ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY

ANTONIO GARCIA
WEBVISIONS PDX / 20 MAY 2016
ACTIVISM
Efforts to promote, impede, or direct social,
political, economic, or environmental change,
or stasis with the desire to make improvements
in society and to correct social injustice.

ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
ACTIVISM IS
TAKING ACTION TO
EFFECT CHANGE

ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
ACTION
CHANGE
WIDE
AWAKE

Pops and me, 1979

ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
STAY
WOKE

Glappitnova, 2015

ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
(tivism)
4 MILLION
COMMENTS TO THE FCC

2.5 MILLION+
PETITION SIGNATURES FOR NET NEUTRALITY

10 MILLION
EMAILS TO CONGRESS

500,000
CALLS TO FCC AND CONGRESS
250,000
PETITION SIGNATURES TO PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR SUPPORT

100
ON THE GROUND PROTESTS AND PARTIES AT COMCAST, FCC and WHITE HOUSE

20 MILLION+
SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

10
DAYS OCCUPYING THE FCC LAWN
HOW IT WORKED
VERTICAL HORIZONTAL COMPOUNDING
THRESHOLD EXPANSION EFFECTS

ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
“When people try to change behavior, they often
focus on telling people what they should do.

We often underestimate just how strongly we

respond to what other people actually do.”

—Melanie Tannenbaum

@melanietbaum
“…if people are able to declare support for a
charity publicly in social media,

it can actually make them less likely to donate
to the cause later on.”

—Kirk Kristofferson
@KJKristofferson
“…at the end of the day, we’re going to fight
the good fight not only for our customers but
for the country. We’re in this bizarre
position where we’re defending the civil
liberties of the country against the
government. Who would have ever thought this
would happen?”
—Tim Cook
@tim_cook
#6 Aggressively suspend ISIS social-media
accounts: Based on an analysis of tens of
thousands of Twitter accounts, suspensions do
limit the audience for ISIS’s gruesome
propaganda. The current rate of suspensions is
damaging the ISIS social-media machine. The
practice should be maintained at the current
rate at the very least — but it would be
better to get more aggressive.
WORD-OF-MOUSE
PETITION SLACKTIVISM
PASSIVE GROUP FORMING
FLASH-IN-THE-PAN MOBS
ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
TRADITIONAL
ADVOCACY 1. Public research

2. VIPs calling attention to the issue

3. Elected official endorsement

4. Building coalition of likeminded groups

5. Mass public pressure

ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
ACTION PLATFORMS
>
SOCIAL NETWORKS

ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
BLESSED UNREST

ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
TRUTHVOICE.COM
CALL to ACTION

ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
CALL to ACTION
1. Give actionable talks :)

2. Civic hackathons opencityapps.org

SHARLENE
3. Health hackathons hackinghealth.ca
KING
@typodactyl 4. Volunteer at local museums

5. Be a mentor (not just a reviewer)

6. Help activist groups byp100.org

7. Be at protests and rallies

8. Attend Allied Media alliedmedia.org

CALL to ACTION
1. Gain proximity (empathy)

2. Go where you’re uncomfortable

CASEY
3. Find your why
GERALD
@CaseyGerald 4. Read “The Unexotic Underclass”

5. Apply to the U.S. Digital Service

CALL to ACTION
1. Transparency of information

2. Political engagement ballotready.org

JESSICA
3. Consumer engagement
YAGAN
@drosteyagan 4. Big data for social good

dssg.uchicago.edu
CALL to ACTION
1. Volunteer at an organization

2. Volunteer to build that org an app

GAYLON
3. Mentor young people/activists
ALCARAZ
@gaylonalcaraz 4. Help spread the word about protests
10 TACTICS @Info_Activism

1. Mobilize people 6. Manage your contacts

2. Witness and record 7. Distill complex data

3. Visualize your message 8. Leverage collective intel

4. Amplify personal stories 9. Co-create with empathy

5. Add humor 10.Investigate and expose

“The reality is that powerful technologies
will work in exactly the direction we point
them in. Almost paradoxically, as more
technology becomes available, human judgment
and wisdom matter more.”
—Kentaro Toyama
@kentarotoyama
TECHNOLOGY DOESN’T
CHANGE THE WORLD.
WE DO.
ACTIVISM × TECHNOLOGY
@A_M_GARCIA
THANK YOU, PORTLAND
ANTONIO GARCIA
WEBvISIONS PDX / 20 MAY 2016