CeDEM Day 1, afternoon, Track: Bottom-­Up Movements, Main Hall, Chair: Rosanna De Rosa

1. From
mobiliza+on
to
consensus:
Innova&ng
cross-­‐media
services
to
organize
crowds
into
collabora&ve
communi&es
Montathar
Faraon

2. Mass
mobiliza&on
• Defini+on.
A
process
that
engages
and
mo&vates
a
wide
range
of
partners
and
allies
at
na&onal
and
local
levels
to
raise
awareness
of
and
demand
for
a
par&cular
development
objec&ve
through
face-­‐to-­‐face
dialogue
(Unicef).
• O7en
used
by:
– Grassroots-­‐based
reac&ve
protests
(e.g.
Occupy)
– Revolu&onary
movements
(e.g.
Arab
Spring)
• Why?
– Dissa&sfied
with
their
condi&ons
(e.g.
social,
economical,
poli&cal).
Not
a
new
phenomenon,
people
have
been
angry
throughout
history
(e.g.
French
Revolu&on)
• Recent
examples:
– Greece,
USA
(New
York),
UK
(London),
MENA,
Spain,
etc.

3. • Social
media
have
played
a
key
role
in
many
mass
mobiliza&on
efforts.
• But
what
comes
aRer
mobiliza&on?
• Given
a
collabora&ve
tool,
people
would
be
given
the
opportunity
to
mass
mobilize
and
elaborate
a
common
goal
using
social
media
and
online
collabora&ve
applica&ons.
• Social
media
as
alterna&ve
press
–
accessible
plaUorm
for
ci&zen
journa-­‐
lism.
• Social
media
capabili&es:
– Many-­‐to-­‐many
communica&on
– The
speed
which
informa&on
can
be
spread
– User-­‐generated
content
Mass
mobiliza&on
by
social
media

4. • Social
media
have
shown
their
usefulness
of
means
of
mobiliza&on.
• Social
media
and
online
collabora&ve
applica&ons:
– (1)
Social
media
allow
massive
mobiliza+on
through
online
networks
but
there
is
not
much
to
support
the
collabora&on
of
the
mobilized
crowds
in
a
consensus-­‐seeking
manner.
– (2)
Online
collabora+ve
applica+ons
allow
for
collabora+on
but
lack
the
means
of
massive
mobiliza&on.
– (3)
Social
media
and
online
collabora&ve
applica&ons
generally
lack
features
and
func+onali+es
for
civic
engagement
in
society,
that
would
allow
their
u&liza&on
in
the
seeking
of
consensus
among
the
mobilized
community.
• =>
Integrated
plaIorm
for
ac+ve
boJom-­‐up
oriented
par+cipa+on.
– Mobiliza&on
of
crowds
of
shared
interest
to
form
communi&es.
– Collabora&on
within
communi&es
for
consensus-­‐seeking
and
co-­‐crea&on.
Organizing
crowds
into
collabora&ve
communi&es

5. • How
do
we
do
this?
• Design
a
process
and
a
medium
that
directs
the
efforts
of
the
mobilized
crowds
to
co-­‐crea&ve
democra&c
processes.
– Mobiliza&on
– Community
building
– Consensus-­‐seeking
• Adapta&on
of
exis&ng
social
media
(e.g.
Facebook
and
Twi^er)
and
online
collabora&ve
applica&ons
(e.g.
Google
Docs)
through
for
example
APIs
and
mashups.
Platform for active bottom-up participation

6. Design
concept
for
ac&ve
bo^om-­‐up
plaUorm

7. • Design
concept
• Mock-­‐up
– An
experiment
possible
using
exis&ng
applica&ons.
– Mobilize
a
small
test
group
(to
the
street?)
with
SMS,
Twi^er.
– Elaborate
collabora&vely
a
shared
agenda
using
a
shared
Google
document.
• Target
group/personas
• Prototype
• Tes&ng
• Feedback
• Outcome?
Broader methodological framing

8. Missing
from
exis+ng
applica+ons:
• Scalability
to
large
mass
use.
• Integra&on
of
social
media
and
online
collabora&on
applica&ons.
• Adapta&on
for
purposes
of
democracy.
• Organiza&on
of
the
democra&c
decision-­‐making
flow
(e.g.
vo&ng).
• Management
of
disagreement.
• Dissemina&on
of
informa&on.
• Membership:
openness,
invita&ons.
• Security
issues
(e.g.
vo&ng)
• Usability.
• PlaUorm
choice
and
adapta&on.
Challenges

9. Prospec+ve
uses/users:
• Individuals
• NGOs
Mechanisms
of
influencing:
• Visibility
in
mass
media
• Visibility
in
social
media
• Interfaces
with
government,
e.g.
ci&zen
ini&a&ves
Risks
• Why
the
concept
might
not
work?
Prerequisites
• Free
access
to
the
applica&ons
• Sufficient
skills
of
the
public
• Freedom
of
the
Internet
Considerations

10. Authors
• Montathar
Faraon
(montathar.faraon@sh.se)
• Victor
Villavicencio
(victor.v.osorio@gmail.com)
• Robert
Ramberg
(robban@dsv.su.se)
• Mauri
Kaipainen
(mauri.kaipainen@sh.se)
Thank you for your attention!