishing software, and collaboratively write an articles using a wiki. Paper newspapers can increase their readership by posting articles online as well.
/ MJ: Readership will grow (at little additional cost) if materials are disseminated digitally. This can mean posting the articles on a website or allowing users to download or subscribe to a digital version of the paper (for example, through an iPad or Kindle).
/ MJ: The medium should depend on the audience. If the audience is online or has tablet access, then the publication can go totally digital. If the audience has mixed levels of access then the publication can be published in paper and digital form. If the audience is only offline, then digital tools can be used to design the paper.
11. Records, radio, and television
/ MJ: Radio programs and records can be recorded in digital format to be disseminated to a wider audience. For example, many radio programs record their shows as podcasts that can be posted for free on their website, placed behind a paywall, or posted to the iTunes store or a peer-to-peer file-sharing application like BitTorrent. This means that people who did not listen to the program (or live in a different city or country) can still hear the content.
/ MJ: Video content, previously accessible only through television (either through broadcast or on a VHS tape) can now be viewed online through free sites like YouTube and Vimeo. Audio contact previously accessible only through radio can now be distributed through as a podcast through an organization’s website, in the iTunes store, or using a peer-to-peer file-sharing application like BitTorrent or eMule. Records have also been replaced by digital music and audio files like MP3s.
199. Digital file sharing applications
N/A
/ MJ: Peer-to-peer (P2P) software allows users to share downloadable media files such as music, movies, and games using a software client that searches for other connected computers. These applications (examples: eDonkey, eMule, Kazaa, BitTorrent,WinMX, Shareaza ) are used to share content in a way that makes it easier to circumvent national and international censorship and content control laws. / MJ: Digital locker sites like HotFile, UltraViolet, and MegaUpload (now shut down) do not host content on their own servers. They host lists of content and then link clients to content hosted on a third-party server. They could also be used to distribute politically sensitive content. If one gets shut down or blocked, you just move to another.
/ MJ: Both peer-to-peet file sharing software and indirect platforms like digital lockers exist in a legal gray area. They are often used to distributed illegally pirated material. They are also difficult to control and block. What makes them appealing to criminals seeking to escape state control of digital content distribution may also be useful to activists seeking the same.
204. "Hijacking" Media
/ MJ: It was possible to hijack media (a radio station, a television station) in the pre-digital age, but would have been quite difficult to do so nonviolently. Since many social media accounts (blogs, Facebook pages) explicitly allow others to leave content, hijacking is much easier
/ LS: Posting on authorities’ blogs or social networking pages (if they have them) to name and shame. Maybe more likely to be aimed at functionaries. / DS: Another method of "hijacking" media is what is known as "Google Bombing" or "SEO (search engine optimization) manipulation – using common search terms, such as "local weather philadelphia", creating a link with the search term, and posting on blogs and across the Internet, linking back to webpage with activists’ message. Example: http://preview.tinyurl.com/...
//SA: This method was shown in an Indian blockbuster movie "Rang De Basanti" without violence but at gunpoint
12. Skywriting and earthwriting
/ MJ: If recorded digitally and then shared, the number of people who view the skywriting and earthwriting may be greatly increased (example: 350.org earthwriting made of crowds of volunteers) / PM: earthwriting: people in Kyrgyzstan and Libya have written SOS or HELP US in earth for detection by airplanes and satellite images
/ PM: The use of remote control airplanes (civilian UAVs/drones) can and have also be used for skywriting. They have yet to be applied in the context of civil resistance. Also, the use of bright lasers at night, like the Batman symbol projected into the night
211. "Forcing" hashtags
N/A
/ OK: Posting and reposting tweets with certain hashtags or words to make them reach Top Trends.
212. Influencing Internet search engines
N/A
/ OK: Publishing Websites, blog posts, links etc. to make certain Websites rank high in search results for specific terms. Also, conducting multiple searches of certain terms to make them appear in auto-suggestion.
/ OK: Regime’s official party’s website is displayed as the 1st result for "party of crooks and thieves" query, which is also the 1st suggestion when typing "party" in search box (Russia, 2011).
Group Representations
13. Deputations
14. Mock awards
/ MJ: Mock awards that occur offline should be digitally videotaped or photographed so more people are aware of the action. Voting in mock awards can be greatly expanded through online or SMS voting.
/ MJ: Mock awards can also occur totally online through online voting and announcement of winners (non-political example: http://gofugyourself.com/...)
