Just over a year ago, I left the online community that I enjoyed most in the world. Utata is a salon-style collective of photographers, writers, and like-minded people who share a compelling interest in the arts. My time as a Utata member was probably the happiest of my internet years, and it was certainly the period of my most exciting creative growth. Unfortunately for me, though, Utata started its existence and continues to thrive as a Flickr group. And Flickr is owned by Yahoo.
My concern about Yahoo’s human rights record grew until I reached the point where I had to make a choice: get over my principles in order to live with my favourite community; or live up to my principles and get over losing my place in that community.
I hated to leave Utata, but I couldn’t allow my tacit support of Yahoo to continue. I had to walk away.
Why am I telling you this today? Well, aside from the recent anniversary of my decision, I’ve just discovered that part of this site’s community is Yahoo-based. It’s the same brick wall. I want to be a fully active member of this community, but I will not provide moral support to Yahoo.
Yahoo isn’t the only Internet giant with a poor human rights record, of course. Google and Microsoft are up to their necks in it, too, and I guess many lesser companies swim in the same murky waters.
So how do we deal with this problem, when the Internet presents the greatest potential for unbelievable wealth and power to corporations at the same time as it offers the greatest potential for the growth of a global community of individuals?
How will we retain and make full use of our individual and collective freedoms, when it’s in the nature of big corporations to regulate and control user activities?
How can we be free to enjoy our communities, when powerful companies own the platforms on which we enjoy our freedom?
DewiMorgan 7:16 am on August 3, 2008 Permalink |
Water is a terrible thing, and kills people. But I love swimming, and I love drinking stuff with water in. Even if I ate only pure orange juice, well, that is tainted by its relationship with water too: it’s almost all water!
If I want to change the number of people killed by water, I should invest in, and campaign for, better lifeboats, security measures, navigation aids, regulations and weather forecasting. But all these things would mean me using water *more*.
I should deprecate waterboarding and other water tortures. I should deprecate unsafe practices around water. I should educate water users about these as best I could.
All these things would be more effective than going home, ensuring I never go out in the rain, and only drinking what I needed to stay alive.
In Yahoo terms, that means letting Yahoo’s *users* know where Yahoo falls down.
A boycott is a very very quiet objection. You cannot make change from outside. Look at Nestlé: people have been boycotting them with very large campaigns for *decades*, and nothing at all has changed. “Voting with your feet” means nothing if you are the only one voting: it just means you will be lonely.
But if a significant portion of the market votes with their feet, then that *can* make a change. But you have to have activism and education before that.
Personal boycotts are like signing online petitions, or voting for a party which wins or loses by more than one vote: they make no difference to anything, but make you feel good.
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Tricia 10:51 am on August 3, 2008 Permalink |
I feel exactly like you and I am sickened. These aren’t like the “good” old days when you could boycott one product or one company and have an effect. A few companies own everything else and any losses due to a boycott will be compensated through a limb of their hundreds of other smaller corporations. Makes a person want to scream!
I’m starting my own newspaper in my huge community. McClatchy and a few smaller corps got the hold here. But I will do it because I can. I know when I send out my first (miserly, poor excuse for an) issue I will look behind me to see if they are trailing me. Their papers promote their ads, their bottom line and have forgotten the people. My paper will bring school issues to the front; teachers who don’t receive fair compensation and other political parties who don’t get traction. I don’t want to lose my nerve. I don’t have time. I don’t have money. But I have 30 years of Journalism experience and I must try this! Wish me well!
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DewiMorgan 1:34 pm on August 3, 2008 Permalink |
Good luck, Tricia – you and David are doing what seems to be the right thing: spreading awareness. That’s the only way I can see to enact change, but damn, it’s a long road to travel. I admire you both.