From Rodney King to the London tube, people have the means to record and share the record of tragic events. What do we give up by turning these tools and these records to the cause of justice? What do we gain?
Gary Turner and Euan Semple discuss the potential of grass roots digital vigilance. Euan says, "…what if we spent less time on setting up social networking tools
targeted at getting inside each other’s knickers or selling drugs and
more time on working out ways to create real networks… in support of finding
peace, understanding and a way of living together." In a typical Turner rare coinage, Gary says in Euan’s comments: "What we don’t want is a grass roots ‘digilante’ version of Flickr."
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I certainly didn’t mean to infer anything like vigilante activity - rather a means of achieveing dialogue and understanding through the web.
Thanks for commenting Euan. I think it is clear from your post that you are looking for a way to use our tools to broaden communication in support of peaceful goals and common understanding. Your following post regarding Dave’s observations amplifies those thoughts.
I was taken with Gary’s coinage, and wrapped it into a brief blog post with a Buffalo Springfield backbeat while voicing a concern of my own over Gary’s observation that people may be turning their webcams to the window. I think he’s concerned about that too… grass roots big brotherism.
The concern is largely unrelated to the intention expressed in your posts and I acknowledge that. I hope my post draws attention to your thoughts on these matters.