15. Group lobbying
/ MJ: Though lobbying still implies physical presence, digital tools like email can be used to efficiently coordinate these efforts. / PM: Mobilizing public to engage in particular lobbying cause
/ PM: Flash Mobs
16. Picketing
/ MJ: Video of picketing should uploaded to YouTube or disseminated through Facebook, photos taken uploaded to FB, disseminated through Twitter. Link participants to your online content by using a QR code (method 205)
/ MJ: Digital as well as physical property can now also be occupied by protesters. (examples: Occupy Website app allows one to overlay "occupiers" on any web site, Sidewiki used to annotate Trafigura site during scandal putting protest messages on the site) / PM: Flash mobs? Crowdsourcing public activity to expose responsible politician (Blow the Whistle Project: http://jedensvet.cz/...)
17. Mock elections
/ MJ: On offline mock election can be promoted using websites, social media, and SMS
/ MJ: Voting in mock elections can occur online by allowing votes on a website or by mobile phone by SMS voting. / LS: skewing bookies’ odds online by gaming a betting platform / OK: Unofficial online polls and surveys may damage regime’s propaganda and show the real popularity of dissent views.
18. Mock funerals
//SA: Can be a potent non violent method to protest and especially against politicians who will get the signal that their vote banks are going against them
Symbolic Public Acts
18. Displays of flags and symbolic colors
/ MJ: Images of offline use of flags (for example, the use of the color green in pro-democracy protests in Iran in 2009) should be photographed and disseminated online to increase the audience / GA: The major symbol of the recent protests in Russia is a white ribbon, use of which started to proliferate online. BelayaLenta.com explains the symbol’s meaning and describes how it can be used and where people can find various types of ‘white ribbons’ offline.
/ MJ: Flags and symbolic colors can be integrated into a variety of digital symbols like Twitter and Facebook profile images (avatars), blog badges, and shareable images. / PM: Turning twitter or Facebook profile pics a certain color
19. Wearing of symbols
/ MJ: Images of offline use of wearable symbols (for example, people wearing a hoodie to demand justice for Trayvon Martin) should be photographed and disseminated online to increase the audience
/PM: Remote control airplanes or helicopters (civilian drones/UAVs) could also be used to display flags and symbolic colors. / MJ: “Wearing a symbol” digitally means posting the symbol in one’s digital space, such as using it as an avatar image (profile picture), or as a badge on one’s blog.
20. Prayer and worship
/ MJ: More people will be aware of this offline method if it is digitally recorded and disseminated.
/ MJ: People can post a prayer on a website or tweet a prayer.
21. Delivering symbolic objects
/ MJ: If a physical object is delivered, that event can be recorded in digital video or still image for dissemination. (For example, when people sent bags of Skittles to their representatives to demand justice for Trayvon Martin, they often photographed the package before they sent it and posted the image to their social media accounts to encourage their friends to do the same)
/ MJ: Digital objects can be delivered as well (for example, as an image attached to an email), but these actions are likely to have less effect than delivering a physical object.
22. Protest disrobings
/ MJ: The disrobing event can be recorded in digital video or still image for dissemination, as the Ukrainian organization FEMEN does
/ MJ: People can disrobe in private and then post the image publicly online instead of disrobing in a physical public space. If activists opt for this they should filter the images to weed out simple pornography, which could be used to discredit the action.
23. Destruction of own property
/ MJ: The destruction of physical property can be recorded in digital video or still image for dissemination.
/ MJ: Though people could technically destroy their own digital property, this method has not seen much use. Maybe it should.
24. Symbolic lights
/ MJ: Especially if large numbers of people take part, this act can be recorded and disseminated virtually
/ MJ: Candle images can be lit virtually online, as for a vigil or remembrance (example: gratefulness.org) / PM: Batman symbol projected at night
25. Displays of portraits
/ MJ: If portraits are displayed offline that display should be photographed or videotaped for online dissemination (example: protesters in Paris wore printed face masks of murder victim Neda Agha Sultan, photos of the protest were posted on Flickr)
/ MJ: Digital portraits can easily be displayed and shared using social media platforms like Facebook. Portraits can also be shared on websites and blogs.
26. Paint as protest
/ MJ: If the use of paint creates a dramatic visual, it can be worthwhile to digitally record and disseminate it as a video or still images (for example, the use of the colors of the Egyptian flag in protester facepaint in during the Arab Spring)
/ MJ: Virtual property can also be “painted,” for example through a change of color to a website.
27. New signs and names
/ MJ: Photos and video of signs can be disseminated online.
