ANARCHIST TACTICS:
THE "FACEBOOKALIZATION" OF ANARCHISM:
There's something I've noticed over the past few months given that Molly's Blog is a 'contact site' for anarchists across the world. As I gradually go through my editing process I find that not only are the majority of sites that I add 'Facebook sites', but that I am either deleting or sending to the Zombie listing a lot of others who were on the internet via other internet providers (blogspot/wordpress,etc).
That's fine, but a few cautions should be given here. First of all, as anyone who has followed this blog for long enough should be aware I am utterly and completely opposed to conspiracy to commit illegal acts. Not that I am opposed to "illegal acts" of civil disobedience, but I am completely opposed to the idea of trying to make them "secret". SECRET ???? I am completely astonished by the wishful thinking that a radical organization's plans could be kept "private" whenever it is communicated via the internet. I have debated this up and down with many people who are under the delusion that their "encryption" is sufficient to guard their plans. All that I can say here is that they are either wrong or actual state agents.
That, however, is something quite different from what is presently bothering me. What I have noticed is a gradual shift of anarchists to Facebook sites, and NOT always as simply a mirror of their main site. What does this mean besides the fact that, whether it is admitted or not, that their sites are continually monitored by US intelligence ? What it means is that unlike a blog post on website post whatever they say is eternally lost once a few days (hours, minutes,seconds ????) passes. THAT is what posting on Facebook means. It is lost forever. It is "etherbuzz".
I, of course, intend to maintain Molly's Blog as a main site while also using Facebook, but I would ask people to recognize the limitations of the latter. I would also ask others to consider the limitations of Facebook.
4 comments:
facebook seems like this extra water that spoiles the soup - i dont know for elsewhere but here in ex-yogoslavia since it appeared big change is notable - underground scene and many sorts of activism tend to disappear.. for many signing a petition or joining some group on facebook is kind of activism. but offcourse is not and will never be.
i dont use facebook and i never will; sometimes makes me think im ''out of everything'', but i dont care, because for me facebook represents just opposite of activism - gossiping, passivity, non-inventivity, vanity...
true battles can be won on battlefield only.
I tend to agree with you, but I would extend it to the whole internet. I use it here on Molly's Blog because how else would over a quarter of a million people hear what I have to say. Still, it does tend to substitute for other, more "real" actions. Facebook is the worst of the worst. EVERYTHING there is ephemeral and "fluffy" ie bearing little relation to reality. The internet search engines are right !! in never delivering posts from such things as Facebook or My Space. Once a few days pass everything there is forgotten.
I agree with You, Pat.
Much batter, in my opinion, join workers and help unions by mutualistic way. At least, to give concrete help, by working with them or substain with money, directly in their hands, as Kropotkin said, cause we all need it during heavy strikes.
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