2. OUTLINE
● Info-Activism in People's Campaigns
● Internet and New Media Trends
● Local New Media Practices
3. OUTLINE
● Info-Activism in People's Campaigns
● Internet and New Media Trends
● Local New Media Practices
4. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
WHAT IS INFO-ACTIVISM?
Info-Activism is the use of all channels of
information for activism. Digital Activism,
on the other hand, refers to the use of
digital tools such as computers and new
media for activism.
5. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
WHAT IS INFO-ACTIVISM?
The advent of Information &
Communications Technology (ICT) has
changed the dynamics of information
differently across different societies. Our
advocacy, then, must put the Philippines'
local dynamics into consideration.
6. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
WHAT IS NEW MEDIA?
An amalgamation of traditional media such as
film, images, music, spoken and written word
with the interactive power of computer and
communications technology.
8. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
THE MEDIA CONNECTION
NEW MEDIA
TRADITIONAL MEDIA
Joyce, Mary. Winning with New Media:
The Barack Obama Experience. Manila, July 2009.
9. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
NEW MEDIA CAN HELP IN:
1) Publicity Campaigns
2) Resource Generation
3) Supporter Network
4) Counter Propaganda
5) Mobilizing Supporters
Joyce, Mary. Winning with New Media:
The Barack Obama Experience. Manila, July 2009.
10. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
1) PUBLICITY CAMPAIGNS
Campaigners can get attention from
the established media by creating buzz
using new media tools and tapping
their new media networks to help in
promotion.
12. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
YES MEN: IDENTITY CORRECTION
The Yes Men operate under the mission statement of
telling the truth and exposing lies.
From their offices in Milwaukee, they create and
maintain fake websites similar to ones they intend to
spoof, which have led to numerous interview,
conference, and TV talk show invitations.
13. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
YES MEN: BHOPAL
The Yes Men went on BBC announcing to 300 million viewers
that Dow Chemical, owner of Union Carbide the company
responsible for the Bhopal gas tragedy, planned to liquidate
Union Carbide and use the resulting $12 billion to pay for
medical care, clean up the site, and fund research into the
hazards of other Dow products.
14. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
YES MEN: BHOPAL
After two hours of wide coverage, Dow issued a press release
denying the statement, ensuring even greater coverage of the
phony news of a cleanup. By the time the original story was
discredited, Dow's stock had declined in value by $2 billion.
15. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
2) RESOURCE GENERATION
An extensive network to raise funds
can achieve a significant amount of
resources in micro-donations. Various
micro-donation tools online can be
utilized to get small pledges from
many supporters.
17. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
DIASPORA ON KICKSTARTER
Diaspora is an open-source social network where
totally separate computers connect to each other
directly, and will let us connect without surrendering
our privacy.
The project is currently being hosted on Kickstarter,
a site that lets entrepreneurs crowdsource funding.
18. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
GOAL: $10,000
PLEDGES: $92,275
When Techcrunch, a popular group-edited technology
blog, wrote about the project, funding reached $60,000
from a shortfall of $2,000 in their $10,000 goal. The
developers have since raised over $100,000 from over
2100 backers, including some fairly big names in the tech
industry.
19. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
3) SUPPORTER NETWORK
A central operating team can manage
the flow of information in a particular
campaign, receiving information from
the ground and releasing content back
to its network.
21. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
350.ORG: CLIMATE ACTION
350.org is an international campaign that's
building a movement to unite the world
around solutions to the climate crisis built on
science and social justice.
It coordinated active organizers and recruited
new supporters through the internet utilizing
a web portal as headquarters alongside e-
mails and social networking sites.
22. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
INTERNATIONAL DAY
OF CLIMATE ACTION
In its 2010 campaign, 350.org
coordinated 7,347 different
climate “work parties” in 188 countries that aimed to get
to work on the climate crisis. Months leading up to the
global day of action in 10/10/10 were dedicated to helping
interested people build work parties through online
resources and capacity building.
23. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
4) COUNTER PROPAGANDA
New media can serve as an effective
medium for fighting black propaganda
with an extensive network of
supporters who will mirror our
counter-content or generate their own.
25. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
FIGHT THE SMEARS
During the 2008 election campaign of Barack
Obama, his new media team employed a web
portal where black propaganda are reported in
by his network of supporters.
The portal then served as the repository of
clarificatory information on Obama, disputing
such smears as questions on his nationality,
stands on issues, etc.
26. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
TIT-FOR-TAT 2.0
Supporters reported misinformation received from non-
supporters to the site. The site then spreads the facts to
all its supporters who then send the information to their
respective networks.
27. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
5) MOBILIZING SUPPORTERS
Our aim in tapping new media is to
translate the “online” into the
“offline”: mobilize our network to
participate in the different aspects of
our struggle in the parliament of the
streets.
29. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
PEOPLE POWER 2
The uprising of millions of Filipino people against
corrupt president Joseph Estrada in 2001 is widely
known to be one of the most successful campaigns
that was organized largely through SMS
coordination.
People Power 2 (PP2) organizers were all armed with
cellular phones, to ensure a steady flow of warm
bodies and tight coordination with different
participating forces in the 4 days of the revolution.
30. INFO-ACTIVISM
IN PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGNS
PP2: ICT MAINSTREAMING
The mass movement that toppled the
Estrada administration was a full case
study of “ICT Mainstreaming” –
integrating the use of ICTs in the day-
to-day operations of a project or
campaign. From propaganda to media liaison to the
mobilization of millions of protesters, SMS and other new
media technologies were utilized to make the protest
movement successful.