/ MJ: Using Google Map Maker or other to rename street names, cities, / PM: example: Syrian activists use Google Map Maker to rename streets and bridges after their revolutionary heroes in 2011: http://awe.sm/...) / PM: renaming wifi networks to extend the messaging of a movement
28. Symbolic sounds
/ MJ: If symbolic sounds will occur offline (as at a protest rally), record and disseminate them digitally. Sounds can be less compelling than images, so if you are going to use sounds, attach a compelling visual (for example, a large crowd of people making the sound). This demonstration can then be turned into a digital video for dissemination. A podcast of the sound alone is also possible, but podcasts are less likely to spread than visual content.
/ GA: Budilnikputina.ru (Putin’s Alarm Clock) offered a unique service: it made possible to order online wake-up calls for your friends that used Putin’s voice. //MJ: Ringtones can be easily disseminated, especially in places where mobile penetration is higher than Internet. (example: the "Hello Garci" ringtone brings attention to corruption in the Philippines) / PM: https://ict4peace.wordpress.com/...
29. Symbolic reclamations
/ MJ: If symbolic reclamations will occur offline (as at a protest rally), record and disseminate them digitally.
/ MJ: You can also reclaim digital property through hacking into a system owned by the opponent and leaving your mark (ie, putting your symbol or slogan on their homepage)
30. Rude gestures
/ MJ: If rude gestures will occur collectively offline (as at a protest rally), record and disseminate them digitally.
/ MJ: Rude gestures can be carried out by individual participants, digitally recorded (ie, as photos), and then aggregated online. The aggregation (joint online display) will show how could be a show of strength if you have enough participants.
31. Flash Mobs
NA
/SA: This is a widely used method today and especially by activists. It is mentioned at various places, I think it should be a separate category as it requires that focus, is very effective and there is lot of scope of innovation in this method
//SA: If using social media simultaneous flash mobs can be organized across the world can create awareness with huge impact
Pressures on Individuals
31. "Haunting" officials
/ MJ: Bring along a video camera and surreptitiously record occasions in which the behavior of the official reflects negatively on him/her. This could be major malfeasance like the person committing a crime (ie, accepting a bribe) or simply the person cursing at you to leave him at home (consider the risk of this kind of behavior before engaging in it.) You can also collect still images.
/ GA: Churovu.net, focuses on the Head of the Russian Central Election Committee, Vladimir Churov, who is seen by many as the person responsible for 2012 falsifications. The site’s main goal is to collect signatures in an online petition that calls for Churov’s resignation. / PM: Create lookalike television news broadcast of leaders in jail, cf YouTube video of Putin in jail (http://awe.sm/...)
32. Taunting officials
/ MJ: “Ambush journalism”: If you can safely get an official to “lose their cool” by challenging and confronting them, this can make for highly-sharable digital content. Make sure to bring a video camera.
/ PM: Video of Putin in jail; Could also fake twitter handle of official and harass that way (http://awe.sm/... http://irevolution.net/...)
33. Fraternization
/ DC: Becoming friends with someone or following them on a social media platform (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr) and developing a relationship with them through engaged conversation around the issue in contention.
34. Vigils
/ MJ: Videotape and photograph the vigil to disseminate it online.
/ MJ: Vigils can occur online as well, for example on a Facebook page. People can post remembrances in this shared space.
210. Crowdsourced Surveillance
/ MJ: Crowdsourcing (completion of a task through distributing and then aggregating parts of the task) can be applied to many methods. In this method, citizens jointly watch a public official or event and aggregate and publish their findings. If it is an enhancement of a Method 1.0 the surveillance would occur offline, but be disseminated or planned online. / PM: Citizen crowsourcing/reporting mechanism to collect evidence and document illegal acts to hold perpatrators accountable / GA: Svodny Protocol was created for the collection and analysis of the election observers’ reports and protocols in the 2012 elections in Russia.
/ MJ: If the crowdsourcing is Method 2.0, the surveillance itself occur online/using technology. / PM: Balloon mapping to document the impact of illegal logging in Sumava Natural Park in Czech Republic (http://grassrootsmapping.org/...) / PM: Tracking killings of Syrian civilians at https://syriatracker.crowdmap.com/// GA: A website chernyspisok.info (The Black List) allows any Russian citizen to submit information about the people who might have been involved in election fraud. / GA: SMS Golos collected reports from Russian election observers through text messages and mapped the voting results digitally in real time.
Drama and Music
35. Humorous skits and pranks
/ MJ: If you perform the skit for an offline audience, make sure it is recorded for later dissemination offline. This is great content for the Internet. People love sharing short and funny videos with their friends.
