I'm a convert

Having started this project not feeling confident about it I now really value the way that I'm able to organise my thought, leave small notes, post links and generally create a memory banks of useful sources as well as express my own thoughts.

I have decided to start a dissertation blog. I will use it to keep a track of my research, post links and generally as a place for comments. I should think it will be very useful.

Thank you Jayne:-)

a blog about blogging which I found interesting

http://www.iq.harvard.edu/blog/netgov/2009/03/the_social_psychology_of_faceb.html

I'm getting there with my essay although it is sounding quite descriptive, need to bring in more analysis and theory.

Today I'm in for the long haul...

Social movements

http://www.scribd.com/doc/11871450/Social-Movements

Social Media

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3283966/The-Essential-Guide-to-Social-Media

Social Media Voyeur - useful for my report

My first couple of posts hinted towards the fact that I find blogging and using social media slightly unnatural for me.

I studied the media for my undergraduate and now in my Masters course I continue so I am well aware of the impact of this new media and of the benefits. I could quote articles which state the importance of being involved but try as I might I have never really felt a part of it. I don't seem to fit in ....

I recently read an ebook The essential Guide to Social Media by Brian Sollis and he talks of Social Media Voyeurs. People who look from afar and lurk on the perimeters of online societies without ever becoming a true member. They don't truly understand what, where or why they're participating.

That's me!!!!

I understand now that whenever I've started a blog or twitter account or any other type of social media I have done it because I thought it was something I should do but not because I had any particular urge to join a community.

I realise now that the difficulty I've had is not my ability to express my thoughts in writing or find something to say (As I noted in an earlier post) but it's my lack of ability to become immersed in an online community.

Now that I understand this I can perhaps move on. I've started writing much more on my blog (albeit mainly essay notes) but none the less it has been rewarding.

Hmmmm.........

I noted in my last post that social movements are heterogeneous, so too is social media.

Social media is not just about user generated content. 'It's driven by people in the communities where they communicate and congregate'.

If both social movements and social media are heterogeneous in nature the question becomes more complex than first inspection.

It becomes clear that for each different type of social movement there is available a social media tool which is ideal for the objective of the movement. However there are also likely to be several social media tools that are not of any use.

I will need to assess the different types of social movement as well as the different types of social media and then try to look at the advantages and disadvantages of that particular type of social movement in using that particular type of social media.

Hmmmm.........

So far...

So far in answering this question I have been going back over the weeks we have studied and reading some of the key articles. I have found that social movements are heterogenous in nature and it is therefore difficult to answer the question generically.

Some authors have therefore chosen to write about the various types of social movement organisation in answering questions about the impact of media. I may need to do this also as media impacts different social movement organisations in different ways.

I have mostly come accross discussions about new communication technologies and the internet but social media has its own distinctions and characteristics. This will be important in assessing its impact.

Going forward I need to further clarify the different types of social movements, understand what is meant by social media and discuss the impact of social media in relation to the different types of social movements.

In doing my research I should be able to establish a clear argument. Lets see how it goes tomorrow.

wk 4 SOCIAL MOVEMENT NETWORKS VIRTUAL AND REAL

Social movements can be regarded as networks of informal relationships between
a multiplicity of individuals and organizations, who share a distinctive collective
identity, and mobilize resources on conflictual issues (Diani 1992)

week 2 notes

"Social movements are not organizations, not even of a particular kind. They are networks of interaction between different actors which may either include formal organizations or not, depending on shifting circumstance."

Common features

• Structure of political opportunities & restraints
• Forms of organization (formal & informal) available
• Collective process of interpretation, attribution & social construction that mediate between opportunity & action.

Questions::

• Does the internet introduce new repertoires of contention or extend old ones?
• Does each new development in new media provide the potential for new movement actions?
• What impact are the internet & social media having on the opportunity structures available to movement actors?
• Are there drawbacks to making new media central to movement activism?

In looking at these three below where would social media come in?

Most likely in looking at the way that actors are linked by dense informal networks ????

della Porta, Donatella (2006), Social movements : an introduction, Malden, MA : Blackwell Publishing

Social movements are:

a distinct social process, consisting of the mechanisms through which actors engage in collective action:

• are involved in conflictual relations with clearly identified opponents
• are linked by dense informal networks
• share a distinct collective identity

Mario Diani (1992, 2003, 2004, Diani & Bison 2004)

What are the advantages and disadvantages for social movements of using social media?

Questions

What is a social movement?

What is social media?

What are the advantages for a social movement to use social media?

What are the disadvantages for a social movement to use social media?

Goodwin, J & J.M Jasper The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts

Social Movements are:

"a collective, organised, sustained and noninstitutional challenge to authorities, powerholders, or cultural beliefs and practices."

"Conscious, concerted and sustained efforts by ordinary people to change some aspects of their society by using extra-institutional means."

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/186862

advantages and disadvantages of social media

http://compassioninpolitics.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-social-media/

Essay questions

Over the next month I will be working on two assignments.

The first is an essay titled: What are the advantages and disadvantages for social movements of using social media?

The second is an internet based project titled: What difference does the internet make for social movements? To answer this question, I will take a historic movement and consider how the internet could have been used to achieve its goals.

I will be using my blog during my research and writing of these assignments. I hope that the blog will enable to discuss my thoughts and aid me in my research.

So far this internet project has been difficult for me. Despite spending lots of time on the internet I do not feel naturally inclined to blog. I can chat all day long with a group of friends or colleagues about my ideas and thoughts but writing them down in an unstructured way doesn't come naturally for me. Am I a lazy writer? am I perhaps a private writer? or is it just unnatural for me to articulate my thoughts in writing?

I got thinking about my childhood days when writing poetry or keeping a secret diary of mundane musings was pure joy and a regular activity. Perhaps I just need to embrace my creative side and get used to the free flow style of writing associated with blogging. So today is the day. I will attempt if possible to write on this blog every few days as I research my essay questions.