Week Nine - Social Organisation

The media holds great sway in the way in which people organise events, gatherings, and even new cities in the case of Songdo in South Korea;





Media is fundamental in the organisation of social networks, especially politically-driven movements, such as Films For Action, which rely on media as a platform to lift their message into the community. The Coalition of the Willing video really demonstrates the impact of media on social organisation and the importance of collaboration. I think one of the most important points that the video highlights is how movements through the ages (especially the 60s) have felt like a singular event, a micro-event, it is in fact, a large scale force. For change to occur, the scale on which such movements take place must work as a 'swarm' that pushes a movement through society and culture. It reminds me of this scene from the 2004 movie I Heart Huckabees;





Similarly, the Spaces of Aesthetics reading also highlights the importance of "techniques for collaboration" as well as the importance of experimentation in the area of micro-politics. Modern social networks are dynamic and the need for experimentation is of great need as these areas are new sections that do not always fot past theoretical frameworks. For my research paper, both experimentation and collaboration will play important roles in the investigation of modern social media habits and behaviours, as I seek to understand the ways in which social media users exploit the personal information of other users, how this has grown as a movement, and the way in which modern social media has altered ideas of collaboration.


Whilst these ideas start on a small-scale, micro-politics level, it requires a larger catalyst to propel it onto the global scale and give the movement leverage, potential, and eventually action. The Coalition of the Willing video really shows that everything is a network, and that the world functions like the legs on a caterpillar; small micro-level organisation working to contribute to the main body, the bigger picture.




References


Coalition of the Willing <http://www.coalitionblog.org/>


Knife Party and Rayner, Tim and Robson, Simon (2010) Coalition of the Willing <http://coalitionofthewilling.org.uk/>


Jellis, Thomas (2009) ‘Disorientation and micropolitics: a response’, spacesof[aesthetic]experimentation, <http://www.spacesofexperimentation.net/montreal/disorientation-and-micropolitics-a-response/>