Here’s a small snippet of the final chapter of my MA thesis “Dissenting Voice(s),” in which I look at social media, Anonymous/Wikileaks hacktivism and the implications of intensified blending of the personal and the political:
The human-tool interaction, in the case of social medias like YouTube, is one of publication, of announcement, of transmittal to some imagined public. Procedures inherent in online social medias extend to the user a relationship affirmed through participation online—the affordance of a broadcastable voice, of listeners and responses, of discussion, conversation and reception. The assemblage invites collaboration, and steers collaborations toward contrast—specifically, political differences that become visibly apparent in seemingly-objective spaces like the standard social media interface.
21st Century Sophist 