31. OUTLINE
● Info-Activism in People's Campaigns
● Internet and New Media Trends
● Local New Media Practices
37. INTERNET
AND NEW MEDIA TRENDS
STATE OF INTERNET
● A significant portion of the urban population has
access to the internet. Internet World Stats pegs
users at 29.7 million as of June 2010 (19.7%
penetration)
● The online population is composed primarily of
upper-middle to middle socio-economic classes
and youth
38. INTERNET
AND NEW MEDIA TRENDS
STATE OF INTERNET
● Search is emerging as the top online activity, with
its usage rising from 58% of users in 2009 to 77%
in 2010 (Importance of SEO?)
● Users search primarily for creative and entertaining
content
● Broadband speed remains an expensive but slow
public utility: Internet bandwidth average in 2007
ranked only 85 out of 133 countries with 1.1 Mb/s
per 10,000 population.
43. INTERNET
AND NEW MEDIA TRENDS
STATE OF NEW MEDIA
● An estimated 73.544 million mobile
subscribers at the end of June 2009 pegs
mobile penetration rate at 80.5%
● The Philippines is the 6th largest user of
Facebook in the entire world with 17.9
million users as of November 2010
44. INTERNET
AND NEW MEDIA TRENDS
A FEW INSIGHTS
● New media campaigns should preferrably
be accessible to mobile (web, SMS)
● Should be creative and fresh enough to
compete with visual entertainment in
engaging the online population
● Integration of social networking sites
especially but not limited to Facebook is
integral to maximizing online reach
45. INTERNET
AND NEW MEDIA TRENDS
A FEW INSIGHTS
● Should be implemented under the
principle of Appropiate Technology by
using whatever new media technology is
available and fitting to the local area
● Approach should also cater accordingly to
the social profiles of the particular segment
of the online population we are targetting
(Youth? Upper-middle class? Video
preference? Etc.)
46. OUTLINE
● Info-Activism in People's Campaigns
● Internet and New Media Trends
● Local New Media Practices
47. GOOD LOCAL
NEW MEDIA PRACTICES
BLOG ACTION DAY PILIPINAS 2009
Blog Action Day 2009 fully mobilized the
Philippine blogosphere, including the most
prominent Filipino bloggers to talk about
Climate Change.
BAD Phils 2009 attracted the coverage of CNN, thanks to the
recent typhoons Ketsana and Parma still fresh in the global
consciousness. CPU took the opportunity to conduct a Blog
Action Briefer to educate its volunteers who will participate in
the event.
48. GOOD LOCAL
NEW MEDIA PRACTICES
TXTPOWER ONLINE
FUNDRAISING
In the face of Typhoon Ondoy, TXTPower helped generate
funds for disaster response efforts utilizing Paypal, an online
financial transaction tool. It tapped Filipino netizens, overseas
Filipinos and citizens from other countries to generate a total
of P1,722,817.29 in donations to PNRC.
49. GOOD LOCAL
NEW MEDIA PRACTICES
VOTE REPORT PH
The Vote Report PH
monitoring system integrates SMS, e-mail and web posts to an
Ushahidi online GIS-based website which maps the events as
they are reported.
Vote Report PH worked with
Kontra Daya & other networks
and people's organizations to
extensively gather and verify
reports.
50. GOOD LOCAL
NEW MEDIA PRACTICES
VOTE REPORT PH
The Technology for Transparency Network identified the
following as Vote Report PH’s strengths compared to other
Ushahidi implementations:
● A 6-month pre-election preparation which includes
extensive voter education for citizens to promote and teach
the proper use of the monitoring system.
● A sustained blogging effort to highlight the more urgent
reports of poll fraud.
51. GOOD LOCAL
NEW MEDIA PRACTICES
KPL ONLINE TEAM
Kabataan Partylist tapped around 80
volunteer online campaigners in their
electoral campaign last 2010. They
covered all popular social networking sites with a regular
stream of news, updates and campaign materials.
Its core group has remained active in their issue-based
campaigns beyond the elections, and is now engaged in the
#Education4All online campaign being conducted
complementary to their november strikes.
52. GOOD LOCAL
NEW MEDIA PRACTICES
SOFTWARE FREEDOM
DAY PHILIPPINES
The main 2010 Philippine celebration of Software Freedom
Day, or the international celebration of free/open source
software (FOSS) was mainly organized and promoted through
sustained new media coordination and promotions (sweep
and targetted through e-Mails and Social Networking Sites).
53. GOOD LOCAL
NEW MEDIA PRACTICES
SOFTWARE FREEDOM
DAY PHILIPPINES
CPU and the SFD Network originally aimed for an audience of
300 participants. Turnout numbered at 700, the most number
of SFD celebrants in Philippine history.
Interviewed participants cited reposts in Facebook and
retweets in Twitter, and the word-of-mouth it generated as
their main referral to the SFD.
54. IN CONCLUSION:
PHILIPPINE INFO-ACTIVISM
TIBAK INTO THE FUTURE
● Though penetration rates are still low on an average, New
Media still has efficient reach to a significant portion of the
population.
● Given this limitation of Philippine New Media, its
interactive networking charactersitics should be
capitalized – link and translate the online into the offline.
● Of course, the correct mass line is still the most important
factor in the success of any people's campaign.
55. IN CONCLUSION:
PHILIPPINE INFO-ACTIVISM
TIBAK INTO THE FUTURE
“The comprehensive tibak must then consider it a necessity to
propel himself into the Information Era, and must treat
cyberspace as another venue to expose social ferment and
advocate social change.”
Computer Professionals' Union. Tibak into the Future.
Prometheus Bound column in Manila Times.
Manila, July 2009.
