Technology Coordinated Protest (Inspired Post 5)

Last night, around 8:00pm, I rode my bike by Old Main and had to get off and walk because there were so many people on the patio. There were "Joe Paterno" chants, "Fuck Sandusky" chants, and a lot of fight songs being sung. It looked more of less like this:

Then, when I got out of my THON committee, I overheard many people speaking about a riot going on downtown. Some friends and I decided we should check it out. We walked over to Old Main and it looked more like this...

Thousands of students were gathered around Old Main doing more or less the same chants. As I stood at the far side of Old Main, I was surrounded by a whole bunch of students that were just as confused as I was. No one really knew why we were there and what our being there was accomplishing. Within five minutes, a crowd of students started walking in my direction. "To the stadium!" they yelled as the marched off in that direction. Over the next few minutes, students slowly trickled away, some going home, but most heading to the stadium. Being the ever-curious student I am, I figured I might as well go up to the stadium as well.

When we got there, I was pretty surprised walking by Paternoville. While I expected the students there to be protests or rioting in some way, they all simply stood watching the crowds roll by in complete silence. I think it was sort of their way of saying--this isn't the correct response to such a situation.

When I finally arrived to the area that the protest/riot/rally/whatever-you-want-to-call-it was commencing, there were between one to two thousand students all standing in the street, screaming, cheering, and chanting. Soon after, a few members of the band (not sure if it was Blue Band or some other band...I couldn't see them in the middle of the crowd) started playing the Penn State fight songs. It was really powerful to all be there together in the middle of the street outside of the stadium, arms around eachother, singing loud and proud. For me, that's what last night was about. It was about being proud Penn Staters and coming together to share that pride. While for many, it was about protesting Spanier or supporting JoePa, I didn't really engage in that.

What was so incredible was the amount of students all in the same place all at the same time. There were oodles of Facebook events, text messages, picture messages, tweets and blog posts about it that made the word spread faster than one could imagine. The use of technology in these events have been absolutely essential. Facebook events have been created to "Blue Out" the stadium on Saturday in order to support the fight against child abuse. The event can be found here. There is also a candlelight vigil planned for Friday evening as a memorial for the victims of this tragedy. This article written by the Daily Collegian reports on many different events that have been created.

This is globalization at its peak. Students informing each other of their efforts so that they can all go into the streets together. Like I mentioned in a previous blog, that's the point of this new technology and these new social media resources in instances like this. It is to inform and educate, to coordinate and plan. And after last night, I can honestly say, it is working.

Let's be Cautious, but Let's do this (Required Post #10)

One of the biggest takeaways I got from this week's discussion was that diplomats in the 21st century not only have to be really good at working with technology, but also they must be very controlled about their actions. This is because everywhere a diplomat goes, everything a diplomat says and everything a diplomat does can be so easily recorded and then shared all over the world. With new technology like YouTube having such a prevalence in todays' world, it is so easy for the actions of an American diplomat to be seen within minutes in just about any country.

If we think back to when Osama bin Laden was found and murdered, the speed with which this information was shared was extraordinary. Not only was it all over the traditional news sources (TV and newspaper) but it was also shared immediately on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and just about any other source you can think of. And it doesn't have to be a big event Osama bin Laden or a big scandal like the Jerry Sandusky case for the news to go global. If we consider the absolutely ridiculous amount of attention that this video got...

This isn't actually the real video, because it only has about 5 million views, as opposed to the original one that had well over 80 million. This whole craze occurred while I was studying abroad in Spain and one of my friends there was trying to do her homework while someone in the apartment below her was blasting this song on repeat for hours on end. Nope--certainly (and perhaps shamefully) not just an American thing.

Today, information flows faster than ever before. If the American government wants to enter into the age of Digital Diplomacy, we will need to be incredibly informed and completely understand the frequency and speed of information sharing. We must be prepared for the implications of this new technological world. One of the articles from this week's readings called Digital Diplomacy by Sam Dupant states: "The hope in all of this is that the U.S. State Department can be a cut above other governments in becoming a technologically adept diplomatic machine." I think this is absolutely essential for America and if achieved, will be a hugely monumental step in the right direction.

As I discussed last week, this is not exactly the easiest problem to solve. When you enter a world where the technology is so new and so controversial, knowing when to step in is hard to do. But I strongly believe that we are going to have to carefully and cautiously step in and attempt to utilize all that the technology has to offer for the diplomacy of today's world.

21st Century Statecraft...Dun dun dun dun....(Required Post #9)

While 21st Century Statecraft sounds like a futuristic, high-tech, overwhelming and scary, Star Trek-type idea, it is not quite as daunting. Rather it is a super fancy way to say: the art of running a country. And the technology isn't even that fancy, considering the US Government is pretty far behind the rest of the world in terms of social media usage. "The Gov" is now officially using Twitter and Facebook and working with all the big players like Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. to make sure that they are staying up-to-date on the latest and greatest technologies.


