Gabriella Coleman on Understanding Anonymous

Video via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zOkr2QlyD4

Description

"Anonymous is a banner used by individuals and various ad hoc and stable groups unfurling political operations across the globe from Brazil to the Philippines from the Dominican Republic to India. By 2012 Anonymous became multitudinous, prolific, and unpredictable.

Gabriella Coleman will join us to examine the various factors that secure their dynamic presence, mutability, plurality and flexibility and their contemporary geopolitical power including its ability to land media attention, its bold and recognizable aesthetics, its participatory openness, and the misinformation that surrounds it. One feature stands out in this mix: Anonymous’ unpredictability. It is difficult to know when or why it will strike, when a new node will appear, whether a campaign will be successful, and how Anonymous might change direction or tactics during the course of an operation. Anonymous, borne through raucous experimentation, still values errantry and play, their unpredictability a central ingredient to their thunderous rise and success." (http://sciencegallery.com/events/2013/07/anonymous-context-politics-and-power-behind-mask)