/ MJ: Because the skit is likely to be viewed many more times online than offline consider producing content uniquely for the web, which means that you perform it for the cameras, but not for a live audience. (example: BP oil spill office skit video) / PM: prank video of Putin in jail (http://awe.sm/...)
36. Performances of plays and music
/ MJ: Plays will likely be too long for the web, so if you record your play, post the highlights (max video length: 3 mins) or key scenes (10-15 minutes). With a musical performance, upload each song separately, like music videos.
/ MJ: Consider creating a music video uniquely for the web. (example: Egypt revolution music videos, 2011)
203. "Viral" Video
N/A
/ MJ: These short digital videos are designed to be viewed online and to be highly shareable so they go "viral." Most such videos are short (3 minutes), though longer documentary-style features like KONY2012 have also been successful. All have a powerful emotional hook, be it humor, outrage, or cute/"warm-fuzzies." The most effective ones also ask the viewer to take some action to help the cause.
37. Singing
/ MJ: If you sing offline get multiple camera angles and still images and cut it together into a short music video (3 minutes).
/ MJ: Without needing to perform the song offline, record it on your computer and then use your own or found footage (with permission) and create a music video. Upload it to YouTube, DailyMotion, or Vimeo. Share it on your social network.
Processions
38. Marches
/ MJ: Marches make great visual for sharing online, either as video or as still photos. Link participants to your online content by using a QR code (method 205)
/ MJ: Marches can be carried out online in video games. However, for an online march to be effective you need to record the online march and disseminate it, either as video or still images. Otherwise only the people in the game will see it. This also only makes sense if your supporters are gamers and can attend the march. (example: march for American presidential candidate Ron Paul in World of Warcraft game, 2008)
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
39. Parades
/ MJ: Parades make great visual for sharing online, either as video or as still photos. Link participants to your online content by using a QR code (method 205)
/ MJ: A parade could also occur in a game or virtual reality space (see Marches)
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
40. Religious processions
/ MJ: Processions can make great visual for sharing online. If the procession has high energy and is visually interesting, use video. If it is a more solemn affair, opt for still images: close-ups of people’s faces and long shots to show number of participants. Link participants to your online content by using a QR code (method 205)
/ MJ: A procession could also occur in a game or virtual reality space (see Marches)
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
41. Pilgrimages
/ MJ: Pilgrimages tend to be low energy for the simple reason that they require lots of walking and people get tired. If you are going to videotape, shoot the beginning when people have high energy and the end when people rejoice at arriving at their destination. At other points rely on still images: close-up of faces, long-shots to show numbers.
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
42. Motorcades
/ MJ: Videotape and photograph motorcades for digital distribution. If the motorcade is large, make sure your photos show that. /PM: Flash motorcades (http://irevolution.net/...)
/ MJ: A motorcade could also occur in a game or virtual reality space (see Marches)
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
Honoring the Dead
43. Political mourning
/ MJ: This is a high-drama event and makes good video footage. Without being disrespectful, recording emotional reactions on video or with still images.
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
44. Mock funerals
/ MJ: Another method that produces good visuals, both in video and photos.
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
45. Demonstrative funerals
/ MJ: This is a high-drama event and makes good video footage. However, it is important to be respectful, since private feelings of mourning are occurring. Ask the family and individual mourners before photographing or videotaping them.
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
46. Homage at burial places
/ MJ: These solemn events are better recorded in still images than video. Remember to focus on faces and emotion.
/ MJ: websites for those who have died have now become common place (example: ilasting.com)
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
Public Assemblies
47. Assemblies of protest or support
/ MJ: This is a high-drama event and makes good video footage. In video or photos, capture emotion and the number of participants, if it is large. Link participants to your online content by using a QR code (method 205) / GA: One of the methods of obtaining reliable results of protest numbers is by using photos taken from the drones. Another method was to create 360-degree 3D photo installations that allow the viewer to see the entire crowd.
/ GA: One of the protest types that was enabled by the Internet before the 2012 elections in Russia is the car-based protest. A few times, social networks and blogs were used to organize large-scale flashmob protests in many cities, during which people with white ribbons on their cars gathered at a specific time and location. / PM: Flash Mobs using cars; Check-In’s; Maptivism; Sukey, 1-person
protests (http://irevolution.net/...
http://irevolution.net/...)
