Flash Mob Activism

Here's what I want to know: Why is it that The Media insist on making up snappy names for everything? Today is, according to Reuters, the "Potomac Primary", because Maryland and D.C are voting.

Of Flash Mobs and Grassroots Movements

Since I don't have political news to talk about pending the results of the "Potomac Primary" (insert a rolling of eyes here), I thought I'd continue on a thread that I've been exploring for the past couple of days – the new generation's form of activism.

I don't know if anyone remembers a phenomenon that sprung up a couple of years ago that got termed "flash mobs". For those who don't, a flash mob took place when a bunch of people used email, message boards, text messaging, and other forms of communication technology to get the word out that they were all, for example, going to show up at a particular place and a particular time, simultaneously line up, do the dance from 'Thriller', and then disperse. There was no purpose except to have fun and do something crazy, and to interject the unexpected into the mundane lives of observers. (Here is the Wikipedia page for those who are interested in reading more.)

Flash mobbing was not just a passing fad. It was a way of exploring a new form of activism where a large group of people, interconnected in a kind of human/electronic mesh, could quickly organize themselves around a central cause. This form of activism is nothing like what came before it. There is no formal group or nonprofit organization. There is no figurehead or leader. There is no community organizer, no protest leader. There's just a group of people, some who know each other and some who don't, all of them equals, getting involved in something that grows with the spontaneity of a spreading meme. I've talked about the political effects of what I am now going to dub 'flash mob activism', but now I'm going to bring up a specific example that's been discussed on blogs and message boards lately.

Anonymous vs. Scientology

Recently, some clips with an interview with Tom Cruise surfaced where he discusses his belief in Scientology. The video is so insane that it makes the couch jumping incident look like an Alan Greenspan level of droning, mundane sanity. It's almost ten minutes of unflinching, nonstop crazy. It's also a Scientology indoctrination video. The mockery of Tom Cruise's Crazy spread over internet message boards, until the Scientology legal team showed up and demanded that it be taken off of YouTube, as well as another site where it was hosted. It was, but not before hundreds of other people grabbed it and put it up on their own sites.

The Scientology legal attack on one of their own outraged the users of several message boards, most notably 4chan. 4chan is a great example of one of these interconnected communities that create and spread memes; they're responsible for the hilarious LOLcats which have since penetrated into the mainstream.

4chan didn't just get angry. They got even. They started a group that they called 'Anonymous', in reference to Scientology's infamy in the way that it attacks critics of their organization through any means necessary, up to and including harassment. Anonymous declared war. Here is their first video, posted to YouTube. In the video, they continued the theme of pointing out Scientology's censorship by using a computer speech program to deliver their message, and by showing only shifting clouds.

Initially, Anonymous' war against Scientology was restricted to 4chan kids whose tactics included illegal and immature actions such as instituting denial of service attacks against Scientology's website. But along the way, something happened. As the meme spread, people started to look at Scientology more carefully, and even as the 4chan kids got distracted by something shiny and lost interest, another breed of activists took over. They went to Operation Clambake, an anti-Scientology website. They read about Lisa McPhearson, a woman who died in a horrific manner, locked in a hotel room, without access to food and water, for eighteen days. They learned about L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction author who was also Scientology's creator, and who famously said "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." These people, more mature and more motivated than the first wave had been, took over the movement and changed it into something legal and formidable. A second video, titled 'A Call to Action' turned up on YouTube, urging viewers to protest outside of Scientology centers worldwide on the 10th of February. Another video containing 22 rules for the protest surfaced, which included exhortations to protesters not to become violent or resist police officers, and also advised all protesters to cover their faces with scarves and sunglasses, to prevent the Scientology legal team from photographing, attacking, or harassing them.

Be Very Wary of February

Many people predicted that the movement would fizzle on February 10th, that the people who organized the protest would be unwilling to leave the safety of their computers and message boards and turn up in the real world to back up their beliefs. They were wrong. My generation, the generation that people said couldn't be bothered to stand up for anything, stood up to the tune of thousands in over 50 cities in 14 countries. I am so proud that I could burst. We are finally taking the first halting steps on the path to finding our voice. The protests were peaceful; despite the large numbers who attended, everyone complied with the 22 rules, and there was no violence and no reported conflicts with police officers or Scientology representatives, although many of them filmed or photographed the protesters from the safety of their churches.

A Hydra, Not A Snake

What's interesting about these flash mob protests is how different they are from the protests that traditional activists organize and attend. Usually, a protest is held by a single group. The group is often a nonprofit, a recognizable entity with known organizers and a known leader. Like a snake, it has a single head that, if chopped off, will kill it.

Anonymous is not like this. It has no leader. It has no known organizers, members, or supporters. There is no 'head' for the Scientology legal team to cut off – and even if they were to find one, like a hydra, there would always be more heads springing up in its place.

Viral Advertising

Anonymous spread its message and drummed up interest in its cause through more than the simple means of posting to message boards and telling their friends. They also took a page from the viral advertisers that have saturated the internet with memes promoting products and movies. They are distributing small index cards printed simply with 'You Found the Card', and the name of a website by leaving them in computer labs, at bus stops, and in other locations where people might discover them and become curious. The website address leads to a page that outlines the damage that Scientology does to its members and their loved ones. It also links to other websites where people can become involved, and announces the dates of planned protests.

Anonymous has spread videos on YouTube advertising the protests, and they posted videos of the protests, afterward. They even have a professional looking logo, a headless man in a suit rendered in stark black and white.

Little Media Coverage

There has been little media coverage of this phenomenon; there was a spike of interest at the beginning, when Anonymous was a group of hackers, but since they have become a peaceful protesting force, interest, and the corresponding articles, has dropped off. It makes me angry. Once again, the powers that be in the media have built an archetype that borders on a caricature of my generation that they want to present, and as soon as we stop conforming, they fall silent.

Anonymous is an important movement because it shows the way that not just protests, but many other community actions such as neighborhood watch and giving to charity (which I have already mentioned) will be organized. A hundred to two hundred people turning up in cities worldwide would have gotten a lot of coverage if it hadn't been organized on the internet by a bunch of "kids".

Anonymous, and the flash mob activism by which it is conducted, represent the future of how politicians will be elected, how charity benefits will be organized, how community movements will be started, how public policy will be made. It needs to be discussed beyond the current dismissive soundbyte charges of "cyber-terrorism." It's going to happen whether or not we understand it, and the people who refuse to see this will be left out in the cold.

Beware the Ides of March

The next Anonymous protest is scheduled on March 15th. It will be a test of the beginnings of flash mob activism, because it will answer the question of whether people will continue to turn up after the novelty has worn off. The downside of an organization with no leader to rally it is that it can disperse as quickly as it formed, just like the flash mobs that started it all.