This thesis examines the history, development, theory, and practice of distributed denial of service actions as a tactic of political activism.
The Visual Life of Occupy Wall Street
Many visual tropes have accompanied Occupy Wall Street’s rise to public prominence. In the beginning, there was the ethereal image of a ballerina poised delicately on the back of the Wall Street bull which graced the original posters and calls-for-action. There were photos of Zuccotti Park crammed with tents and blue tarps. The iconic “I am the 99%” stance, a photo of a single person, holding a handwritten sign dense with text, became a form in and of itself, attracting spinoffs, parodies, and rebuttals.
Podcast: Gabriella Coleman, “‘I did it for the Lulz! but I stayed for the outrage:’ Anonymous, the Politics of Spectacle, and Geek Protests against the Church of Scientology”
Gabriella Coleman examines the ethics of online collaboration/institutions and the role of the law and digital media in sustaining forms of activism.