But when the US Government is buddy buddy with Google, Facebook and Twitter, the implications are not always positive. This is because Google, Facebook and Twitter are therefore seen by the rest of the world as an extension of the US Government. Nowadays, big brother is not only watching us....

............he's friending us too!


While this is a bit of an exaggeration, it is true that the US Government is being rooted into our social media. And other countries are not going to respond positively to this. Just like last year when Jared Cohen told Twitter that they better not do their scheduled maintenance during the Iranian protests (and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said nothing nor did nothing to stop him), other countries are getting suspicious and worried about the US trying to infiltrate their countries. When we suggest to other countries that they should use Facebook or Twitter, our suggestions are not going to be thought of as simply a matter of bettering their communication.


But honestly, this isn't exactly a new idea. The US government has been tightly integrated within Facebook and Twitter and Google since the beginning. These big three (FB, Twitter and Google) are constantly working with The Gov to help them develop better technology. Youtube and Flickr are definitely being used by the government too. 


In 2009, the US Government got a YouTube channel. This article details the ways that YouTube worked with the government in order to create this. For example: "One of the steps that YouTube took was creating a goverment version of its embeddable video player that does not deposit a cookie on the viewer's computer until the video play button has been clicked." I strongly believe that coordination like this will be the only way that the US government can really understand the technology they are using. This ability to work together has been and will continue to be absolutely essential for the advancement of our nation into the world of...dun dun dun dun...digital diplomacy. 

World Poverty (Inspired Post 4)

Today in my Sociology 001 class, we talked about world poverty. This class is exceptional in its ability to cover a huge range of subjects in only one semester. Granted, the amount of depth we can dive into for each topic is minimal, but it is certainly enough to get my mind going. My teacher is obsessed with data and this class period was definitely a time when the facts said it all.

Nearly half of the 6 billion people in the world live in poverty. Each day, 20,000 people die each day from extreme poverty. Extreme poverty is defined as getting by on less than one dollar a day, not meeting basic household needs for survival, and only exists in developing countries. When doing a Google Image search of the word "extreme poverty" the images that come up are entirely disturbing.

Looking at these pictures makes it even harder to comprehend the facts because you put a face to the figures. I literally cannot believe that in this day and age, this type of poverty still occurs. In the world I live in, food is only a problem because it takes time to make and distracts me from doing the myriad of other things I have on my plate. In America, we are so fortunate to live in a world where we don't usually have to think about food.

We cannot live in a world that is completely globalized if this type of poverty is still occurring. We cannot live in a society that is even close to globalization if 20,000 people are dying each day due to hunger.

There are efforts to combat this problem such as The Hunger Site, which easily allows people to give cups of food to the hungry. All you have to do is click the link on the page and 1.1 cups of food will be donated to the hungry. This can occur because of the advertisements that come up after you click. Such a simple and easy way to help others, yet it is so rare that we (myself included) take the 0.3 seconds to do it.

This Sociology class has taught me that there are so many problems in this world that need to be addressed before we can ever get to a fully globalized place. It is upsetting and honestly disgusting that the American culture is so self-centered that we never think about these issues. Every day I throw away food that I haven't completely eaten. I may not be able to change this habit, but I can, at the very least, click the link on The Hunger Site every day and post it to my Facebook so that hopefully others will do the same. At least we will be using technology and social media for the better, Friedman would be happy.

WikiLeaks (Inspired Post #3)

With my embarrassingly minimal understanding of what happened during the WikiLeaks fiasco, I marched into 112 Katz ready to learn. Then I marched right out after realizing I was in the complete wrong classroom. Yet attempt two was successful and I anxiously awaited the presentation's commencement.

A woman popped up on the projector screen and I looked around the room for a good 30 seconds trying to figure out where she was. It was only until 30 embarrassing seconds later that I realized this was a live broadcast and that the presenter was not actually present.

All that aside, I really enjoyed the introduction of the topic, the forum and Mr. Crowley. The topic introduction did a great job of summarizing the events that occurred and explaining (which was helpful for those semi-ignorant ones like me) and the forum explanation cleared up the confusion about where the heck that woman was and why she wasn't actually in our classroom. Her detailed introduction of Mr. Crowley was essential for understanding where he was coming from and why his opinion mattered.

One of the main things Mr. Crowley explained was that there were three main consequences from the WikiLeaks. First, there was a potential impact on critical relationships between the US and other countries. These leaks undermined the trusts others had in the US. The second, and most fully realized, potential consequence was the risk of the lives and livelihoods of people. Mr. Crowley explained that physical harm has occurred as a result of these leaks. Finally, the third consequence is the impact on future net growth.

While Crowley officially condemned the publication of these documents, he explained that the most important problem was what was actually published. Just referencing a place or date that a conversation occurred, rather than actually naming someone, is enough to put lives in jeopardy. Here is a pretty comical representation of the ability for WikiLeaks to expose people that would much rather not be exposed.

While this cartoon uses a light tone, the undermining issue is that the heroes of our society, be it an Afghan citizen or a member of the CIA, can be exposed so easily through WikiLeaks.