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
206. Live crowd "choreography" through crowdsourced data
/ PM & MJ: Projects like Sukey (http://www.guardian.co.uk/...) collect digital information from protest participants and aggregate to (for example, to determine the location of police relative to protesters) and then share that information back with protesters via Twitter or SMS
207. Check-ins
/ PM & MJ: Mobile social media applications like FourSquare and Facebook allow members to "check-in" (regard their presence at) various physical locations. This feature can be used to amplify an offline protest if protesters check-in to the location they are in. This will let their friends know they are protesting and raise awareness of the protest. / GA: The Big White Circle action covered the circular road around Moscow’s center (known as the Garden Ring) with one-person protests. To help organize the Big White Circle protest, a special online tool was created, Feb26.ru, which allowed people to check in to their protest location without the need for a coordinating committee that could be targeted.
/ PM & MJ: Mobile social media applications like FourSquare and Facebook allow members to "check-in" (regard their presence at) various physical locations. This feature can be used to state virtual protests if people check-in to a location (for example, a presidential palace) where they are not at physically. This might be especially useful in a country where physical protest would be dangerous to protesters. To be extra safe, participants should check-in using a pseudonymous account.
209. One-person protest (with or without aggregation)
/ MJ: Without a mechanism of amplification, a one-person protest, like those of Brian Haw, were possible but not particularly effective. In the era of self-broadcast this is no longer true and one-person protests can be an effective way of skirting laws against public assembly / GA: Olesya Shmagun made a poster and stood with it by the entrance to Vladimir Putin’s office [before the 2012 election]. She was questioned by the police, but wasn’t detained because one person protests are not prohibited. Later, she published the story of her protests and a few photos on her LiveJournal blog. The Big White Circle action covered the circular road around Moscow’s center with one-person protests. A special online tool was created to organize it, Feb26.ru, which allowed people to check in to their protest location w/o the need for a coordinating committee that could be targeted.
/ MJ: Aggregated one-person protests are already very common on the internet, as when people photogrpahed themselves at home or at work wearing a hoodie to protest the murder of Trayvon Martin and then posted the photo online. Another common form of the aggregated one-person protest is to have people write a statement on paper, photograph it, and then share it digitally via social media
48. Protest meetings
/ MJ: This is a high-drama event and makes good video footage. In video or photos, capture emotion and the number of participants, if it is large.
/ MJ: Meetings can occur online, for example in a Skype group call or in an IRC group chat. This can often be safer than meeting offline, though it will no longer be public.
/ MJ: Get permission before capturing close-up video or still images of individuals. You may be putting them in danger by publicizing their participation.
49. Camouflaged meetings of protest
/ MJ: Meetings can occur online, for example in a Skype group call or in an IRC group chat. This can often be safer than meeting offline, though it will no longer be public. If you want the meeting to be camouflaged (not visible), this can be effective.
50. Teach-ins
/ MJ: Videotape the teach-in. Each module should be a separate video. If the video is longer than 10 minutes, include a “table of contents” in the video description when you upload it so people can fast forward to a specific point of interest. Link participants to your online content by using a QR code (method 205)
/ MJ: Consider creating teaching videos uniquely for the web. This could mean pre-taping the video and uploading it to YouTube or giving the teach-in as a webinar.
Withdrawal and Renunciation
51. Walk-outs
/ MJ: These events are dramatic but they are also short, so make sure you have your video camera ready. You can also take still photos.
/ MJ: What would an online walk-out look like?
52. Silence
/ MJ: Though long periods of silence can be powerful offline, people get bored easily when watching a silent video online. Keep the video to about a minute and focus on the faces of participants and showing the number of participants (if it is high). Consider adding a musical soundtrack since there will be little natural sound in the video.
/ MJ: Website can go "silent" if they are deliberately made inaccessible, as when Wikipedia blocked their own site to protest the SOPA/PIPA Internet regulation bills in 2011. / PM: Organize day of no SMS texting (this was used in Nigeria to boycott increase in prices by telecommunications companies: http://irevolution.net/...)
53. Renouncing honors
/ MJ: Find a way to make this visual (burning a diploma) and then photograph it. The more photographs the better.
/ MJ: Rather than having the organizers take the photographs, ask participants to photograph themselves taking the action and then posting it to a single place (a Facebook page) or emailing it to the organizers. This means more photos and less work.
54. Turning one’s back
/ MJ: Like silence, this can be powerful for long periods offline, but people get bored easily while watching a video of people standing still. Keep the video to about a minute and focus on the faces of participants and showing the number of participants (if it is high). Consider adding a musical soundtrack since there will be little natural sound in the video. Also take still photos.