‘Occupy’ Movement and Networks
The following article talks about the ‘Occupy’ movement throughout the world:
Despite the fact that this is a slightly older article, I thought it was really interesting comparison of the various ‘Occupy’ movements throughout the world. The news corporation had different perspectives from London, Paris, Rome, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Rekyjavik, Tokyo, Taipei, and Toronto. In each of these cities, hundreds of protestors took to the streets echoing demands for greater government involvement in fixing the ailing global economy. However, as many of the interviewers pointed out, in some situations the protestors were unsure of the main theme of the overall protest. A reporter in Paris specifically stated, “I also believe the majority of the marchers don’t even know what they are marching about and see it more as a party…”. In many cases, the protestors protested quietly with minimal violence, however the protests in Rome were particularly violent as protestors started to light things on fire as a sign of unhappiness with the government.
Although at first glance it would seem that the motivation behind these protests is majorly political, the idea of information cascade plays a large role in the spread of ‘Occupy’ across the globe. What started out as smaller protests centered in major cities in the United States has now spread across the world, not simply because of economic unrest. As more cities create protests and more citizens join the protests, the media has no choice but to start to document the protest, adding to its popularity. This information cascade resembles the cascade with Facebook, which essentially is that as more members join it becomes a greater overall force because it can no longer be ignored.
However, as seen in Paris, the cascade can also have a negative impact on the overall goal. As the movement gains popularity around the globe, it is easy for people to become involved who are uneducated about the cause and can detract from the goal. In Paris, the reporter stated it resembled more of a party than a protest, which could lead to movement losing credibility. In this situation, citizens wanted to become involved in the movement for reasons other than the movement itself and this could lead to a negative result of its growing popularity. With this being said, it would be really interesting to focus more on this issue with regards to whether the growing popularity of the ‘Occupy’ movement is more beneficial for its credibility or could lead to its ultimate demise.