One of the main issues presented in the readings was that online movements are not hierarchical and so they don't accomplish anything. Well this isn't the case in all movements but there are cases where there is a lack of hierarchy and problems do occur. One online activist group, or "hacktivist" group, is Anonymous. This leaderless group is, well, anonymous and they focus their efforts on an array of issues. The problem with this is that while there is occasionally a concentrated effort toward one particular cause, as they did for the SOPA and Megaupload issues, many of their causes are much smaller and diluted. The group focuses too many issues around the world which makes it so that no individual movement receives too much attention and nothing happens.
Another trend of online activism seems to be interest. When an issue surfaces there is a huge surge of interest for the issue but soon there is little talk of the issue again except for a few dedicated people. The attention span of the internet is short and it is impossible to fix all problems in that window.
I've read a bit about Anonymous's dealings before. I think their cause is interesting - they rarely seem to take anything for themselves; instead, they expose flaws which people should possibly be concerned about. However, people instead focus on the terror of hacking, rather than the issues Anonymous exposes.
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