Crowley does not aim to limit the freedom of the press, but rather wants them to be responsible journalists that listen to the government on issues concerning highly classified topics. I think he did a good job of explaining that the press surely does not have to listen to the government--they are under no contractual agreement, they will face no sanction-- but they ought to out of good judgement for the safety of citizens around the globe.

I think Mr. Crowley was the perfect person to speak on such a topic. While he may not be entirely neutral (based on his military experience and work for the government), he was extremely knowledgeable of the topic and able to portray his opinions in a way that was easy to understand.

#OccupyWallStreet (Required Blog #8)

I first heard about Occupy Wall Street via Facebook, then via the news. Oh the irony in that one. But I guess it is not entirely ironic that I first heard about it via social media. When Osama bin Laden was murdered, I was studying in Spain and therefore sleeping during the time that the country heard the news and also sleeping during the entire Penn State riot. When I woke up in the morning, I logged on to my Facebook and saw a bunch of status updates, posts, and pictures about Osama dying.

This was not actually one of my friends' posts but it is pretty entertaining...

I scrolled down my entire newsfeed reading all the updates and then I fact checked on Google news until I found a legitimate enough web source (Washington Post) for me to feel confident telling my host mom the news. When I did, she ran and turned on the TV and low and behold the Spaniards were chattin' up a storm about it.

Every celebrity death, every major news event, and every earthquake-- I find out about via Facebook. Facebook is inevitably a source of information that is fast and easy. While most of my friends' status updates have more to do with what they ate for breakfast than what is happening around the world, it is extremely important to realize the impact Facebook, and all social media, is having on the world.

While Malcolm Gladwell would like for us to believe social media "makes it easier for social activists to express themselves and harder for that expression to have any impact", I think we are seeing a clear impact with the Occupy Movement. The combination of technology and globalization has lead to the movements popping up around the world. People are not just tweeting about it, not just updating their Facebooks about it, but they are camping out in the HUB to #OccupyPennState or planning events outside London to #OccupyEngland. This use of technology to inspire and promote the fight for global democracy. While Morozov believes that social media leads to Slacktivism, in this case, he is and Gladwell are both wrong. In this case, social media has been the outlet used to organize, inspire and create an actual, physical movement. And thanks to technology and the interconnectedness of our world today, that movement is spreading like wildfire.

When one protesting idea gains enough popularity that it is repeated in over a thousand cities around the world, and when it gains enough popularity that President Obama talked about it, you know that that was an impactful idea. After Arab Spring and the "revolution" in Iran, it is apparent that social media is having a bigger and bigger effect on our nation. The #Occupy movement is just one more push toward using social media to implement and promote real-life ideas.

Slackity Slacktivism (Required Blog #7)

Chapter seven of The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom by Evengy Morozov focuses on a term called Slacktivism. This is the idea that people have gotten lazy and are unmotivated to actually make monumental changes in society. Rather, they hide behind their computer screens and like a page on Facebook that promotes the fight against breast cancer or they retweet a post (and don't even bother putting it in their own words) about supporting our troops. As Morozov explains, "Given how easy groups can form online, it is easy to mistake quantity of quality." (p. 187)

While I agree that the new age of technology has definitely caused people to be lazy in terms of their support for causes, I am not so sure it is an entirely bad thing. For the laziest of lazy, you can even support a cause through your cell phone (which obviously is attached to your hand 24/7) by texting a number that will automatically draw $10 from your account in support of that cause.

This is probably one of the easiest possible ways to support a cause. Yet what Morovoz would define as laziness, I would define as pure genius. Because when one text message turns into this...

...ten dollars turns into hundreds and thousands of dollars. Technology has simply made it easier to support causes in just about every way and I don't see anything wrong with that.

In my opinion, the whole point of creating a Facebook page is to promote awareness. Whether it is for your company, the party you are throwing Friday night, or a non-profit, getting the word out to a lot of people without a lot of stress is possible because of Facebook and other technologies. It is okay to have the Slacktivists--it is okay to have people sitting behind their computer and "liking" the fight against pediatric cancer. That handy dandy like button that we know all too well...

should not be viewed as a problem in our society, but rather as an excellent form of creating awareness. All the traditional techniques to get people actually involved in a cause still can be and still ought to be utilized. Technology like Facebook and Twitter do not take away from these traditional techniques, but rather make people more aware of issues when they do see traditional techniques being employed.

For example, last year THON was heavily promoted after it there was a news report that focused on all the great things THON does for the Four Diamonds Families. This clip was disseminated all over YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and brought much more legitimacy to the THON name. Now, when I stand on the street corner dancing around with a big sign around my neck that says "Help Kids Fight Cancer", people are more likely to think "Hey...I saw that on TV last year!" or "Hey, I saw a YouTube clip about this organization." These thoughts will keep the coins and dollars coming into my can.

Morozov fails to see the bright side of social medias use in the promotion and spreading of awareness of causes. He pretty much views technology in general as an evil, and in this case, I think he is wrong.