Summer of Unrest: Activism or Slacktivism?

The student protests during the closing months of 2010 were organised online via Facebook, Twitter, university forums, Google Maps and other networks. They came in the wake of a surge of activity on the web that confonted the traditional media channels when Wikileaks and Anonymous disrupted them, creating a New World Order of breaking news. The fluid organisation of the protests showed that the internet and social media were key tools for organising dissent. Then in the Spring 2011, a wave of uprisings broke over North Africa with Tunisia, Egypt and Libya swept up in revolts also galvanised online. Tom Chatfield explores how the internet is re-shaping society and affecting identity in a period of acute political turbulence. BRAIN SHOTS is the pre-eminent source for high quality, short-form digital non-fiction. The Summer of Unrest series brings together stellar writers to explore the issues surrounding the austerity measures in the UK, uprisings in the Middle East and the nature of the protest movements springing up all over the world.