Alternative Media and Public Action: How Online Media Movements (Don’t) Use Resources

Abstract

During the past decade or so, we have witnessed the rapid emergence of new forms of non-government public action which take place online. This has taken a wide range of forms from hacking to cyber-protests to simple grass-roots organising using web-based tools. Indeed, many forms of non-government action now rely heavily on online tools in order to co-ordinate their action. However, there are a specific set of movements where the online world is crucial to their actions. An exemplar of such a movement are global online media movements. These are connected groups of activists who engage in social change through the development and articulation of media using online platforms. They often produce media such as written news, films, radio shows and images. But they also seek to produce unique ways of organising the production and distribution of this content. These media movements were an important forerunner of many of the forms of more corporate social media like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.